279.61  Individual career and academic plan — report.
  1.  For the school year beginning July 1, 2016, and each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each school district shall cooperate with each student enrolled in grade eight to develop an individualized career and academic plan to guide the student.
  a.  The plan shall be developed to achieve, at a minimum, the following: 
  (1)  Prepare the student for successful completion of the core curriculum developed by the state board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26, by the time the student graduates from high school. 
  (2)  Identify the coursework needed in grades nine through twelve to support the student’s postsecondary education and career options. 
  (3)  Prepare the student to successfully complete, prior to graduation and following a timeline included in the plan, the essential components of a career information and decision-making system that meets standards adopted by the state board of education in accordance with subsection 4.
  b.  The student’s parent or guardian shall sign the student’s career and academic plan, and the signed plan shall be included in the student’s cumulative records.
  2.  The board of directors of each school district shall report annually to each student enrolled in grades nine through twelve in the school district, and, if the student is under the age of eighteen, to each student’s parent or guardian, the student’s progress toward meeting the goal of successfully completing the core curriculum and high school graduation requirements adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26, and toward achieving the goals of the student’s career and academic plan.
  3.  The superintendent of each school district shall designate a team of education practitioners to carry out the duties assigned to the school district under this section. The team shall include but not be limited to a school counselor; teachers, including career and technical education teachers; and an individual responsible for coordinating work-based learning activities. The team shall regularly consult with representatives of employers, state and local workforce systems and centers, higher education institutions, and postsecondary career training programs.
  4.  The state board of education shall adopt rules setting forth standards for career information and decision-making systems. The rules adopted under this section shall establish an approval process for the approval of a vendor-provided career information and decision-making system which school districts may use in compliance with this section.
  5.  For the school year beginning July 1, 2016, and each succeeding school year, the board of directors of each school district shall submit to the local community, and to the department as a component of the school district’s comprehensive school improvement plan required by section 256.7, subsection 21, an annual report on student utilization of the district’s career information and decision-making system.
  6.  The director of the department of education shall monitor school districts for compliance with this section through the accreditation process established for school districts under section 256.11. If the department of education finds that a school district is not in substantial compliance with this section, the school district shall submit to the department for approval an action plan which sets forth the steps to be taken to ensure substantial compliance with this section. The department of education shall include in its annual condition of education report a review of school district and student performance required under this section.
  7.  The state board of education shall adopt rules to administer this section.
2005 Acts, ch 149, §3; 2006 Acts, ch 1152, §13; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §36; 2008 Acts, ch 1127, §4; 2016 Acts, ch 1108, §7, 9
Referred to in §256.11, §256.40, §258.14, §258.15, §261E.4, §261E.6, §261E.8, §261E.9, §261E.10, §261E.13
Section amended