Tool Search: Academic and Graduation Programs
Adding a Graduation Program
- To add an academic program, be sure Graduation is toggled ON in the upper-right corner of the main Academic and Graduation Programs screen.
- Once Graduation is toggled on, press New in the lower-left corner of the screen. The Add Graduation Program: Program Details screen displays.
Add Graduation Program - Program Details Editor - Enter the program details. For more detailed field information, see the Graduation Program Detail Fields.
- Once all necessary Program Detail fields are entered, press Save & Stay to save all changes and remain on the Program Details screen. Press Save & Close to save the changes and return to the main screen. Press Cancel to return to the main screen without saving the changes.
- To continue with the creation of the Graduation Program, be sure all changes are saved before clicking on and opening the Program Criteria tab.
- Once saved, the new program appears in the list of Graduation Programs on the main screen. Users may need to set up additional items before the Program can be assigned to a student. After creating a program, be sure to: Add Program Criteria, Certification Criteria, and a Course Plan Template, if necessary.
Graduation Program Detail Fields
Fields available may vary by state. Refer to localized product content for state-specific information.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Active | Use the Active checkbox to determine if the program can be assigned to or chosen by students. A program that is not marked as Active cannot be chosen or assigned to students. This option is marked by default. |
| Available for Selection on Portal | When marked, the program can be selected on the Portal graduation Planning tool. |
Name Required | Describes the name of the program. This name can be up to 50 characters in length. |
Category Required | Indicates the classification of the program. For Graduation programs, the only available option is Graduation. |
Credit Group Required | This selection controls the display of the Credit Types available when setting and evaluating Credit and Course Requirements. |
| State Reported | Indicates the program is reported in state extracts as a means of tracking student progress. |
| State Managed | This field is read-only. |
| Allow Planning of Alternates | When marked, students and counselors may add scheduled alternate courses to the course plan in the event that planned courses cannot be scheduled. This adds an additional section to the Course Plan that does not display if this checkbox is not marked. If a counselor removes this selection from a program and students assigned to that program have alternate courses planned, those alternate courses are removed from the student's course plan. See the Course Plan article for more information on planning alternates. |
| Min # of Alt Credits Next Year | Indicates the lowest number of alternate credits a student can add to their course plan. A value for the minimum number of alternate credits for the next year MUST be entered if the Allow Planning of Alternates checkbox is marked. This is a numeric value between 0 (zero) and 999.999. |
| Code | Identifies the program using a State Code or a Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code. This code can be a district-defined code or a state-defined code. This field may also be the Program name, the Pathway Name, the State Standard, or Instructional Area Code. For some states, this is a text field to enter the CIP code. In other states, this is a searchable field that includes the Ed-Fi codes for the Program. |
| DPSA Tier | Only used in Minnesota & Wisconsin. Select the tier associated with the Graduation program being set up. |
| Cohort/Graduation Active Start Year | The academic year a student officially begins their program. It is used to group students into cohorts for tracking retention and graduation outcomes. The selected year narrows down the students who are eligible for the program based on the NCLB Cohort End Year fields on their graduation tab. Students who have an NCLB Cohort End Year greater or equal to the Cohort/Graduation Active Start Year have the ability to select this program. If left blank, all students are able to select the program. When assigning programs to students using the Batch Assignment Tool, students who have a Graduation NCLB Cohort Start Year field the same as or later than the year entered in this field can be assigned to the program. |
| Cohort/Graduation Active End Year | The academic year a student officially ends their program. It is used to group students into cohorts for tracking retention and graduation outcomes. The selected year narrows down the students who are eligible for the program based on the NCLB Cohort End Year fields on their graduation tab. Students who have an NCLB Cohort End Year less than or equal to the Cohort/Graduation Active End Year have the ability to select this program. If left blank, all students are able to select the program. When assigning programs to students using the Batch Assignment Tool, students who have a Graduation NCLB Cohort End Year field the same as or prior to the year entered in this field can be assigned to the program. |
| Diploma Type | This selection indicates which diploma type an on-track student receives on the Course Plan Admin tool. |
| School | If populated, this program is only available to students whose most future enrollment is at the selected school. If not populated, this program is available to students across the district. |
| Flagged/Flag Preview/Edit Flag | When Flagged is marked, the program displays with an icon next to the student's name. Images and colors only display when this checkbox is marked.
When the Flagged checkbox is marked, users may press the Edit Flag button to select from a set of 30 images and 12 colors for the flag. The selection displays in Flag Preview. |
| HTML Description | Provides information about the program on the Portal graduation Planning. Use the WYSIWYG editor to modify fonts, add graphics, etc. |
Graduation programs can be created for a particular school or all schools in the District. Additionally, options are available to limit programs to groups of students based on their Graduation Cohort Year and to define whether programs are available for selection on the Student/Parent Portal.
Best Practices and Things to Know
Use the following list as a guideline when creating and managing graduation programs for your district and/or school.
- Create one graduation program for each diploma type offered in your district.
- Since graduation programs contain a set of requirements (credit requirements, course requirements, test requirements, etc.), each time any of these requirements change, a new Graduation Program should be created. This ensures those students assigned to a program at any given time have the requirements for that time period.
- Editing an existing Graduation program once it has been assigned to student(s) could adversely affect students assigned to the program.
- Create a basic, general program against which all students can be measured. This program contains the minimum requirements for graduation using the minimum District requirements.
- Create one middle school program that covers all middle school credit requirements. All students would be assigned to this program. Middle schools can use the Course Planner to make multiple year selections and to choose electives. Cohorts would be assigned to students when they get their first high school (9th grade) enrollment.
- Graduation programs can contain recommended courses to pursue as part of a focus area or career path. If available in your state, Academic Programs can also be created for this purpose.
- Graduation programs that are no longer needed should be inactivated instead of deleted, especially if students are assigned to the program.
Completing Graduation Program Creation
Some programs may require additional setup. If necessary, be sure to set up: Credit Requirements, Program Criteria, and a Course Plan Template.
