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The Indiana Department of Education in December rolled out its new high school diploma that is a single diploma, replacing the Core 40 and Academic Honors diplomas. The Indiana General Assembly is expected to approve it.
Key to high school graduation going forward will be workforce experience or skills-based learning. The new diploma requirements have students earning optional “readiness seals” in areas like employment or enlistment. These seals involve completing work-based learning hours, demonstrating skills like communication and collaboration, and earning credentials of value, such as technical certificates or industry-recognized qualifications.
Why does all this matter? The world requires a more skilled, more educated workforce than ever. By 2031, three out of four jobs will require some kind of post-secondary education and/or training.
Indiana ranks in the bottom 10 states for college attainment, according to Indiana economist Michael Hicks. A new report from the Indiana Commission for Higher Education gets into the details, including the fact that Indiana does a poor job retaining graduates. That’s bad for employers and even worse for the state’s overall economy.
Additionally, population trends show there will be fewer of us available for work. We’re having fewer babies, therefore fewer graduates from high school and fewer going on to training beyond high school. Higher education calls it the enrollment cliff—and it is here. Some argue that this is even more reason to make the education system more affordable and easier to navigate and that it must have better support systems for students who need help finishing.
Yet, there is encouraging, even exciting news in communities across Indiana. Agencies, nonprofits, schools and employers are working closer together than ever to give students on-the-job experience they’ll need not only for graduation but also for a life of upward mobility.
For example, at Project Leadership in Delaware County, staff is sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with students and their families and navigating the complex and often confusing landscape of college and career pathways. It’s FAFSA lab season, which means leveraging literally millions of dollars in student financial aid for high school students, making what seemed impossible, very possible.
These are long and sometimes frustrating days. But this is also a joyful time, when families and students realize college is within reach. This work is just one example of how a small but mighty organization has leveraged tens of millions of dollars in funding for students in east-central Indiana high schools.
The connection between high schools and workforce is growing in Indiana.
Project Leadership’s new employment tool—called AEROS—is the link between high school students and employers. School districts across Indiana will need tools like this, and Muncie Community Schools is a pilot project. In fact, Project Leadership career coaches are embedded at Muncie’s Central High School, ensuring that hundreds of juniors and seniors have a trained professional to discuss their life after graduation.
The Project Leadership career coaches are certified by the DeBruce Foundation, which also has partnered with the state of Indiana, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana Department of Education to enhance career coaching statewide. Its free career assessment tool called the Agile Work Profiler—or AWP—assesses youths on 10 skills found in every job.
More than 900 career coaches have been certified to navigate students through the AWP nationwide, including here in Indiana. The assessment combined with career coaches means students are more informed about what might come after high school.
The Indiana Youth Institute—serving 6,000 youth-serving organizations statewide—offers a wide range of programs for youth-serving workers in college and career readiness, including a link to the Agile Work Profiler.
Because of the work that’s happening, sometimes in the shadows, our communities are better positioned for what comes next. Employers need this relationship with schools, nonprofits and the students themselves if they hope to have the workforce they’ll need.•
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Metzger is chair of the Indiana Youth Institute board and president of Project Leadership board.
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