Under Rhode Island's Secondary Regulations, each student has an Individual Learning Plan (ILP) beginning no later than entry into sixth grade. The ILP is a planning and monitoring tool for a student's academic, career and personal/social goals, and it is reviewed not less than twice in each school year and during key transition periods. With the Readiness-Based Graduation Requirements beginning with the graduating Class of 2028, the ILP carries real weight as a planning tool.

The challenge: a plan without exploration

An ILP asks students to set goals in three domains and return to them at least twice a year. A sixth grader, or even a junior, cannot set a meaningful career goal without seeing what is possible. Without exploration between reviews, the ILP can become a form that is updated on schedule and rarely opened in between.

What students tell us

Across the 13th Year™ network, students are most open early, and their options narrow as graduation gets closer:

  • 32%of 9th graders are weighing more than one path after high school. By 12th grade, 16% are.
  • 53%of 9th graders are interested in more than one career field, compared with 33% of seniors.
  • 11%of 9th graders say they are not sure yet what comes next. Only 2% of seniors say so.
  • 23%of students planning on college are also considering another path, such as the skilled trades, the military, work or a business of their own.

For planning, that means the most valuable exploration happens in the first years of high school, while students are still open to what they find.

Figures come from more than 3,800 responses students submitted at 13th Year™ kiosks and school links across the 13th Year™ network in 2026, not only Rhode Island schools. Students could choose more than one answer, and some responded more than once.

Dual enrollment

Dual enrollment in Rhode Island

Rhode Island's PrepareRI Dual Enrollment Fund covers tuition and fees for part time dual enrollment and concurrent enrollment courses at the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island, so eligible students can earn high school and college credit at no cost to them or their families. State regulations define dual enrollment as college courses taught on college campuses and concurrent enrollment as college courses taught on high school campuses. Under the Board of Education's Regulations for Dual Enrollment (200-RICR-10-00-1), adopted under R.I. Gen. Laws § 16-100-3, students need approval from their principal or school head under local criteria, and each local school committee adopts a dual and concurrent enrollment policy.

Students who explore interests early can choose the dual and concurrent enrollment courses that matter most for their plans, and short daily exploration (for example on a 13th Year™ kiosk) helps them decide.

Official program information: Rhode Island Department of Education; Rhode Island Board of Education (regulations) →

What students need before the planning meeting

The most productive planning conversations happen when a student walks in with something to talk about: a career they read about, a program that surprised them, a question about the military or an apprenticeship. That kind of curiosity comes from exposure, and exposure works best when it is frequent, self-directed and part of the school day.

Practical ways to build exploration into the year

  • Explore before each ILP review. ILP reviews take place not less than twice in each school year. Time to look at colleges, skilled trades, military service and careers beforehand helps students bring real interests to each review.
  • Use the key transitions. The regulations also call for ILP reviews during key transition periods. Exploration ahead of those moments helps students arrive with questions and goals of their own.
  • Connect goals to the Readiness-Based Graduation Requirements. Beginning with the Class of 2028, each graduating senior completes a resume before graduation. Students who have explored careers have more to say in it.
  • Make exploration self-serve. Let students explore on their own time, so counselor time goes to the conversations that need it.

Where the Student Pathway System™ goes

13th Year™ places an interactive college and career kiosk in a school's hallway, a modern guidance resource students use before, during and after school. Students who have explored their options bring clearer academic and career goals to their ILP. It supports, and does not replace, Rhode Island's ILP process and school counselors.

For administrators, the questions are usually privacy and workload. The 13th Year™ platform is FERPA aligned and designed with student privacy considerations in mind. It does not access the high school's student information system, and no student data is sold. Kiosks come at no cost to the school, and 13th Year™ delivers, installs and supports every kiosk, so it is built to support your counselors, not burden them.

See how 13th Year™ supports Rhode Island high schools, or request a kiosk for your school.