Virginia Regulatory Town Hall View Comments

Department of Education

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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5/25/21 3:43 pm

Commenter: Angela White, Frederick County Public Schools

Elementary Staff Comments about SEL Standards

Kindergarten Teacher: I have reviewed the kindergarten SEL SOLs. Many of them overlap with our civics and healthy obj. and are appropriate for the kinder student. My worries fall into 2 areas. The first is when will we teach these standards? Are they taking time from our soc. stud. lessons, our language arts lessons, or some other time? The 2nd is that the complicated solutions for mental health of young children are being dumped in the lap of gen ed teachers. I worry that it is expected that the extreme behaviors from students I and my colleagues have endured will be solved by the addition of these SOLs. I can either teach or counsel, not both-at least not well. (shortened due to space)

Elementary School Counselor: I am disappointed that our area/district was not represented. Page 10 (self-awareness)...I strongly believe the 3rd domain of mental health (behaviors) should be included when recognizing and understanding the interaction between one's own thoughts and emotions; Page 12, bottom paragraph... It's important to recognize that skills do not always build directly on perviously learned skills-that skills most often develop in a spiraling fashion; Page 13 (self-awareness)...thank you for using the terms "comfortable" and "uncomfortable" to describe emotions, gone are the days of "good/bad" emotions; kindergarten... not sure many kinder children will have a vocablulary to fulfill/reach these standards, but "a man's reach must exceed his grasp..." to move forward

5th Grade Teacher: These are the standards that I feel could be concerning depending on the curriculum used and how it is presented. The concern is that these standards are politically driven and could promote political activism that may not be appropriate in the classroom setting.
SoA2:5-6a,b
SoA2:7-8a,b
SoA2:9-10 a,b
ReS2:9-10d
SoA2:11-12a,b
ReS1:11-12d
I do commend the committee for addressing empathy, goal setting, and self awareness.

Division administrator: I appreciate that the DOE is recognizing the importance of SEL, enough so that standards are being created and will be taught.

CommentID: 98723