Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Education
 
Board
State Board of Education
 
Guidance Document Change: The 2020 Virginia General Assembly passed House Bill 753 directing the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) to develop guidance standards for social emotional learning (SEL) for all public students in grades Kindergarten through 12 in the Commonwealth. The Virginia Social Emotional Learning Standards were developed in collaboration with an SEL Advisory Committee, composed of educators, community leaders, agency personnel, and parents. The Virginia SEL Standards are aligned with the Profile of a Virginia Graduate and centered in equity. This intentional focus allows the Standards to explicitly teach the skills needed to be “life ready” and to create more equitable learning environments.
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4/30/21  10:18 am
Commenter: Anonymous

WILL THIS IMPACT PASSING GRADES/GRADUATION?
 

These "standards" appear well-intentioned, positive, and in my opinion are excellent topics to be ADDRESSED in supplementary courses/time during a student's education.  However, these are issues and areas of life that are much better suited to be "taught" or worked-on with a student INDIVIDUALLY and from parents/guardians due to there being so many other personal, medical, and cultural issues related to these matters.  These are issues that could be addressed/covered with students during sessions with a school guidance counselor or similar professional, but should not covered in an instructional manner that takes significant time away from their academic learning.  Additionally, these standards should not hold ANY bearing on a student passing an academic course or graduating.  Especially, given that many students have individualized issues (disabilities, trauma, delays, etc.) that could hold them back from passing/graduating when they are otherwise on track academically.  Again, these issues are certainly worth covering BROADLY and GENERICALLY occassionally during the school year, and/or to be addressed with individual students in PRIVATE with a counselor or similar professional.  However, these should most definitely NOT be issues that are addressed in detail with groups of students (this could trigger some students negatively and have adverse affects), nor should these standards hold ANY bearing on passing/graduating.  If a student is identified by a school counselor to have deficits in any of these areas, this should be addressed with the parent and/or special education team to determine more individualized/in-depth ways to help the student develop these skills.

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