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Rule 3301-45-01 | Purpose.
Chapter 3301-45 of the Administrative Code pertains to the twenty-two plus program, which allows a student twenty-two years of age and older, to obtain a high school diploma through this program pursuant to section 3317.231 of the Revised Code. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:42 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-02 | Definitions.
The following terms are defined as they are used in the rules in this chapter: (A) "Certificate of completion" means the certificate developed by the department of education and workforce to certify all requirements for a high school diploma have been completed. (B) "Competency-based education" refers to any system of academic instruction, assessment, grading and reporting where students receive credit based on demonstrations and assessments of their learning, not as a function of how much time they spend studying a subject. Students progress at their own pace, competency-based education encourages accelerated learning among students who master academic material quickly, and provides additional instructional support time for students who need it to stay on track. (C) "Credit recovery plan" means the plan and timeline developed for each participant, specifying the courses and assessments required to be completed to fulfill graduation requirements. (D) "Department" means the department of education and workforce. (E) "Eligible individual" refers to any person living in Ohio, aged twenty-two years of age or older, who has not been awarded a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalence as defined in division (E) of section 4109.06 of the Revised Code. (F) "Enrolled" refers to the status of a participant who applied for and has been accepted into the program by a provider and the department. (G) "High school diploma" means the document given to an individual who has successfully completed the competency-based standards required for graduation as described in this chapter. (H) "Instruction and assessment activities" include, but are not limited to credit-bearing, subject-matter specific courses and state and local assessments. (I) "Participant" refers to an eligible individual who applied for and has been accepted into the program by a provider and the department. (J) "Program" or "twenty-two plus program" means a program for which rules were adopted in accordance with section 3317.231 of the Revised Code and provide adults twenty-two years of age and older the opportunity to earn a diploma in accordance with sections 3314.38, 3317.23, 3317.24, and 3345.86 of the Revised Code. (K) "Provider" means a community school that operates a dropout prevention and recovery program; a city, local, or exempted village school district that operates a dropout prevention and recovery program; a joint vocational school district that operates an adult education program; or a community college, university branch, technical college or state community college. (L) "Provider Performance Report" means the measurements of success for program providers, as defined by rule 3301-45-06 of the Administrative Code. (M) "School year" or "fiscal year" means the twelve-month period beginning July first in a calendar year and ending June thirtieth of the following calendar year. Last updated July 1, 2025 at 8:59 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-03 | Provider application.
(A) The department shall develop procedures for educational institutions to apply to become providers of educational services to participants. (B) No educational institution or provider may apply that has a graduation rate lower than forty per cent unless a corrective action plan is submitted to the department. (C) Provider applicants apply to the department by July first of the fiscal year in which they wish to be a provider. Provider applicants will be notified within thirty days of the department receiving their application of their application's status. (D) For all initial applications, a provider is required to submit to the department detailed information, including, but not be limited to: (1) How the provider applicant intends to assess and award prior credit through the evaluation of student transcripts, work experience, and other prior experience; (2) How the provider applicant intends to assess the mastery of competencies and award credit during participation in the program; (3) Support services available to participants, including academic and career counseling to address post-secondary and workforce training options; (4) If the provider enrolls students in grades kindergarten to twelve, how the institution will ensure that participants will not be assigned to classes or settings with students younger than eighteen years of age; (5) How the provider applicant will ensure the twenty-two plus program is accessible to all students, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender, individuals with disabilities, individuals from economically disadvantaged families, single parents, including pregnant women, out-of-workforce individuals, English learners, and homeless individuals, pursuant to rule 3301-13-09 of the Administrative Code; and (6) Assurances that the provider will comply with any reviews, audits, and on-site visits conducted by the department of education and workforce. (E) Approved providers shall update their applications and provide written notice to the department if there are any changes made to their program. Subject to paragraph (D) of this rule, approved providers will continue to be approved as a provider each year for a maximum of five years upon providing to the department evidence of meeting the requirements set forth in paragraphs (E)(1) and (E)(2) of this rule. At the end of the fifth year, providers will need to apply in accordance with paragraph (D) of this rule. (1) Approved providers must maintain a graduation rate at forty per cent or higher. (2) Approved providers must ensure that at least eighty per cent of twenty-two plus participants complete a minimum of forty per cent of the participant's outstanding graduation requirements during year one of the program. (F) The department will monitor each provider's compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Failure to comply may result in the withdrawal of funding and the educational institution becoming ineligible to provide services under this program. Providers that do not meet one or more of the criteria in paragraph (E) of this rule, will be removed from the program for a period of one fiscal year and may reapply the following fiscal year. (G) Community schools providing services to participants must provide assurances, in writing, that the governing authority for the community school and the sponsor of the community school are aware of and consent to participation in the program as a provider. Sponsors of community schools providing services to participants under this chapter shall include compliance and performance provisions in contracts executed under section 3314.03 of the Revised Code. In addition to oversight by the department, sponsors are responsible for monitoring compliance and performance of community schools providing services to participants under this chapter. Last updated July 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-04 | Provider requirements.
(A) Providers shall report enrollment on a full-time equivalency (FTE) basis for adult high school programs operated by the provider to the department. (B) The department shall periodically review enrollment and attendance policies, enrollment data and the educational institution's procedures for maintaining enrollment and attendance documentation substantiating payments made to the educational institutions for participating adult learners. (C) Adult learners shall not be used in the calculation of state weighted funding (categorical funding) available in the regular kindergarten through twelfth grade funding formula, nor shall adult learners be included in the calculation of federal title fund allocations for public school districts, unless at such time a federal entitlement fund is specifically inclusive of adult learners. Adult learners enrolled in the adult (twenty-two plus) high school diploma program shall not be used in the calculation of the state subsidy performance funding formula for post-secondary institutions. (D) Providers are to submit participant applications to the department between August first and June first of any given fiscal year. (E) Providers will not receive funding for coursework or assessments taken prior to the participant having reached awarded status. (F) Providers must submit all invoices for amounts due under the program by June thirtieth of the fiscal year in which a participant participated in the program. (G) Providers shall complete and submit to the appropriate school district of residence a certificate of completion for each participant who meets all graduation requirements within thirty days of the participant's completion of graduation requirements. (H) Providers must provide career counseling to all participants. (I) The department will monitor each provider's compliance with the requirements of this chapter. Failure to comply may result in the withdrawal of funding and the educational institution becoming ineligible to provide services under this program. (J) Providers report annually, no later than August fifteenth, the following for each participant: (1) Demographic information, including age at enrollment, gender, race/ethnicity; (2) The number of courses and/or assessments needed to graduate at the time of enrollment; (3) The number and subject of each course in which a participant participated during the school year; (4) The number and subject of each course a participant completed during the school year; (5) The subject area graduation tests needed to graduate at the time of enrollment; (6) The end-of-course tests and total points needed to graduate at the time of enrollment; (7) The number, by subject area, of graduation tests passed during the school year; and (8) Date diploma awarded, if applicable. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-05 | Enrollment.
(A) The department shall develop a reporting system to track enrollment of participants throughout the course of a school year to maximize capacity of the program. (B) The department may limit enrollment by a provider to ensure that services for participants are accessible throughout the state. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-06 | Measurement of provider performance.
(A) The department shall report each provider's performance related to the twenty-two plus program in the provider performance report. (B) To prepare the provider performance report, the department of education and workforce shall collect, monitor and report the following performance measures for each provider: (1) Average number of credits earned per participant; (2) Percentage of participants completing forty per cent or more of credits necessary to earn a diploma during year one of participation in the twenty-two plus program; (3) Average FTE per student is calculated in the following manner: FTE of .2 being equal to one course and FTE of .1 being equal to one assessment; (4) Number and percentage of participants who earned their diploma, withdrew from the program, and/or returned for their second year; and (5) Performance on state-required content assessments and other relevant work-readiness tests (such as WorkKeys, or technical skill tests). (C) The department shall publish the provider performance report on the department's website (education.ohio.gov) annually. (D) In order to be eligible to enroll additional participants for the following school year,the average number of credits earned per participant must meet or exceed forty per cent of the total number of credits necessary to meet graduation requirements. (E) The department of education and workforce shall establish a minimum performance level for percentage of diplomas awarded. Last updated July 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-07 | Process to earn a high school diploma.
(A) Providers are required to complete and maintain a credit recovery plan for each participant in the application that outlines the courses and assessments needed to complete all requirements for a diploma. (B) The applicable graduation requirements for a participant's credit recovery plan are those that were in place for the state of Ohio at the time the participant first entered the ninth grade. (C) A diploma shall be awarded to a participant who: (1) Earns high school credit as outlined in section 3313.603 of the Revised Code; (2) Satisfies the applicable testing requirements as outlined in section 3313.614 of the Revised Code; and (3) The department will determine an acceptable alternate assessment if an assessment is no longer available. (D) The provider shall have in place progress benchmarks, established within the individual student success plan, to monitor each participant's advancement toward completing a high school diploma and becoming career ready. (E) In consultation with the department, providers may award appropriate prior learning credit using educational options for work-based learning experiences prior to enrolling the student in the twenty-two plus program. (F) No reimbursement shall be granted for prior learning credit. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-08 | Contracting educational services.
(A) Providers may contract services provided under this chapter to appropriate third-party entities. (B) Notwithstanding paragraph (A) of this rule, approved providers are responsible for: (1) Accurate reporting of performance, and enrollment information; and (2) Administering policies and procedures for the program in accordance with this chapter. (C) Contractors may consult directly with the department as it pertains to: (1) Technical support; and (2) Application support. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-09 | District of residence.
The school district of residence at the time of enrollment of a participant who has completed graduation requirements through participation in this program shall issue a high school diploma and final transcript not more than sixty days after receiving a certificate of completion from an approved provider. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:43 AM Supplemental Information |
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Rule 3301-45-10 | Standards for competency-based education.
The following are minimum competency-based education standards for providers of the twenty-two program: (A) Make programming accessible to all students and applied equitably to all students; (B) Identify expectations reflecting the explicit and measurable learning objectives, knowledge and skills for each course; (C) Include intentionally designed and engaged participant experiences; (D) Allow participants to receive timely and meaningful supports based on individual needs; (E) Allow participants to advance at their own pace upon demonstration of mastery of skills; (F) Clearly define the criteria for awarding credit and/or grades. Last updated February 11, 2025 at 8:44 AM Supplemental Information |