Senate Bill 624 (2024) — Career-themed courses
SB 624
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2024 SB 624 By Senator Simon 3-00956-24 2024624__ Page 1 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to career-themed courses; amending s. 2 1003.493, F.S.; revising the number of career-themed 3 courses that must be offered by a school district; 4 requiring at least two career-themed courses to meet 5 certain requirements; amending s. 1008.34, F.S.; 6 revising the number of clock hours required for a 7 certain component used to determine a school’s grade; 8 providing an effective date. 9 10 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 11 12
Section 1. Paragraph (
b) of subsection (1) of
section 13 1003.493, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 14 1003.493 Career and professional academies and career-15 themed courses.— 16 (1) 17 (
b) A “career-themed course” is a course, or a course in a 18 series of courses, that leads to an industry certification 19 identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List 20 pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of Education. 21 Career-themed courses have industry-specific curriculum aligned 22 directly to priority workforce needs established by the local 23 workforce development board or the Department of Economic 24 Opportunity. School districts shall offer at least four two 25 career-themed courses, and each secondary school is encouraged 26 to offer at least one career-themed course.
At least one career-27 themed course offered by a school district must be aligned with 28 a regional demand occupation field as identified by the school 29 Florida Senate - 2024 SB 624 3-00956-24 2024624__ Page 2 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. district’s respective regional demand occupation list published 30 by CareerSource Florida, Inc. At least one career-themed course 31 offered by a school district must be in one of the following 32 areas: agriculture, construction or trades, early childhood 33 education, health care, or hospitality.
The Florida Virtual 34 School is encouraged to develop and offer rigorous career-themed 35 courses as appropriate. Students completing a career-themed 36 course must be provided opportunities to earn postsecondary 37 credit if the credit for the career-themed course can be 38 articulated to a postsecondary institution approved to operate 39 in this the state. 40
Section 2. Paragraph (
b) of subsection (3) of
section 41 1008.34, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 42 1008.34 School grading system; school report cards; 43 district grade.— 44
(3) DESIGNATION OF SCHOOL GRADES.— 45 (b)1. A school’s grade shall be based on the following 46 components, each worth 100 points: 47 a. The percentage of eligible students passing statewide, 48 standardized assessments in English Language Arts under s. 49 1008.22(3). 50 b. The percentage of eligible students passing statewide, 51 standardized assessments in mathematics under s. 1008.22(3). 52 c. The percentage of eligible students passing statewide, 53 standardized assessments in science under s. 1008.22(3). 54 d.
The percentage of eligible students passing statewide, 55 standardized assessments in social studies under s. 1008.22(3). 56 e. The percentage of eligible students who make Learning 57 Gains in English Language Arts as measured by statewide, 58 Florida Senate - 2024 SB 624 3-00956-24 2024624__ Page 3 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. standardized assessments administered under s. 1008.22(3). 59 f. The percentage of eligible students who make Learning 60 Gains in mathematics as measured by statewide, standardized 61 assessments administered under s. 1008.22(3). 62 g.
The percentage of eligible students in the lowest 25 63 percent in English Language Arts, as identified by prior year 64 performance on statewide, standardized assessments, who make 65 Learning Gains as measured by statewide, standardized English 66 Language Arts assessments administered under s. 1008.22(3). 67 h. The percentage of eligible students in the lowest 25 68 percent in mathematics, as identified by prior year performance 69 on statewide, standardized assessments, who make Learning Gains 70 as measured by statewide, standardized Mathematics assessments 71 administered under s. 1008.22(3). 72 i.
For schools comprised of middle grades 6 through 8 or 73 grades 7 and 8, the percentage of eligible students passing high 74 school level statewide, standardized end-of-course assessments 75 or attaining national industry certifications identified in the 76 CAPE Industry Certification Funding List pursuant to state board 77 rule. 78 j.
Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, for schools 79 comprised of grade levels that include grade 3, the percentage 80 of eligible students who score an achievement level 3 or higher 81 on the grade 3 statewide, standardized English Language Arts 82 assessment administered under s. 1008.22(3). 83 84 In calculating Learning Gains for the components listed in sub-85 subparagraphs e.-h., the State Board of Education shall require 86 that learning growth toward achievement levels 3, 4, and 5 is 87 Florida Senate - 2024 SB 624 3-00956-24 2024624__ Page 4 of 4 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. demonstrated by students who scored below each of those levels 88 in the prior year.
In calculating the components in sub-89 subparagraphs a.-d., the state board shall include the 90 performance of English language learners only if they have been 91 enrolled in a school in the United States for more than 2 years. 92 2. For a school comprised of grades 9, 10, 11, and 12, or 93 grades 10, 11, and 12, the school’s grade shall also be based on 94 the following components, each worth 100 points: 95 a. The 4-year high school graduation rate of the school as 96 defined by state board rule. 97 b.
The percentage of students who were eligible to earn 98 college and career credit through an assessment identified 99 pursuant to s. 1007.27(2), College Board Advanced Placement 100 examinations, International Baccalaureate examinations, dual 101 enrollment courses, including career dual enrollment courses 102 resulting in the completion of 150 300 or more clock hours 103 during high school which are approved by the state board as 104 meeting the requirements of s. 1007.271, or Advanced 105 International Certificate of Education examinations; who, at any 106 time during high school, earned national industry certification 107 identified in the CAPE Industry Certification Funding List, 108 pursuant to rules adopted by the state board; or who earned an 109 Armed Services Qualification Test score that falls within 110 Category II or higher on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude 111 Battery and earned a minimum of two credits in Junior Reserve 112 Officers’ Training Corps courses from the same branch of the 113 United States Armed Forces. 114