FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
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STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
Jeanine Blomberg
Commissioner of Education
T. WILLARD FAIR,
Chairman
Members
DONNA G. CALLAWAY
DR. AKSHAY DESAI
ROBERTO MARTÍNEZ
PHOEBE RAULERSON
KATHLEEN SHANAHAN
LINDA K. TAYLOR
August 23, 2007
M E M O R A N D U M
TO:
District School Superintendents
FROM:
Dr. Cheri Yecke, Chancellor
K-12
Public
Schools
Dr. Connie W. Graunke, Executive Director
Florida Center for Advising and Academic Support
SUBJECT:
District Reporting of Major Areas of Interest
The A++ legislation established new requirements for high school graduation and middle school
promotion. This memorandum outlines the reporting requirements associated with the major area of
interest and school districts’ responsibilities, which are numbered and presented in bold text.
Statutory Authority
Section 1003.428(2)(b)(1), Florida Statutes, states that a student needs: “Four credits in a major area of
interest, such as sequential courses in a career and technical program, fine and performing arts, or
academic content area, selected by the student as part of the education plan required by s. 1003.4156.
Students may revise major areas of interest each year as part of annual course registration processes and
should update their education plan to reflect such revisions.”
Section 1003.4156(1)(a)(5), Florida Statutes, states: “One course in career and education planning to be
completed in 7
th
or 8
th
grade. The course may be taught by any member of the instructional staff; must
include career exploration using CHOICES for the 21
st
Century or a comparable cost-effective program;
must include educational planning using the online student advising system known as Florida Academic
Counseling and Tracking for Students at the Internet website FACTS.org; and shall result in the
completion of a personalized academic and career plan. Each student shall complete an electronic
personal education plan that must be signed by the student; the student’s instructor, guidance counselor,
or academic advisor; and the student’s parent.”
325 W. GAINES STREET • TALLAHASSEE, FL 32399-0400 • (850) 245-0505 • www.fldoe.org
District School Superintendents
August 23, 2007
Page Two
District Responsibilities
1.
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Districts are the system of record in certifying that students have met graduation requirements.
2.
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District
s are required to record on each student’s transcript the declared major area(s) of
interest (MAIs) and courses taken (if any) to satisfy the graduation requirement each term.
3.
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Districts are required to certify for graduation that students have successfully completed four
credits aligned with a major area of interest.
Section 1003.428, Florida Statutes, provides that
students can change their major, so long as they have successfully completed four credits associated
with a major area of interest for graduation.
4.
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Districts may institute policies regarding when and how often students may change their major,
as well as policies regarding schedule changes.
For example, changing a major area of interest
during an academic year does not obligate the district to change a student’s schedule for the current
academic year.
Capturing Students MAI(s) Credits
All entering 9
th
graders in 2007-08 will be required to earn four credits in a declared major area of interest
in order to graduate. The credit(s) and major(s) that students have taken must be recorded on a student’s
transcript with the major's 4-digit code attached to the course being used each school year (if any). There
are three methods districts may use to capture students’ MAI credits:
Method 1
: District-generated. This method is determined and supported by district means; however
it would involve districts collecting declared majors from students, verifying the credit(s) and
major(s) were successfully completed, storing information, and placing a 4-digit major code for each
major course on student transcripts.
Method 2
: FACTS.org electronic Personal Education Planner (ePEP) Course File. Districts may
download a file from FACTS.org which has student demographic information and all planned courses
(including courses designated for a major area of interest). After utilizing FACTS.org ePEP for
collecting the student MAI; districts will need to compare what students have planned in the ePEP on
FACTs.org to what they actually took, reconcile any differences, store information, and place a 4-
digit major code for each major course on student transcripts. The ePEP Course File will be available
to districts for download from Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC) twice a year.
Method 3
: Department of Education (DOE) Reconciliation File. Districts submit student transcripts
to the Office of Application Support (OAS) High School Transcript Database (HSTDB) three times a
year. After the fall and spring transcript submissions, OAS will take a current FACTS.org ePEP
Course File containing planned courses and compare it to student transcripts contained in the
HSTDB. Then, for every planned major in a student’s ePEP or from a student’s transcript, OAS will
look for any courses on the transcript that are state-approved for those majors. The result of the
comparison is the DOE Reconciliation File, which will be available to districts for download from
NWRDC twice a year. The information contained in the file can be used to assist districts to
determine student MAI credits, so that the information can be stored and placed on student
transcripts. (See Attachment – File Descriptions for FACTS.org ePEP Course File and DOE
Reconciliation File)
District School Superintendents
August 23, 2007
Page Three
Methods two and three require that students create and maintain an ePEP so that the information
is current each year.
While the 2007 entering 9
th
graders are
not required
to have an ePEP, the A++
legislation required all 2006 entering 6
th
graders to complete an ePEP in order to be promoted to 9
th
grade.
Consequently, within two years the majority of all entering 9
th
graders will have an ePEP. If districts
choose to implement Method 2 or 3, they will need to institute a policy requiring all 2007 and 2008 9
th
graders to complete an ePEP. In addition, if using Method 2 or 3, schools will need to ensure that
students keep their ePEPs current and reconciled with the information reported. If the ePEPs are not
updated or corrected, the reported information will continue to be incorrect.
To help in managing this effort, FACTS.org has created a Student Activity System that allows authorized
district middle school and high school personnel to access student activity for their district's schools. The
system provides users with a summary report of student activity, including which students have a
FACTS.org login ID, the number of planned major area of interest credits in students’ ePEPs, and
whether a transcript has been received in the HSTDB. The system also provides users with access to
individual student plans and the ability to send the student notes. School rosters will be built based on
Survey 6, 2 and 3 Student Database enrollment information. (A preview can be found at
http://facts23.facts.org/CounselorServices/Student%20Activity%20System%20Preview.pdf.)
It is anticipated that a test FACTS.org ePEP Course File and DOE Reconciliation File will be available at
NWRDC by the end of September that districts can use to assess the value of using the Reconciliation
File to facilitate their reporting efforts. Additional guidance will be provided reflecting any changes in
the reporting methods that may have arisen from the test files and include timelines for the ensuing
process. It is anticipated that the first FACTS.org ePEP Course File will be made available at the end of
October 2007 and the first DOE Reconciliation File will be made available by the end of November 2007.
Several attachments are provided for your convenience, including Questions and Answers regarding the
FACTS.org ePEP and MAI reporting process and File Descriptions. If you have any questions, please
utilize the contact information provided on the attachments.
CG/al
Attachments
c:
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District Guidance Supervisors
District
MIS
Directors
Dr. Jay Pfeiffer, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Accountability, Research & Measurement
Dr. Lavan Dukes, Bureau Chief, Education Information and Accountability Services
Ms. Lillian Finn, Director, Secondary Reform, K-12 Public Schools
