The Virginia Department of Education is the state education agency of the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. It is headquartered in the

James Monroe Building The James Monroe Building is an office building located in Downtown Richmond, Virginia. It is the tallest building in Richmond at and 29 floors. Only 25 of the floors, however, are actually occupiable as the top and middle two are maintenance ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

. The department is headed by the Secretary of Education (currently Aimee Guidera), who is a member of the

Virginia Governor's Cabinet The Virginia Governor's Cabinet is a body of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the government of Virginia. The Cabinet is responsible for advising the Governor of Virginia. Cabinet officers are nominated by the Governor ...

, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction (currently

Jillian Balow Jillian Balow is an American politician who was appointed as the Virginia superintendent of public instruction in January 2022. She resigned from the position in March 2023. From 2014 to January 2022, she was the Wyoming superintendent of public ...

), a position that is also appointed by the

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia serves as the head of government of Virginia for a four-year term. The incumbent, Glenn Youngkin, was sworn in on January 15, 2022. Oath of office On inauguration day, the Governor-elect takes th ...

. The Secretary of Education is responsible for heading the department and for overseeing Virginia's 16 public colleges and universities, the

Virginia Community College System The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) oversees a network of 23 community colleges in Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, betwe ...

, the commonwealth's five higher education centers, and Virginia's public museums. The Virginia Department of Education is organized into four divisions: Division of Budget, Finance, and Operations; Division of School Quality, Instruction, and Performance; Division of School Readiness; and the Department of Policy, Equity, and Communications. Communication by the agency is handled throug
news releases
an
memoranda from the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Educator licensure

Within the public schools in Virginia, teachers and school administrators must be licensed by the Department.

Standards of learning

The state assesses student performance in the

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

grades by the

Standards of Learning The Standards of Learning (SOL) is a public school standardized testing program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for core subjects for grades K-12 in Virginia's Public Schools. The standards repr ...

(SOL) test. Students are required to take them once they reach the third grade. Virginia did not join the consortium of states to adopt the Common Core standards within the Commonwealth; instead the Standards of Learning form the foundation for curriculum for all of Virginia's public schools. Virginia provides Standards for certain subject areas that are not currently tested, including Technology, Computer Science, and World Languages.

Educational outreach

In 2013, the Virginia Department of Education released a 25-minute video, "The Virginia Indians: Meet the Tribes," covering both historical and contemporary Native American life in Virginia.

Pandemic response

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Virginia Department of Education created a guidance document for Virginia's public school leaders focused on a return to learning for the Fall of 2020. In December, 2020, the Governor of Virginia recognized members of the Virginia Department of Education with his Honor Awards, for the agency's pandemic response with the ''Recover, Redesign, and Restart'' document. The

American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to sp ...

allocated $2.1 billion in pandemic relief money for Virginia public schools. Using $34 million of those funds, the Virginia Department of Education developed a grant program, "Onward and Upward: Supporting Literacy and Mathematics" awarding grants to public colleges and universities to develop resources and professional development programs for reading and mathematics teachers.

References

External links

*
YouTube Channel
{{Authority control Public education in Virginia State departments of education of the United States State agencies of Virginia 1918 establishments in Virginia