The Virginia Board of Education on Thursday accepted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration’s request to delay the review of the state’s new history and social sciences standards until Nov. 17.
The Board also receives proposals for the curriculum framework at the same meeting.
“Our commitment to wanting all of Virginia and America’s history to be told remains unchanged,” said Gillian Barrow, Superintendent of Public Education. “We want all our students to engage in fact-based, inquiry-based instruction throughout their education in an age-appropriate way, and that is what we want to ensure. To some extent, we really don’t want to apologize for spending extra time on this because we want to get this right.”
In a letter to the board on Monday, Barrow said new board members had raised concerns and questions about the rough plans since the September meeting at which earlier delays were discussed. 400 page draft standardAt the same time, staff at the Virginia Department of Education are reviewing the curriculum framework.
She also wrote that staff corrected errors, reordered guidance, and edited wording to help parents, educators, and students understand the standard documents.
The work is “of utmost importance,” she said, urging the board not to compromise on standards “that fall short of our highest standards because they are sticking to timelines.”
Five new members of the nine-member board appointed by Republican Youngkin took office for the first time in September.
Tammy Mann, executive vice president of the board appointed by former Gov. Ralph Northam, expressed concern about sabotaging the existing review process by further delaying standards.
And board member Anne Holton, who was appointed by former Governor Terry McAuliffe, noted that the draft was first released in June, adding, “I don’t understand who the voices want to be on board with this.” said. Pay enough attention to ever consider.
Previously reported VPM Balow is working with the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank headquartered in Washington, DC, to develop standards.
Barrow said Thursday that representatives from American University, the University of Virginia, Baylor University in Texas and Hillsdale University in Michigan have expressed interest in commenting on the draft standards.
The standards outline Virginia’s expectations for student learning in history and social sciences and are assessed through learning standards tests. virginia code The Board should review the criteria every seven years to update content and reflect current academic research.
The Code does not provide a deadline for Board acceptance of the standards, but it is expected to be implemented in the 2023-24 academic year.
Balow’s plan is for an initial board review to begin on November 17th, followed by community engagement sessions between November 28th and December 16th.
Board hearings will be held between January 9th and 13th, one month behind the latest plans. A final review and adoption will take place a month later in his February. VDOE staff will finalize the curriculum framework from March to August.
Youngkin-appointed board member Bill Hansen said Barrow’s plan would put the board where it needed to be, but he said members were “a little scrummed” due to the delay of a few more months. I felt that I had
The state’s review of history and social science standards began two years ago. This included repeated meetings of the school board and expert committee, as well as public input from more than 5,000 commenters. Since then, the total number of comments he has increased to 6,000.
Multiple Leaders Oppose Delays
According to VEA President James Federman, members of the Virginia Education Association called for “partisan politics to be set aside” in the draft historical criteria.
He said the administration should have corrected “a handful” of standard grammatical errors after three months of delay.
In a statement, Federman said, “Further delay in the standards would actually do harm. If the standards are not released by the end of the summer, educators will need to review them and prepare for the new school year. We will not have enough time to create quality teaching and learning materials.”
Zowee Aquino of the nonprofit Hamkae Center also urged the board to move forward on Wednesday.
“All delays mean less time for teachers and school departments to properly implement SOL,” Aquino said. Continue the process by incorporating their input and stop the delays.”
Teacher Schuyler VanValkenburg, D-Henrico, said on Thursday that “consistent delays” in approving standards meant that the Youngkin administration was too busy with “ideological crusade” and “culture wars” that officials were “dropping the ball”. ‘, he tweeted. on academic issues.
He said it took individuals and groups years and still months to provide information.
“There is no need to give far-right groups a heckling veto,” VanValkenburg wrote. “Academic he needs an administrator to stop policy delays. [because] All their energies are directed towards the culture wars. “
Revised Plan for Adopting Historical and Social Science Criteria
October-November 2022
- Ask for additional information, incorporate changes, and edit standard documents
November 17, 2022
- First review of standards document
November 28-December 16, 2022
- Community engagement session
January 9-13, 2023
- State Commission Hearings
January to February 2023
- Final standard content review
- Check public comments
- Incorporating changes into standards documents
February 2023
- Review and adoption by state commissions
March to August
- Establishing the District’s Curriculum Framework
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