(1) Each student must have a high school and beyond plan, initiated during seventh or eighth grade with the administration of a career interest and skills inventory, to guide the student's high school experience and inform course-taking that is aligned with the student's goals for education or training and career after high school. School districts are encouraged to develop and utilize high-quality high school and beyond plan tools. Beginning in the 2020-21 school year, each school district must have an electronic high school and beyond plan platform available to all students; districts may utilize one of the electronic platforms on the list that the office of the superintendent of public instruction creates and posts on its website. Districts are encouraged to utilize electronic high school and beyond platforms that meet the criteria specified in chapter 28A.230 RCW.

(2) Required elements of the high school and beyond plan include:

(a) Identification of career goals aided by a skills and interest assessment.

(b) Identification of education goals.

(c) A four-year plan for courses taken in high school that satisfies state and local graduation requirements and aligns with students' secondary and postsecondary goals that may include education, training, and careers.

(d) Identification of options for satisfying state and local graduation requirements, including academic acceleration pursuant to RCW 28A.320.195, that could include dual credit courses, career and technical education, and other programs that align with the student's educational and career goals. This includes identification of the graduation pathway option(s) the student intends to complete to meet their educational and career goals.

(e) A current resume or activity log that provides a written compilation of the student's education, any work experience, and any community service, and how the district recognizes community service pursuant to RCW 28A.320.193.

(f) Evidence that the student has received information on federal and state financial aid programs that help pay for the costs of postsecondary programs, including evidence that the student has received information about the following:

(i) Documentation necessary for completing financial aid applications, including at minimum the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the Washington application for state financial aid (WASFA).

(ii) Application timeliness and submission deadlines.

(iii) The importance of submitting applications early.

(iv) Information specific to students who have been in foster care.

(v) Information specific to students who are, or are at risk of, being homeless.

(vi) Information specific to students whose family member or guardians will be required to provide financial and tax information necessary to complete application.

(vii) Opportunities to participate in sessions that assist students and, when necessary, their family members or guardians, in filling out financial aid applications.

(viii) Information provided on the Washington student achievement council website concerning each of the state and federal financial aid applications in this subsection.

(ix) Information on college bound scholarship application and eligibility.

(g) As established by RCW 28A.230.097, if a student completes a career and technical education equivalency course that is transcribed as a core subject area course to meet graduation requirements, then a record showing that the career and technical education course was used to meet a core course must be retained in the student's high school and beyond plan. This record may be useful if the student pursues education, training, or a career in the same or related field as the career and technical education course.

(3) High school and beyond plan process and development.

(a) Each student's high school and beyond plan must be initiated by seventh or eighth grade. Before or at the initiation of the plan, each student must be administered a career interest and skills inventory that will help inform the student's ninth grade course taking and initial identification of their education and career goals.

(b) School districts are encouraged to involve parents and guardians in the process of developing and updating the high school and beyond plan. The plan must be provided to the student's parents or guardians in their native language if that language is one of the two most frequently spoken non-English languages of students in the district. Districts are also encouraged to provide plans to parents and guardians in additional languages as needed, to the extent feasible.

(c) Seventh and eighth grade students must be informed of the college bound scholarship program established in chapter 28B.118 RCW. Students in foster care, students who are dependents of the state and ninth grade students who may be eligible must also be provided with information on the program. Students in the college bound scholarship program should be reminded about program requirements to remain eligible and provided with information about filling out a financial aid application in their senior year.

(d) Students who have not earned a score of level 3 or level 4 on the middle school math state assessment must include in their plan taking math courses in ninth and tenth grade. The math courses may include career and technical education equivalencies in math, established in RCW 28A.230.097.

(e) For students who have not earned a level 3 or level 4 on their middle school English language arts exam or their middle school science exam, districts are encouraged to inform students of supports and courses that will address the students' learning needs and be considered in the students' course-taking plans.

(f) The high school and beyond plan must be updated periodically at a minimum to address:

(i) High school assessment results and junior year course-taking.

(ii) A student's changing interests, goals, and needs, including identification of the graduation pathway option(s) the student intends to complete to meet their educational and career goals.

(iii) Available interventions, academic supports, and courses that will enable students to meet high school graduation credit requirements and graduation pathway requirements.

(g) For students meeting graduation requirements in WAC 180-51-068 and 180-51-210, the students' high school and beyond plans should be used to guide the choices of third credit of high school math and the third credit of high school science. These credits may be earned through career and technical education courses determined to be equivalent to math and science courses as established in RCW 28A.230.097.

(h) A student's high school and beyond plan must inform the student's choice of their graduation pathway option or options in accordance with WAC 180-51-230.

(4) For a student with an individualized education program (IEP), the student's IEP and high school and beyond plans must align. Students with an IEP transition plan, which begins during the school year in which they turn sixteen, may use their transition plan in support of, but not as a replacement for, their high school and beyond plan. The process for developing and updating the student's high school and beyond plans must be similar to and conducted with similar school personnel as for all other students. The student's high school and beyond plans must be updated in alignment with the student's school to postschool transition plan.

(5) Any decision on whether a student has met the state board of education's high school graduation requirements for a high school and beyond plan shall remain at the local level. A district may establish additional, local requirements for a high school and beyond plan to serve the needs and interests of its students and the purposes of RCW 28A.230.090.

(6) Districts may offer core and elective courses that embed required elements and processes of high school and beyond planning, and are encouraged to provide credit-bearing options for the delivery and completion of high school and beyond plan elements. Conversely, a high school and beyond planning course may be counted as core or elective credit, as defined in WAC 180-51-210, if the learning standards of the content area are addressed.