ECAP credit required for class of 2013

Freshmen at Maricopa High School this year will be the first students required to complete an ECAP (Education and Career Action Plan) as a requirement for graduation.

In February the Arizona State Board of Education approved ECAP for all Arizona students in grades 9-12. An ECAP shows a student’s current coursework, his or her career aspirations, activities, sports, community service and any other extended learning opportunities.

ECAP raises the graduation requirement for the class of 2013 from 22 to 23 credits, and school personnel must verify the graduating senior’s ECAP prior to graduation. Although it is currently required for grades 9-12, the state’s intent is to make ECAP a requirement for all students, K-12.

According to MHS assistant principal Rick Neilson, the ECAP will be devised and developed by the student, parents or guardians and school staff members. It essentially asks the student, ‘What is it you want to do after high school?’ The program allows students to define achievable goals, which may change. According to Neilson, too often students have plans, but no real idea of what they need or how to achieve them.

AzCIS, a free, on-line site from the state’s department of education, will manage the program. “This software for free is huge,” said Neilson. Volunteers Jim Irving and Dan Cowley have helped incorporate the ECAP requirements into the Career Explorations course for freshmen at MHS. Career Explorations is a CTE course offering, and monies come back to the district for student completion of CTE classes.

Cowley spent 200-300 hours inputting program documents, creating drop down menus for easy student use and access. All ECAP information can be added and updated on the web site. Students will be required to input grades from the classes they take each year, creating an unofficial transcript.

Parents can have immediate access to their child’s ECAP through the student’s account, or they can set up a separate parental account.

Information can transfer with students to other schools or upon graduation for acceptance at colleges or universities. “It’s a process to seamlessly connect,” explained Neilson. In addition, students coming to MHS from other states will not be penalized; similar programs will be accepted, and students can start the ECAP at their enrollment grade level.

“We’ll be adjusting as we go through; we may find out that certain things won’t work, so we need to adjust and re-adjust the plan,” said Neilson. Since guidance counselors are responsible for certifying that students are keeping up with their ECAP, they will be holding transcript committee meetings every two weeks to audit credits and look for possible missing credits.

Community residents will be invited to share their careers with students in the 16 Pathways areas used for Career Exploration.

In regard to the freshmen using ECAP for the first time, Neilson added, “This group this fall will be teaching us all a lot about the process.”

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