Department of Education

 

GDForum ID: 3002

Description of Proposed Guidance Document Changes

In response to Chapter 103 (2026 Acts of Assembly), the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) developed the proposed Guidelines for Local Alternative Assessments. These Guidelines update and replace prior guidance from the Board. Unlike prior versions of the Guidelines, where different course areas were discussed in separate documents, the proposed Guidelines consolidate all LAA guidance into a single resource to allow local school boards and divisions to more easily access information in one place and to provide coherence in the approach to administering LAAs. Further, the proposed Guidelines include updated • content to align to the latest Standards of Learning in Science (2018), English (2024), and History and Social Science (2023), • requirements for administration and best practices for grading and scoring mandatory and permissive LAAs, including common scoring rubrics for all assessments, and • discussion of provisions for the use of LAAs for purposes of awarding verified credits. The proposed guidelines also acknowledge that the 2026 legislation allows for immediate implementation of permissive LAAs in the newly added course areas. All school divisions interested in implementing LAAs in the expanded courses in Science and History and Social Science will be able to do so in the 2026-2027 school year.

 

Guidance Document(s) for this Comment Forum

Document ID	Document Title	Current Document	Proposed Document
7633	Guidelines for Local Alternative Assessments: 2023-2024 and Beyond	Document	Proposed Document
Assessment	Guidelines for the Use of Local Performance Assessments to Verify Credits in Writing	Document	To Be Deleted

 

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