Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: In 2021, the Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 1904 and Senate Bill 1196, and was signed into law by Governor Northam. The law establishes new requirements to support culturally competent educators in the Commonwealth. The Guidance on Cultural Competency Training for Teachers and Other Licensed School Board Employees in Virginia Public Schools was developed for the Board to fulfill the statutory mandate to provide guidance on the minimum standards for the local training requirement.
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12/19/21  6:28 pm
Commenter: Molly

Very important yet very idealistic
 

Fostering broad awareness of how different cultures differ, and cultivating the empathy required for understanding, is a very long-term, yet essential goal. The guidance document is written in abstract jargon, which helps explain the many negative public comments, and needs to be followed up with benchmarks and plain-English advice and plans for implementing the goals. The goals are: self-awareness (extremely difficult); curriculum awareness; classroom awareness; and informed community engagement. (Whatever happened to conflict resolution training, and peer-to-peer counseling? That should be a fundamental part of this valuable aspirational initiative.)

CommentID: 117362