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In this edition
We are trying something new this week to improve access to important information and due dates in the newsletter. The checklist, opposite, was designed to help division superintendents and staff have greater visibility of due dates and VDOE requests for reports. Find articles related to these items denoted with this symbol ⚠️ in the article titles.
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Key Takeaways
- VDOE Launches Attendance Campaign
- Virginia Teacher Website adds job listings
- Teacher Recruitment Funding Available
- Feedback sought for impact from local mandates
- VDOE Phone system updates on September 1st
This Week’s Checklist
- Division HR staff can sign up to receive training on posting job openings to teacher career website
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PAEMST nominations are open and close this January
- Make note of change to drivers ed requirements in state code
- School boards should adopt policies relating to Sexually Explicit Material and Content
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RIPE snapshot data is due via SSWS by August 31st
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Competitive Clinical Faculty Program Applications due August 25th
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M-R Fix data collection on school building conditions due August 15th
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Input to VDOE Office of Policy on fiscal impact on divisions from 5 mandates due August 31st
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Homebound Instruction Services Data Reporting window opens August 16th-September 18th
- State accreditation indicator appeals window closes August 31st
- 2022-2023 Annual School Report due to VDOE by September 14th
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Dr. Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction
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Good morning!
We hope that you are finding August full of excitement and rejuvenation. At the department, we continue to focus on innovation, changes to accreditation and accountability, and elevating educators.
We encourage you to continue to review your student data and make focused scheduling decisions that provide additional learning time for struggling students.
For the month of August, VDOE is heading out to visit classrooms. Please let us know if you would like to have VDOE staff visit your school. We are using #ElevateEducatorsVA to share the exemplary classrooms and hard work of our dedicated teaching staff, school leaders, school nutrition staff, and bus drivers. (Thank yous go out to the leaders and staff in Lynchburg for a recent visit to Linkhorne Middle School, pictured above!)
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#AttendanceMattersVA
At the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, we must ALL work together to ensure students are engaged in school every day. VDOE is launching an attendance campaign across the state. We hope you will partner with us and send letters home to families.
NoKidHungry has done extensive research in Virginia and found that if students have breakfast opportunities after the bell the schools attendance raised 6 percentage points. Learn more here.
AttendanceWorks provides outstanding family handouts for in person in instruction in multiple languages.
In addition, we encourage you to share the importance of attendance in your community. Here is an outstanding handout for discussing how much attendance impacts performance.
Finally, we know that if students miss 2-4 days in September, they are 5 times more likely to be chronically absent. So let’s start early this year and share the importance of being in school every day. I talk about student attendance in this recently produced video.
Have a great week!
Best,
Lisa
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News from Across the Commonwealth
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 Data Driven Instruction
State Superintendent Coons and Chief of Staff Raley recently toured the Faison Center in Richmond to learn about how teachers utilize data-driven decision making in their approach with students.
 Convocation
Staff at Brunswick County Public Schools recently convened to celebrate the start of the 2023-2024 school year. Their teachers, faculty, and staff were welcomed back by school board members, county supervisors, local elected officials, and community leaders! Mr. Xzorian "X" Tyler was the keynote speaker. Brunswick County recently celebrated, too, the ground breaking of the new Brunswick County Elementary School.
Photo courtesy Brunswick County Public Schools
VDOE Telephone System Upgrade in September
Audience: All
Contact: A.K. (Vijay) Ramnarain, Director of Support Services
VDOE is committed to connecting with stakeholders and wishes to inform everyone that our telephone system is being upgraded to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system. As a result, VDOE staff will be issued a new telephone number that they will begin using effective September 1st.
Ahead of this transition, staff will communicate with their contacts within school divisions and other organizations to inform them of this change and share their new telephone number. The employee directory on the VDOE website will also be updated to reflect the new telephone numbers assigned to each staff member. The current legacy phone numbers will be active for several weeks before being disconnected, and each staff member’s greeting on the existing legacy voicemail system will be changed to include their new telephone number.
Please note that existing, public-facing legacy telephone numbers associated with key VDOE offices will not change, and this will be reflected on the agency’s website as well.
We look forward to keeping in contact with everyone during this system transition and responding to your calls in a timely fashion, and to even better communication capabilities once our new VoIP system is fully implemented.
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News from our Content Specialists and Special Education
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Become a Teacher Campaign Expands to Include Career Hub Resource ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, School Principals, Teachers, HR Professionals
Contact: Dr. Meg Homer, Educator Engagement Specialist
In October 2022, the VDOE launched the microsite BecomeATeacher.virginia.gov. The site supports the VDOE’s mission to ensure quality teachers in every classroom by inspiring individuals to enter the teaching profession, helping visitors understand pathways to licensure, and curating career opportunities across Virginia schools. After a successful media campaign, the Become A Teacher website has several hundred visitors per day!
As an exciting next step, the VDOE is announcing a more comprehensive education careers tool that will link from the microsite. Divisions are invited to use this new Virginia Educators Career Hub at Jobs.BecomeATeacher.Virginia.gov, to post job opportunities at no cost and capitalize on traffic driven to the site from the VDOE's paid marketing ads. The site allows job-seekers to search for positions across divisions and regions, administrative users to pull reports on candidates, visitors to sign up for job alerts, and more! We are pleased to give school divisions access to use the Career Hub at no cost for the next two years.
The Career Hub is being offered in place of the TeachVirignia.org site.
Human capital professionals who missed the invitation to attend the information and training sessions can complete this brief form to receive training materials, access campaign assets such as posters, and receive user access. To simplify record keeping and updating of user access, we recommend that divisions keep the number of human resources employees requesting access to a minimum.
Further details will be provided in the training materials. We hope that both of these sites will be helpful to both school divisions and job seekers!
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Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Teachers
Contact: Gregory MacDougall, Science Specialist; Debra Delozier, Mathematics Specialist
VDOE is pleased to announce its participation in the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) program. PAEMST recognizes exemplary STEM teachers in each state and the four jurisdictions of the United States. This year recognition will be given to teachers of elementary mathematics and elementary science (grades k-6).
Virginia can nominate up to three state finalists in both the science and mathematics categories for national consideration. National awardees receive a $10,000 personal award and participate in recognition events and other activities.
PAEMST nominations and applications are submitted electronically through the PAEMST website. Nominations can be made by students, parents, teachers, and administrators. Teachers may also self-nominate. The nomination form must be submitted electronically by January 8, 2024, and should be completed early to allow the teacher an appropriate amount of time to prepare an application that reflects exemplary teaching. All completed applications must be submitted electronically by February 6, 2024.
Driver’s Education Update ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors
Contact: Vanessa Wigand, Health, Physical & Driver Education Coordinator
Pursuant to Senate Bill 78, (2022), Virginia Code § 22.1-205 was amended to require all state-approved public, private, and commercial driver training schools to add a 90-minute parent/student component to the classroom driver education curriculum. Following are links to the Partners for Safe Teen Driving 90-Minute Parent/Student curriculum and other instructional materials and the Parental Opt-Out Form for parents who do not live in planning district 8. In addition, the Driver Education Certificate of Completion (DEC-1 “green card”) was revised to reflect amendments to § 22.1-205, and the color of the certificate was changed from green to orange. Copies of the revised Driver Education Certificate of Completion (DEC-1 “Orange Cards”) and the 45-Hour Parent/Teen Guides will be shipped to schools in September.
Code of Virginia § 22.1-16.8 Regarding Sexually Explicit Material and Content ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents
Contact: Office of Policy (email)
On August 4, 2022, the Virginia Department of Education published Model Policies Concerning Instructional Materials with Sexually Explicit Content pursuant to Va. Code § 22.1-16.8. These model policies include information guidance, procedures, and standards relating to:
- ensuring parental notification;
- directly identifying the specific instructional material and sexually explicit subjects; and
- permitting the parent of any student to review instructional material that includes sexually explicit content and provide, as an alternative, nonexplicit instructional material and related academic activities to any students whose parent so requests.
As provided in the Code, “Each school board shall adopt policies that are consistent but may be more comprehensive than the model policies developed by the Department...”.
Recruitment Incentive for Public Education (RIPE) Funding Available ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors
Contact: Shawna LeBlond, Grants Manager
For the third consecutive year, funding is available to support recruitment efforts for school divisions hiring to fill instructional positions between August 15, 2023 and November 30, 2023. School divisions interested in this funding must submit a snapshot of their vacancy data as of August 15, 2023 via the Recruitment Incentive for Public Education (RIPE) application on the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal.
The RIPE vacancy data for school year 2023-2024 must be submitted between Monday, August 14, 2023 and Thursday, August 31, 2023.
The 2023-2024 RIPE document (DOCX) includes comprehensive details about the application process including eligibility and program requirements.
Clinical Faculty Program Proposals Sought ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors
Contact: Shawna LeBlond, Grants Manager
The Office of Teacher Education is thrilled to call for proposals for the Competitive Clinical Faculty Program. The grant is to provide training and mentoring during the 2023-2024 school year for teachers designated as clinical faculty and/or new teacher mentors. Clinical Faculty Programs should assist pre-service teachers and beginning teachers to make a successful transition into full-time teaching. This training and mentoring are a means to support teacher effectiveness and promote teacher retention.
Virginia public school divisions or consortia of public-school divisions in partnership with regionally accredited institutions of higher education that have Board of Education approved educator preparation programs to support Clinical Faculty Programs are invited to apply by 4 p.m on Friday, August 25, 2023.
Full details about this year’s application process can be found online. This article first ran in edition #2023-04.
Code Update for Joint and Regional Schools
Audience: Superintendents, Directors; Academic Year Governor's School Directors
Contact: Amanda Nevetral, Coordinator of Governor's Schools and Gifted Education (K-12)
On April 11, 2022, the General Assembly of Virginia added section § 22.1-26.2 as follows related to regional, academic year Governor’s Schools.
§ 22.1-26.2. Academic year Governor's Schools; certain practices prohibited and required.
A. No academic year Governor's School or governing board member, director, administrator, or employee thereof shall discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the process of admitting students to such school.
B. Each local school board that jointly manages and controls a regional academic year Governor's school pursuant to § 22.1-26 shall collaborate to ensure that each public middle school that is eligible to send students to attend such Governor's school offers coursework, curriculum, and instruction that is comparable in content and in rigor in order to provide each student in each such middle school with the opportunity to gain admission to and excel academically at such Governor's school.
This article first ran in edition #2023-04.
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School Performance & Support
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Public School Age and Condition Data Collection (M-R FIX System) ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, Non-teaching staff
Contact: A.K. (Vijay) Ramnarain, Director of Support Services, Nancy Hartigan, Architectural Consultant
§22.1-138.3, Code of Virginia, requires the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), in consultation with the Virginia Department of General Services (DGS), to develop and maintain a data collection tool to assist each school board to determine the relative age and condition of each public school building in the school division. This data is important to state policymakers.
School divisions were informed of this new requirement in March 2023 through Superintendent’s Memo #054. Subsequently, the VDOE and DGS conducted four training sessions to assist school divisions in completing the M-R FIX data collection templates. Divisions that have not done so are urged to submit their templates to VDOE by August 15, 2023. The data from school divisions will be used to create a complete and accurate report as required by §22.1.-138.3 to determine the relative age and condition of each public school building in Virginia.
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Feedback Needed on Annual Local Mandate Assessments ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals
Contact: Office of Policy (email)
As required by § 15.2-2903 of the Code of Virginia and Executive Order 58 (2007), each year the Commission on Local Government asks state agencies to evaluate selected legislative mandates placed on localities for their efficacy and impact. This year, VDOE will be reviewing five mandates. Insight and feedback from local school divisions, educational stakeholders, and area experts are an essential part of the evaluation process. You can find more information for each mandate, including a brief description of the mandate, relevant statutory and regulatory citations, and history in the 2023 Catalog of State and Federal Mandates on Local Governments using the corresponding catalog number listed.
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Teacher License Required (SOE.DOE174)
- Self-Assessment and Action Planning for Inclusion Practices (SOE.DOE175)
- Student Achievement and Graduation Requirements (SOE.DOE176)
- Carbon Monoxide Detectors Required (SOE.DOE177)
- Participation in the Afterschool Meal Program (SOE.DOE178)
You may submit feedback regarding the estimated fiscal impact or the effectiveness or alternative means of accomplishing the goal of these mandates. Both the Local Fiscal Impact Comments Form and general feedback may be submitted via email to policy@doe.virginia.gov. All comments are due by August 31, 2023.
Homebound Instruction Services Data Reporting ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, Data Staff; Homebound Services Coordinator
Contact: Amy Edwards, Medicaid Specialist
The Homebound Instruction Services Data Reporting for school year 2022-2023 will be collected through the Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal. The data requested will include each homebound teacher’s license number, hourly rate of payment, and number of hours worked. The license number of the teacher monitoring online homebound instruction will also be needed.
The window for submission of the reports opens on August 16, 2023, and ends on September 18, 2023. Please note that any data entered before the initiation date will be lost when the system opens. It is critical that school divisions meet the September 18, 2023 deadline for submissions to ensure timely reimbursements for fiscal year 2023 state funds. Individuals who will be entering data who do not have a current homebound password will need to obtain one by contacting the SSWS Account Manager designated for their respective school division.
Appeal of Performance Level Designation for Accreditation Indicator ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals
Contact: Amy Siepka, Director, Office of Accountability
A local school board may appeal a performance level designation for a state accreditation indicator, as described in the Standards of Accreditation (SOA). Per the SOA, the Virginia Board of Education (Board) shall grant such appeals only in limited circumstances that warrant special consideration in designating performance levels.
The intent of this provision in the SOA is to provide potential relief to schools that have experienced a significant event impacting performance on an indicator. Such circumstances should be unusual, and appeals based on this section of the SOA should be rare.
Should a school division have a school that has been impacted by a significant event affecting an indicator used in the accreditation process, an appeals form (DOCX) should be completed and submitted by August 31, 2023, to accountability@doe.virginia.gov.
Virginia Board of Education Approves Changes to Certain Testing Requirements for Writing
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Teachers; Supervisors of English/Language Arts
Contact: Dr. Sarah Susbury, Director of Student Assessment
On Thursday, July 27, 2023, the Virginia Board of Education (Board) approved a proposal (DOCX) that changes the expectations for writing assessments for grade 5 and grade 8 students. Specifically, the Board approved the elimination of the grade 8 Standards of Learning (SOL) Writing test beginning in spring 2024 when the new integrated reading and writing items become part of the grades 5, 8, and end-of-course (EOC) SOL Reading tests.
Additional details about these spring 2024 changes and the concurrent implementation of the new integrated reading and writing items in the grades 5, 8, and EOC SOL Reading tests, including scheduling information, will be provided to school divisions later in August. This article first ran in edition #2023-05.
Implementation of SOL Integrated Reading and Writing Items (Spring 2024)
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Teachers; Supervisors of English/Language Arts
Contact: Dr. Sarah Susbury, Director of Student Assessment
Beginning in spring 2024, newly developed integrated reading and writing items will be administered as an additional component of the grade 5, grade 8, and end-of-course Standards of Learning (SOL) Reading tests. With these new items, students are presented with a nonfiction passage based on history or science content that is accompanied by 6 questions connected to the passage in addition to a writing prompt based on the passage. The nonfiction passage provides context for students to use when responding to the prompt, or it may serve as a springboard for students who choose to incorporate personal experiences in their responses.
Additional details about the administration of the new integrated reading and writing component in spring 2024, including scheduling information, will be provided to Division Directors of Testing in early August. This article first ran in edition #2023-04.
Change to Virginia’s Code: School Counselor Staff Time (§22.1-291.1:1)
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals; School Counselors
Contact: Joseph Wharff, Director, Office of Student Services
The 2023 General Assembly approved Senate Bill 1043, which incorporates consistent statewide definitions and expectations for licensed professional school counselors for the provision of “direct counseling services” and “program planning and school support.” This legislation further defines the role of the school counselor that was established through legislation from House Bill 1729 in the 2019 General Assembly, which amended requirements for the allocation of school counselor staff time. The effective date of this legislation is July 1, 2023. Although the transition of non-counseling duties is expected to begin immediately, it is reasonable to expect that a period in which school counselors may continue to cover previously assigned responsibilities may be required as duties are reallocated.
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Supporting Early Childhood Care & Education
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What’s Happening with VDOE Early Childhood Initiatives
Audience: Superintendents, Directors, School Principals, Child Care Center Operators, Teachers
Contact: Ayasha N. Sledge, Strategic Communications Specialist
Jenna Conway, Deputy Superintendent of Early Childhood Care and Education, delivered a comprehensive presentation entitled Early Childhood State of the State Updates for Summer 2023 in which she shared key updates for early childhood in Virginia. Watch this informative and thorough review of key accomplishments and successes of the past year, as well as preview the exciting work that is on the horizon. Recorded July 26, 2023. This article first ran in edition #2023-05.
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Division Finance and Budgeting
FY 2023 Annual School Report ⚠️
Audience: Superintendents, School Finance Directors
Contact: Ed Lanza, Director of Budget
School divisions and regional programs that wish to request a 15-day extension (until September 29, 2023) for their 2022-2023 ASR submission must, per Section 22.1-81, Code of Virginia, submit a written request signed by the division superintendent, or designee, to Dr. Lisa Coons, Superintendent of Public Instruction, to the email address: DOEBUDGETOFFICE@doe.virginia.gov, prior to the September 14, 2023, deadline. The submitted extension request letter must cite a good cause reason/need for the extension of time. Please note that the signed extension letter must be attached as a PDF file to the email, with “2022-2023 ASR EXTENSION REQUEST” in the subject line of the email.
Each school division and regional program will use the Web-based Single Sign-on for Web Systems (SSWS) portal to access, download, and submit the 2022-2023 ASR Excel template to the Department. Instructional and resource documents are located within the SSWS application. Once a division has successfully completed the 2022-2023 ASR using the ASR application in SSWS, the division superintendent or designee will approve and certify the Superintendent’s Verification Report through the Superintendent’s Data Collection Approvals (SDCA) application. This article first ran in edition #2023-04.
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News from the Virginia Board of Education
Board Meeting Highlights July 25-27, 2023
Audience: All
Contact: Jim Chapman, Director of Board Relations
The Virginia Board of Education (BOE) met for its regular meetings from July 25–27, 2023. On July 25, the BOE elected Mrs. Grace Creasey as President and Mr. Bill Hansen as Vice President. At the meeting on July 27, the Board unanimously approved the Commonwealth’s first lab school: a joint venture between the Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Teacher Leadership and CodeRVA Regional High School.
The Board also approved the following notable items:
The agendas and meeting materials from the meetings is available on the VDOE website. This article first ran in edition #2023-05.
School Construction Assistance Program
Audience: Superintendents
Contact: Kent Dickey, Deputy Superintendent of Budget, Finance, and Operations
At its May meeting, the Board of Education awarded $365.3 million in competitive school construction grants to school divisions under the School Construction Assistance Program. $84.7 million in grant funding remains available for award. At its July meeting, the Board directed VDOE to proceed with a second round of competitive grants, with no changes to the program guidelines or application criteria. VDOE expects to announce a second round of competitive school construction grant applications in early September, as well as the next round of applications for Literary Fund school construction loans.
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Career Opportunities at VDOE
VDOE is hiring. Recently added positions include:
- School Nutrition Program Farm to School Specialist
- School Nutrition Program Grants, Claims, Procurement, and Reporting Specialist
- Licensing Inspector - Northern Region
- Grants and Reports Manager
- Specialized Reading and Dyslexia Specialist
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