Four Year Plans

A four-year plan refers to the outline of courses that a high school student will take to complete the necessary requirements for high school graduation and their diploma choice. 

BRIEF SUMMARY

A four-year plan refers to the outline of courses that a high school student will take to complete the necessary requirements for high school graduation and their diploma choice.  The four-year plan allows students to personalize their high school experience, incorporate classes that will lead to their future college major and career, and ensure that they graduate from high school on time.  The Indiana Graduation Plan (IGP) keeps students on track to graduate and the four-year high school course plan is part of the IGP. The requirements for the IGP begin in grade 6, when students commit to completing high school.  In grades 8 and 9, students start planning their high school courses.  In grades 10 through 12, students  review their graduation plan at least once a year to make sure they’re still on track to graduate with the diploma they want.  They also keep track of ISTEP+ and End-of-Course Assessment scores, which will help determine whether they can continue to the next grade.

KEY POINTS

  • A four-year plan is a high school course plan, incorporating all courses needed to stay on track for graduation.
  • Four-year plans are student specific and while they may incorporate requirements for all students, they vary depending on diploma track, student choice and student interest.
  • Four-year plans should follow student’s chosen diploma track.  Find Indiana’s high school diploma requirements here.
  • A four-year plan is part of the required Indiana Graduation Plan.
  • A four-year plan should follow an Indiana College and Career Pathway.
  • Students should begin preparing for high school by being introduced to the idea of a four-year plan in middle school.
  • Students begin writing their four-year plans in 8th grade, but begin planning for high school in 6th grade when starting to write their Indiana Graduation Plan.

RESOURCES

SHARED WISDOM

  • Q: 4-Year Plan feature in Harmony
    • A: 1. We go into classrooms and teach students how to use the 4-year plans. There are also videos you can send out to students and their guardians on how to use the 4 year plan.
      2. When working with the 4 year plans in regards to course requests/master schedule, we turn off the 4 year plan until requests are complete and master schedules are complete.
      3. There is work that needs completed prior to using the 4 year plan for requests, but it is worth it! Make sure to complete your pathways that help auto populate the 4 year plan and clean up the courses and classes in harmony. Carol Call from Harmony was awesome throughout this process!
    • A: This is what I provide for my students and guardians: Harmony 4-year plan link: https://vimeo.com/showcase/4994797, Click on Family Access Four Year Plans video
    • A: We use the 4 year plan in Harmony (and love it!). We typically go into English classes to show students how to update their plans in Harmony. We created pathways under career path for the students that automatically populate their courses for all 4 year plans and then have the kids go in and edit/personalize them. That seems to help lower the amount of mistakes…. but obviously you will still want to check them over. I do still like to try and touch base with each of my students one-on-one to talk it through, but last year that didn’t get to happen with being out of school. We give the students all a deadline to have their 4 year plans updated. Once the deadline hits, we turn the 4 year plan feature off of their Family Access accounts so that they can’t keep making changes. We don’t turn them back on until the start of the next school year. We also created a form in Family Access for parents to sign off on their student’s schedule/4 year plan.
    • A: We moved to PowerSchool this year, but we used Harmony for several years. I liked the four-year plan, BUT I did not let students enter the information. It was way too easy for them to make mistakes. I entered the information when I had individual meetings with them. We did not schedule classes based on what was on the four-year plan.
    • A: We do classroom visits and walk them through the steps on completing the four-year plans.  We give them this instruction sheet to follow.  We do give them a deadline and turn off access after the deadline has passed.  After this, they need to email or see us to make a change.  We do this so they do not make changes after we check their plans.
    • A: Last February we used the Harmony four year plans for the first time for scheduling. We met with groups of about 50 students at a time and walked them through the process of adding classes to the next year’s plan. You can turn off the four year plans in the system settings when you are done. It wasn’t as smooth as I would like, and we found out at the beginning of the year that some students signed up for the wrong classes even though we clearly told them what the next math level would be. My co-worker wants to go back to scheduling through course requests. We’ll see what we end up doing this year.
  • Indiana Career Explorer includes an online form for students to complete and store their 4-year Plan
  • Learn More Indiana: High School Graduation Plan and fill-able PDF Graduation Plan Form
  • Question: Does anyone have a shorter, preferably editable version of a graduation plan? The Learn More one is too long. I am looking for a more condensed version before I make my own. (Counselor Talk, January 2019)

CONTENT FEEDBACK

If you have suggestions, feedback, or resources, please email counselor1stop@inspiresuccess.org and let us know.