WAYNESBORO, Va. (WHSV)—The Commonwealth’s education system is undergoing new changes. The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is implementing a new literacy curriculum and standards for the upcoming school year.
One of the changes going into effect is VALLSS or the Virginia Assessment for Language and Literacy Screening System. The new system replaces the previous literacy screener in Virginia, known as PALS. It will be the latest tool for identifying students who are at risk and in need of literary intervention.
“Right now- not just in the state of Virginia but nationwide- we are in a crisis for how kids are learning to read and how well we are preparing them to become skilled readers,” said Taylor Rose, a reading specialist and special education specialist for Waynesboro City Public Schools.
This screener will be officially launched in Waynesboro schools in grades K-3 this academic year and will be expanded to students in grades 4-8 the following year.
Rose says the piloted assessment aligns with the most current evidence-based research conducted at the University of Virginia. Rose also says the new assessment accurately identifies at-risk students through more comprehensive skills coverage and provides teachers with useful instructional information to intervene. The new assessment will also be administered at the beginning, middle, and end of the school year and extends past K-3, measuring literacy beginning at 3-year-olds.
Also new this school year is the Virginia Literacy Act. The General Assembly passed it into law in 2022, and it will go into effect in the Commonwealth in the 2024-25 school year, in addition to new literacy standards. The Literacy Act requires that every division in Virginia adopt a new core curriculum that has been reviewed by a team of educators across the state. Rose says the Waynesboro division plans are currently being reviewed and that the focus of these plans for the 2024-2025 school year is on students in grades K-5.
In addition, Rose says a significant piece of the legislation focuses on family involvement and engagement.
“Research shows the more involved a family is in their child’s education, the better off that child will be,” said Rose. “All of these changes are happening at once- but at the same time, it’s really exciting that they’ve aligned all things, these things- because it is going to be the best for kids,” she said.
The Literacy Act requires that families have access to online resources and are invited to participate in the development and monitoring of their child’s reading plan if they are identified by VALLSS as being below benchmark. Rose says the Virginia Literacy Act focuses a lot on family involvement and gives families the resources they need to support their children at home early on.
“So a teacher, a reading specialist, possibly a special education teacher, you know, and administration and the student, if that is appropriate— we are sitting together as a team to develop this reading plan, and then the parent is required to be kept in the loop about their child’s progress through the year,” said Rose.
“Lack of literacy contributes to many things, lack of employment- incarceration, poverty, and so the more we can intervene and fix the issues while kids are in our school system- the better off the society will be” Rose says about the ultimate goals of all the implemented plans in effect in the upcoming school year.
These resources for families are already available on the VLP website. These plans will be developed for students in grades K-3, but next year, they will include students through grade 8, who the literacy screener identifies.
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