Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
GDForum ID: 208
Description of Proposed Guidance Document Changes
The 2019 General Assembly, through House Bill 2018 and Senate Bill 1434, directed the Virginia Board of Education to revise the exiting Career and Technical Education (CTE) Work-Based Learning Guide, published by the Virginia Department of Education, to expand opportunities available for students and allow greater local flexibility to meet the needs of both business and industry and local school divisions. A year-long review and revision process has been concluded, culminating in the proposed revisions to the 2019 CTE Work-Based Learning Guide. The 2019 revision expands recognized work-based learning (WBL) experiences from eight to eleven. Time requirements have been standardized to allow more students to undertake and complete such experiences within a reasonable time frame without sacrificing rigor. Further, completing 280 hours of cooperative education, internship, or apprenticeship would allow students to earn one credit, while completing 140 hours of mentorship would allow students to earn half a credit, toward graduation in addition to any credit earned through the associated CTE course. Rules have been simplified to open WBL experiences to students from grades six to twelve, with the exception of paid experiences that must adhere to age requirements associated with youth labor laws, experiences where students are involved with machinery and must adhere to federal and state safety laws (e.g., OSHA), and highly regulated fields, such as those within health and medical sciences and trade and industrial. Required documentation has been streamlined, eliminating repetitive or outdated forms, and reworking required forms to allow school divisions to adapt each one to the needs of their locality while still supplying all necessary information. The WBL guide revisions reflect greater inclusiveness of various methods used by schools and employers to offer WBL to students. It also serves to bolster career exploration options for students and recognizes the importance of WBL that occurs in entrepreneurial and school-based settings. The revisions also allow for a more standard measurement of hours and a credit that is based on the WBL hours worked across various experiences. These guidelines are not only straightforward but easier to implement in order for a greater number of students throughout the commonwealth to have access to WBL opportunities.
 
Guidance Document(s) for this Comment Forum
 
Document ID Document Title Document in Effect Proposed Document
6795 Career and Technical Education Work-Based Learning Guide n/a pdf Proposed Document Posted with Revised Changes on 12/14/2023
 
Contact Information
 
Name:
Mr. George Willcox
        Title:
Director of CTE - Operations and Accountability
 
Email:
george.willcox@doe.virginia.gov
 
Address:
101 N. 14th Street
 
City:
Richmond
State:  
VA
Zip:  
23219
 
Phone:
(804)225-2052
Fax:  
()-
The Virginia Register
 

Publication Date: 12/23/2019    Volume: 36  Issue: 9
The public comment period began upon publication and lasted for 30 days. It ended on 1/22/2020.
There were no comments

Planned Effective Date:  1/23/2020 
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