(a) General Requirements. The Opportunity High School Diploma Program is an alternative competency-based high school diploma program to be offered for concurrent enrollment to an adult student without a high school diploma who is enrolled in a career and technical education program at a public junior college. The program may include any combination of instruction, curriculum, internships, or other means by which a student may attain the knowledge sufficient to adequately prepare the student for postsecondary education or additional workforce education.
(b) Curricular Requirements. An approved public junior college shall embed the following baseline student learning outcomes in the program. A public junior college may also add curricular elements designed to meet regional employers' needs or specific workforce needs. Core program competencies shall include:
  (1) Quantitative Reasoning, including the application of mathematics to the analysis and interpretation of theoretical and real-world problems to draw relevant conclusions or solutions.
  (2) Communication Skills, including reading, writing, listening, speaking, and non-verbal communication.
  (3) Civics, including the structure of government, processes to make laws and policies, constitutional principles of checks and balances, separation of powers, federalism, and rights and responsibilities of a citizen.
  (4) Scientific Reasoning, including problem-solving that involves forming a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, determining and analyzing evidence, and interpreting results.
  (5) Workplace Success Skills, including dependability, adaptability, working with others, initiative, resilience, accountability, critical thinking, time management, organizing, planning, problem-solving, conflict resolution, and self-awareness.
(c) Prior Learning and Program Completions. A public junior college approved to offer this program must determine each student's competence in each of the five core program competencies set out in subsection (b) of this section prior to enrolling the student in the program of instruction and upon the student's completion of the program of instruction.
  (1) The program of instruction assigned to each student will be based on the student's prior learning and assessments of the student's competencies for each of the five core program competencies. A student may be determined to have satisfied required learning outcomes for one or more core program competencies based on the student's prior learning.
  (2) Documentation of a student's prior learning in the five core program competencies may include the following: transcripted high school grades; transcripted college credit; achievement on a national standardized test such as the SAT or ACT; credit earned through military service as recommended by the American Council on Education; or demonstrated success on pre-program assessments.
  (3) The Commissioner shall identify, consider, and approve assessments, in consultation with the Texas Workforce Commission, to be used by a public junior college to determine a student's successful achievement of the five core program competencies and completion of the program.
  (4) The Coordinating Board will publish a list of the approved assessments on the agency's website.
  (5) A public junior college that is approved to offer the program must use an approved assessment to evaluate each student's competence in the five core program competencies as required under subsection (b) of this section.
(d) Location of Program. Subject to approval under this subchapter, a public junior college may enter into agreement with one or more public junior colleges, general academic teaching institutions, public school districts, or nonprofit organizations to offer this program. The public junior college may offer this program at any campus of an entity subject to an agreement to offer this program.
(e) Award of High School Diploma. A public junior college participating in the program shall award a high school diploma to a student enrolled in this program if the student satisfactorily completes an approved assessment that provides evidence of competence in the five core program requirements as required under this rule. A high school diploma awarded under this program is equivalent to a high school diploma awarded under Texas Education Code, §28.025.

Source Note: The provisions of this §12.5 adopted to be effective May 16, 2024, 49 TexReg 3259