Latest news with #VirginiaDepartmentofEducation
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Va. education department plans to launch Office of Excellence and Best Practices
Students in a classroom. (Photo by Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images) The Virginia Department of Education is preparing to launch a new Office of Excellence and Best Practices by hiring an executive director who will be responsible for fostering innovation, highlighting high-performing schools, and directing resources toward initiatives with a proven track record of improving student outcomes. The agency posted an advertisement for the opening last week. Superintendent of Public Instruction Emily Anne Gullickson, who began in March, said it has been challenging for the agency to track and share successful educational practices and resources across school divisions, despite significant funding. She believes the office will help. 'One of the things we're really working hard at in the department is breaking down silos, including on data sharing, real impact, proven resources that are quickly scalable and usable from the field,' said Gullickson. 'We have made progress, but we have a lot more to do to really better support our educators with this data.' Some Democratic state legislators, including Senate Education and Health Committee Chair Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, are concerned about the timing of the agency's decision to fill a senior position. Since Youngkin completes his term in January, the next governor's administration may have different ideas about the new office and its leadership. 'If this role is truly essential to the department's mission, the decision should be left to the next administration, which will be responsible for setting future education policy and direction,' Hashmi said. 'Rushing to fill it now appears to be more about entrenching a political agenda than serving Virginia's students.' The governor's administration and Democrats have not seen eye-to-eye on many education priorities with few exceptions, including their work to improve assessment testing and increase teacher pay. In 2022, Youngkin laid out his legislative priorities including his administration's efforts to'restore excellence in education,' after pointing to the state's 'low' proficiency standards and parents' battles with school divisions over their rights and concerns. The governor also called for investing in charter schools and developing more lab schools. Democrats have sparred with the administration over most of the governor's initiatives that involved public education funding and equity, curriculum changes and his scholarship program proposal. The administration, lawmakers and educators also disagreed over the administration's process for revising school history and social science standards, which determine what students need to know in those subjects before graduating. The Office of Excellence and Best Practices director, once hired, will work in tandem with the Road to Readiness School Performance and Support Framework Resource Hub, which offers free educational resources to families and educators. The application process closes on June 11. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
SOL scores to account for 10% of student's final grade to raise student performance
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — As summer break approaches for students across the Commonwealth, legislators are already preparing ahead of the 2025-26 school year. One big change for the upcoming school year includes changes to the Standards of Learning (SOL) tests for Virginia schools. Now, starting with students in the 7th grade and into their senior year of high school, SOL scores will account for 10% of a student's final grade. Officials said the goal of the change is to raise student performance throughout the state. Another change to the tests is how the SOLs will be scored. Starting in the new year, SOLs will be scored on a 100-point scale. End of course assessments will also have to be given no earlier than two weeks before the last day of school. Many schools across the Commonwealth, however, are still waiting on the Virginia Department of Education for guidance on the new changes. In 2024, SOL scores in Virginia showed a slight improvement, but Governor Glenn Youngkin said more work needs to be done. The new SOLs are expected to roll out by the 2025-26 school year. For more information on the SOL Assessment Program, click here. Continue to check for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Virginia teachers struggle to keep up as history guide rollout lags
Virginia history book materials. (Photo by Mechelle Hankerson/ Virginia Mercury) Virginia teachers are still flying blind months into a new school year — trying to adapt to overhauled history standards without the full set of instructional guides the state promised to help them navigate the change. Since early April, the Virginia Department of Education has continued to publish its history instructional guides to help prepare teachers to instruct students in the state's updated history and social studies standards. Superintendent of Public Instruction Emily Anne Gullickson said at the Board of Education's March meeting that part of the delay stemmed from staff adding web links to primary and secondary sources in the guides. Since then, the agency has been releasing instructional guides for its history and social science courses on a weekly basis. The department says the instructional guides provide educators with directions for implementing the recently adopted 2023 History and Social Science Standards of Learning, which replace the 2015 version. Danyael Graham, president of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, said teachers have already begun lesson planning and receiving training on the 2023 standards. Educators have also been required to start integrating the standards into their instruction. However, Graham said, it has been difficult to build effective lessons without the necessary guides that clarify what teachers need to know — particularly in preparation for state assessments. She explained that the 2015 standards, along with their accompanying curriculum framework, provided detailed expectations for what students were supposed to learn. In contrast, the 2023 standards do not include a curriculum framework and instead rely on instructional guides, which teachers are still waiting on to fully adjust their lessons. As a result, Graham noted that teachers will likely spend unplanned time over summer break or in August reviewing the complex documents and modifying their lesson plans. 'They're unsure what resources to turn to,' Graham said, 'And while it's great that (VDOE) is putting these links in here (and) is going to be supportive for teachers, it's very late.' Graham also worries the delay will also negatively affect elementary teachers who are already juggling other state curriculum changes in math and literacy. Publishing the documents 'earlier' would have been ideal, she said. However, 'I at least do appreciate that they're sticking to their timeline.' In the meantime, Graham said the consortium is gradually releasing its own document to help teachers craft lesson plans and connect the instructional guides. She said the organization believes it's important to support educators of all experience levels by offering teacher-facing lessons — educational content and activities designed to enhance their instruction during a time of major transition. 'We know they're overwhelmed, we know they're burnt out, or we know they're entirely new to the field and need direction,' Graham said. 'So we thought that by building out these inquiry-based tasks, we're providing them with some high-quality instructional materials that they can then use and plug into their classes.' In March, Gullickson took over the department after former Superintendent Lisa Coons resigned amid growing pressure from teachers and educational organizations calling for the release of the instructional guides. Since then, the agency has kept to its rollout schedule. It plans to complete the release of the final four instructional guides over the next two weeks. These remaining courses include Grade 2, Grade 4 Virginia Studies, Grade 10 World History and Geography: 1500 to the Present and Grade 11 Virginia and United States History. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Virginia schools assure compliance with parental rights laws
(Photo by Getty Images) Under the looming threat of federal consequences for inaction, all 136 local education agencies in the commonwealth — including public schools, the Virginia Juvenile Justice Center and Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind — have officially assured the Virginia Department of Education that they're complying with parental rights laws. On March 28, the U.S. Department of Education directed states to provide evidence that schools are complying with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) by April 30. These laws ensure parents have the right to inspect and review education records and student safety standards, and to be notified annually about their rights, military recruiter access to their child, and the school's overall compliance record. The federal agency sought the information after explaining that it has been 'overburdened' with reports of FERPA complaints that claim schools nationwide have been hiding information from parents, including gender transition records. 'As any mother would be, I have been appalled to learn how schools are routinely hiding information about the mental and physical health of their students from parents,' said U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a March 28 letter. 'The practice of encouraging children down a path with irreversible repercussions — and hiding it from parents — must end.' The agency warned schools that if they failed to comply, they would face an investigation and loss of federal funding. The Virginia Department of Education, which provided the school compliance list to USDOE, stated all of the education agencies in the commonwealth 'exceed' federal FERPA expectations by following state law, which sets 'higher standards' for the disclosure of certain student data, such as contact information including addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers. Under FERPA, the contact information may be designated as 'directory information' and may be disclosed without the consent of a parent or eligible student, unless such person has opted out of such designation. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and his Republican colleagues have made parental rights a cornerstone of his administration and legislative efforts, repeatedly asserting that 'a parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.' Youngkin's administration has enacted several measures to reinforce these rights, including policies requiring parents to be notified about drug overdoses and making mask-wearing in schools optional. The governor also adopted legislation mandating that parents be informed about sexually explicit instructional materials in school libraries. Last month, the governor tried to amend a bill by adding language from Sage's Law, a bill which would have required public school principals to notify at least one parent if a student questions their gender identity or requests the school's participation in social affirmation or transition to a different sex or gender. However, Youngkin's amendment was rejected. During the regular legislative session earlier this year, House lawmakers failed to take up the proposed Sage's Law bill, carried by Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, for a second straight year. Freitas carried the bill that was first introduced by then-Republican Del. Dave LaRock during the 2023 General Assembly Session. The bill died in the Democratic controlled Senate that year, after passing through the House controlled by Republicans. Last session, the General Assembly failed to consider the same bill, which Youngkin said 'allows parents to be informed of the decisions relating to the mental health of their child.' The failure of the Sage's Law bill was one of the reasons why the governor last week vetoed a bill, carried by Democrats, designed to encourage school boards to remind parents about the safe storage of firearms and prescription drugs. He also added that the bill as passed by the legislature mainly concentrates on those two parental responsibilities, 'omitting other legal obligations, like providing an environment free of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tech-powered rides offer a lifeline as Va. schools grapple with bus shortages
A CareDriver with HopSkipDrive is looking over their ride details. (Photo courtesy of HopSkipDrive) A tech company is stepping in where school buses can't. HopSkipDrive, a national ridesharing company focused on 'safety, equity and care,' is expanding its supplemental school transportation services to Virginia Beach — aiming to help students with complex needs get to class while creating new job opportunities for local drivers. The company's network of 'CareDrivers' — highly vetted caregivers trained to provide transportation in communities with unique challenges, such as students experiencing homelessness, in foster care or with disabilities — has already been operating in Northern and Central Virginia, and other parts of the country. 'Transportation should never be a barrier that keeps the student from accessing their education, and we're committed to removing those obstacles,' said Cindy Hamilton, a spokeswoman for HopSkipDrive. 'We're really committed to removing those obstacles, and we're glad to be able to do so now in Virginia Beach.' The company also announced in February that wheelchair-accessible vehicles would become available in Northern Virginia, with plans to expand that offering to other cities nationwide for the 2025-26 school year. School districts typically arrange the service directly through the company. Shortly after HopSkipDrive's establishment in 2019, Virginia began seeing its list of bus drivers dwindle following the pandemic. Some of the reasons for the decline include low pay and an increase in driver retirements. The company also found that many drivers contracted COVID-19 or left for jobs in the private sector. The company surveyed schools nationally about the bus driver shortage and found little improvement. About 91% of respondents reported the shortages had constrained their school transportation operations, an increase from the 88% in 2022. According to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), the rate of unfilled bus drivers has decreased to 8.7% this school year, compared to 13.6% during the 2021-22 school year. CareDrivers has also provided opportunities for people living in and around partnership schools. Drivers include parents, grandparents, nurses and former teachers, to name a few. 'Caregivers who tell us they choose to drive with HopSkipDrive do so because of the flexibility it offers and the value of helping kids – or anyone who needs a little extra care – get where they need to go,' Hamilton said. She said applicants go through a 'rigorous' 15-point certification process before driving on the platform and can earn income while creating their own schedules. They also must comply with existing state and local laws and regulations, as well as the platform's safety features and community guidelines. 'We have designed our platform to be easy to use, enabling CareDrivers in Virginia Beach and across the state to provide safe, reliable rides for students, schools, and families when it works for their schedules,' Hamilton said. In Virginia, leaders have taken additional steps to help students get to and from school. Last month, Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed into law a proposal carried by Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt, to create a two-year pilot program allowing school divisions to explore alternative transportation options. Schools could partner with nearby colleges or private companies to help transport students. The legislation states that vehicles must comply with state and federal safety regulations and undergo regular inspections. School boards would also be required to hold a public hearing before adopting the program and must submit an annual report detailing ridership, costs, and bus routes to the Virginia Department of Education. Austin told the Mercury the bill offers another option for schools in rural areas to cut costs while ensuring students are transported efficiently. Last summer, the VDOE also amended its school bus specifications to state, 'smaller capacity fleet vehicles are some options that can be used in conjunction with customary methods to provide a flexible, efficient, and comprehensive public school pupil transportation solution.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
