INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s education leaders are still chipping away at a massive redesign of Hoosier high school curriculum and diploma requirements, but one national expert has already lauded state officials for their work.
The praise came during Wednesday’s State Board of Education (SBOE) meeting from Patricia Levesque, CEO of ExcelinEd, a national education policy organization founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Levesque presented board members with an analysis of high school “rethinking” taking place in other states — many of which are also trying to better prepare graduates for careers in an ever-changing job market. She said during her presentation that Indiana’s ongoing planning — and financial backing from the state legislature — is already among the most advanced in the nation.
“There’s no other state that I know of that is having the conversations that you’re having right now that are this comprehensive,” Levesque told the board of education members Wednesday. “You all are actually in the lead in these conversations.”
Republican legislators were adamant in the 2023 session to “reinvent” Hoosier high school curriculum as the state tries to reverse its dismal college-going and credentialing rates, stymie other academic impacts following the COVID-19 pandemic and help fill open jobs around the state.
Paramount to that plan was House Enrolled Act 1002, which put multiple state offices on the clock to put in motion statewide career-centered education and training programs that seek to graduate Hoosier students who are better prepared for the workforce.
At its core, the plan seeks to implement new high school diploma requirements that are more “flexible and relevant to students, employers, and communities,” as well as improving access to high-quality work-based learning opportunities and increasing the number of postsecondary credentials earned by students before they graduate from high school.
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