Wichita schools outline 'Individual Plan of Study' to guide students from grade 6 through high school

Wichita Public Schools presented an overview of its Individual Plan of Study (IPS) program at the Aug. 4 Board of Education meeting, describing a districtwide process that starts in sixth grade and culminates in a senior electronic portfolio intended to document students’ career interests, coursework, postsecondary plans and applied experiences.

Tim Hamblin, the district’s executive director of college and career readiness, and Laura Barker, the district IPS and work-based learning specialist, described IPS as a combined product-and-process tool: students build a portfolio online while schools adopt a sequence of lessons and work-based learning experiences intended to connect classroom activities to careers.

Staff showed a senior portfolio example produced in Xello, the district’s IPS platform, demonstrating sections for personality and learning styles, career interests, backup career plans, college choices, scholarship essays and links to resumes and personal statements.

Barker said the district will provide a consistent set of lesson plans across schools, better connect field trips and work-based learning to IPS outcomes and use IPS data to target opportunities—such as inviting students to workforce camps that match demonstrated career interests. The district will also pilot a “family hub” single sign-on to make student career-planning information easier for parents to access.

Hamblin and Barker said IPS is intended to be flexible: teachers may prioritize lessons that meet immediate student needs and can reteach or reassign lessons. The district has begun integrating IPS conversations into multiple classrooms so that advocacy, English, CTE and other teachers participate in students’ plans, not only a single advisory teacher.

Board members asked how students who remain undecided will be served; staff said the program expects many students to be uncertain in middle school but that exposure through electives, CTE classes and work-based learning should help students narrow choices over time. Barker said recent seniors left high school at roughly 80–95% with a plan, varying by high school; fuller data will be reported to the board in September.

Staff also announced a community-wide career fair at Century II on April 22, a partnership with USD 259, Maize school district and the Wichita Workforce Alliance that will bring employers and universities together and provide transportation for students.