HF 1493

Introduction - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026)

Posted on 02/24/2025 03:23 p.m.

A bill for an act
relating to education; clarifying student career and college readiness provisions;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 120B.307, subdivision 4.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 120B.307, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Career exploration.

(a) Districts and schools, on an annual basis, must use
career exploration elements to help students, beginning no later than grade 9, and their
families explore and plan for postsecondary education or careers based on the students'
interests, aptitudes, and aspirations. Districts and schools must use timely regional labor
market information and partnerships, among other resources, to help students and their
families successfully develop, pursue, review, and revise an individualized plan for
postsecondary education or a career. This process must help increase students' engagement
in and connection to school, improve students' knowledge and skills, and deepen students'
understanding of career pathways as a sequence of academic and career courses that lead
to an industry-recognized credential, an associate's degree, or a bachelor's degree and are
available to all students, whatever their interests and career goals.

(b) A student who demonstrates attainment of required state academic standards, which
include career and college readiness benchmarks, on high school assessments under
deleted text begin subdivision 1a deleted text end new text begin section 120B.302 new text end is academically ready for a career or college and is
encouraged to participate in courses awarding college credit to high school students. Such
courses and programs may include sequential courses of study within broad career areas
and technical skill assessments that extend beyond course grades.

(c) In developing, supporting, and improving students' academic readiness for a career
or college, schools, districts, and the state must have a continuum of empirically derived,
clearly defined benchmarks focused on students' attainment of knowledge and skills so that
students, their parents, and teachers know how well students must perform to have a
reasonable chance to succeed in a career or college without need for postsecondary
remediation. The commissioner, in consultation with local school officials and educators,
and Minnesota's public postsecondary institutions must ensure that the foundational
knowledge and skills for students' successful performance in postsecondary employment
or education and an articulated series of possible targeted interventions are clearly identified
and satisfy Minnesota's postsecondary admissions requirements.

(d) deleted text begin For students in grade 8 in the 2012-2013 school year and later, deleted text end A school, district, or
charter school must record on the high school transcript a student's progress toward career
and college readiness deleted text begin , and for other students as soon as practicable deleted text end .

(e) The school board granting students their diplomas may formally decide to include a
notation of high achievement on the high school diplomas of those graduating seniors who,
according to established school board criteria, demonstrate exemplary academic achievement
during high school.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2025.
new text end