State law mandates students complete various career and course planning requirements starting in 6^th grade, and utilization of the Graduation Plan will fulfill those expectations:

• What needs to be done in 6th grade: All Indiana students are required to develop initial graduation plans with their parents or guardians by the end of 6th grade. The plans are then considered part of students’ permanent records. (Modifications to the plans can still be made later on.) To simplify this part of the requirement, the 6th grade Graduation Plan has been incorporated into OnTrack: 6th Grade and can be found on pages 11 and 12. (The plan for 6th grade students was in a folder format last year; however, based on feedback from school counselors, this simplified approach is being used this year. The folder format can be downloaded below.)
• What needs to be done in 8th or 9th grade: School counselors are required to further develop the graduation plans—with the students and parents—by the end of 9th grade (but preferably in 8th grade) and then annually review them with the students. To assist with this step, a Graduation Plan for 8th and 9th grade students (in the traditional folder format) is being shipped to schools.
• What needs to be done in 9th through 12th grade: Throughout high school, students should work with their school counselors to update their graduation plans at least once per year.

Online versions of the 2009-2010 Graduation Plan

• The version for 6th grade students has been incorporated into OnTrack: 6th Grade.
• The English version for 8th and 9th grade students is in a folder format. (A version to print on letter-sized paper is also available.) These folders were shipped to schools in August along with OnTrack.

• A Spanish version is available within the Spanish OnTrack for grades 6, 7 and 8. It includes pages to serve both 6th grade and 8th and 9th grade.

Grade-specific inserts

• 7th grade Insert (PDF)
• 8th grade Insert (PDF)
• 9th grade Insert (PDF)
• 10th grade Insert (PDF)
• 11th grade Insert (PDF)
• 12th grade Insert (PDF)

Related Resources

• Graduation Plan Q & A
• Career Interest Inventory
• Learning-style Assessment
• Core 40
• College Profiles
• Map of Indiana Colleges
• Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
• Graduation Qualifying Exam (GQE)
• ACT and SAT

Versions of the Graduation Plan from the 2008-2009 school year

• Graduation Plan for 6th grade students (PDF in folder form)
• Graduation Plan for 6th grade students (PDF for easy printing)
• Graduation Plan for 6th grade students (PDF with editable fields)
  
• Graduation Plan for 8th grade students (PDF in folder form)
• Graduation Plan for 8th grade students (PDF for easy printing)
• Graduation Plan for 8th grade students (PDF with editable fields)

Background

Per state law (I.C. 20.30), all Indiana students are required to develop graduation plans with their parents or guardians by the end of 6th grade. The plans should then go with students when they transfer schools, as they are considered part of students’ permanent records. (Modifications to the plans can still be made later on.)

School counselors are required to further develop the graduation plans—with the students and parents—by the end of 9th grade (but preferably in 8th grade) and then annually review them with the students.

Through Learn More Indiana, the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the Indiana Department of Education created  the Graduation Plan to assist schools in meeting these requirements. Two versions (a purple and black version for 6th grade and a black version for 8th grade—the grades in which the plans should be created) were created.