As we have had the opportunity to have conversations across the state, it is abundantly clear how important our educators are to the impact of students every day. We know that having a high-quality teacher makes a tremendous difference to every student. We also know that school and division leaders have been deeply focused on filling teacher vacancies, and you have reported a statewide vacancy rate under 3.4% at the beginning of the school year. It is also essential for our students to attend school every day.  Over 81%  of our schools have improved student attendance and increased attendance to ensure students received an additional 8,935,654 hours of instruction. This has resulted in an improved absenteeism rate of 16.1% in 2023-2024 from 19.3% in 2022-2023. It is also critical that our teachers are present every day. Teachers play an incredibly important role in your students’ education, and we thank you for committing to come to school every day and support them.

This week, VDOE’s leadership team had the opportunity to read to students in Independence Elementary and participate in Grayson County High School’s naval JROTC ceremony. We were excited to support the community and their resilience after the recent flooding. All school leaders, teachers, and students were hard at work and focused on providing high-quality learning experiences every day.  The senior leadership team also visited the EO Center in Abingdon, Virginia. The public-private partnership provides a cradle to career pathway that has an expansive career exploration center for students and schools to turn career exploration into concrete learning experiences that will help students better understand their interests and which career areas they want to explore further.    

At VASS, Pearson committed to providing several resources regarding upcoming assessments and parent communications. See resources from this presentation here:   

1. VDOE VASS Presentation October 28
2. VASS Innovative Items Samples
3. Sample 2024-25 Video Parent Report

I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday this evening! 

Best, 

Lisa 

The VDOE, in collaboration with its state-funded partners and James Madison University School of Education, will host a two-day conference on December 10-11, 2024, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, for principals and assistant principals in the Commonwealth’s public schools that are federally identified (Comprehensive Support and Improvement, Targeted Support and Improvement, or Additional Targeted Support and Improvement) for continuous improvement needs in special education.  

The VDOE will roll out tiered supports targeted to local school divisions in the implementation of high-quality instruction for students with disabilities aligned to the School Performance and Support Framework and focused on instructional practices to support specially designed instruction in inclusive settings. Principals have critical roles in developing and supporting inclusive schools to improve outcomes for students with disabilities. Instructional leadership and administration are at the helm of importance in developing effectiveness for optimal teaching and learning provided by general and special education teachers who understand and implement evidence-based practices to increase student achievement. Students with disabilities require specially designed instruction in their least restrictive environment to access the general curriculum in preparation for successful courses of study and experiences to graduate and attain meaningful postsecondary outcomes. 

School principals and assistant principals are encouraged to attend to maximize their leadership roles as the driver of inclusive and high-achieving schools. The School-Based Instructional Leadership and Administration in Special Education Conference Registration closes Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at 4 p.m.

The survey response collection window for the Teacher Survey of Curriculum Use has now been extended to November 8, 2024.  

The Institute of Education Policy at Johns Hopkins School of Education released the Teacher Survey of Curriculum Use on behalf of the Virginia Department of Education to division superintendents on September 25, 2024, for all K-12 ELA and mathematics classroom teachers. These data will be used to inform future decisions about K-12 ELA and mathematics instructional materials and resources used to support the curriculum in the Commonwealth.  

The Department would like your assistance to support a high teacher response rate because this will provide actionable data to include teachers’ voices about their intentional use of current instructional materials, provide baseline data that enables targeted curriculum-based professional learning support, and to engage in responsive long-term planning in selecting high-quality instructional materials (HQIM). Division leaders will receive division-level results as long as the number of teachers submitting is statistically significant, so divisions should strive for at least 50% of teachers to complete the survey. This data will help divisions compare their division to others in the state and receive important information to support their teachers in instruction.  

Division superintendents are asked to share with key division leaders to ensure that the survey is disseminated to and completed by K-12 ELA and mathematics classroom teachers. 

Direct Link for K-12 ELA and mathematics classroom teachers: Teacher Survey of Curriculum Use

The VDOE is expected to seek a waiver on alternative assessment for the 2024-2025 school year from the Secretary of the United States Department of Education. Regulations requires state educational agencies, such as the VDOE, to limit the total number of students assessed in a subject area using an alternate assessment. The limit on the percentage of students assessed by the alternate assessment is set by the federal regulation, stating there shall be no more than 1% of the total number of students assessed taking the alternate assessment in each subject area.

Public comment on this waiver is open. Any individual or organization may submit written comments on the proposed waiver. The proposed waiver request for comment is available on the VDOE Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) webpage. Written comments must be submitted to Accountability@doe.virginia.gov by November 25, 2024. 

This information is requested to be shared with members within the education community and local boards of education. 

The Office of Assessment is accepting nominations for standard setting committees for the Reading Standards of Learning tests. Standard setting is necessary because of the implementation of new reading tests in spring 2025 based on the 2024 English Standards of Learning. 

The committee meetings will be held December 10-12, 2024, in Glen Allen, Virginia. 

The standard setting committees are responsible for recommending performance level cuts that not only reflect students’ achievement status but also promote high expectations for all students in Virginia. The recommendations developed by the committee will ultimately be considered by the Board of Education as part of a broader, comprehensive process for establishing performance level cuts.      Selected committee members will be expected to sign and adhere to a Non-Disclosure/Conflict of Interest Agreement and be present for the entire first two days of the meetings. Some committee members will be asked to attend a third day, December 12, of the standard setting process and will be notified of this request ahead of time.  

School division leaders/principals are invited to nominate teachers from their school division to serve on each of the standard setting committees using the Reading Standard Setting Nomination form. Nominations are to be submitted by school division personnel in the online nomination form no later than Friday, November 8, 2024. Please refer to the Reading Standards Setting Information document for detailed information and criteria. 

If you have questions, please contact the assessment staff at Student_Assessment@doe.virginia.gov or (804) 225-2102. 

The Virginia Department of Education, Office of School and Community Nutrition Programs, received approval from the United States Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, to implement waivers that allow for non-congregate meal service when congregate meal service operations are limited due to unanticipated reasons, in the following programs: 

• National School Lunch Program 
• School Breakfast Program 
• Seamless Summer Option 
• Summer Food Service Program 
• Child and Adult Care Food Program 

These waivers apply to situations when schools experience an unanticipated closure and when virtual instruction is or is not being provided. All waivers are effective through June 30, 2025. For more information on specific waivers and their usage, please refer to SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-43. 

The VDOE-SCNP is hosting an optional webinar to review all information included in SCNP Director’s Memo #2024-2025-43 on Thursday, November 14, 2024, from 2-3 p.m.  

Register for the optional webinar by 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7, 2024. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.