Virginia Dept. of Education announces completion of new draft of standards, one day after groups endorse alternative

The Department of Education on Friday announced the completion of its revised draft of the Virginia history and social studies standards. Officials said the draft was submitted Thursday to the Board of Education, and is set for review at the board’s February meeting.

“At the November board meeting, the Board directed myself along with the VDE history and social science standards team to revise the November draft standards and incorporate elements from earlier versions of the standards, as well as the 2015 standards, and incorporate, where necessary and reasonable, input from both the public as well as board members,” Superintendent Jillian Balow said during a Zoom call with reporters Friday. “I can tell you that the Virginia Department of Education history and social science standards team has been hard at work nonstop since that directive became known to us. And what was delivered last night to the board members is the direct result of that.

“We have fulfilled the board’s directives and fixed the errors and omissions. And we delivered a clear, concise, rigorous and rich-in-content set of standards to each of the board members.”

This is the department’s third version of the standards, which have been a source of controversy since officials pulled an original draft completed in August. That version, which was months in the making and included input from an array of experts, was replaced with a largely rewritten version in November. The updated version, which included input from American University, Hillsdale College, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute and former U.S. Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, drew criticism for seemingly throwing out months of work poured into the original draft.

Additionally, many individuals and groups expressed concern about several elements of the November draft, including the document referring to Indigenous peoples as America’s first “immigrants.” Balow later apologized for that “error,” and said it should have been caught.

After hours of discussion at the November meeting, the board asked Balow to revise the draft again and incorporate elements from both versions.

“These draft standards will build student understanding of the attributes, ideals and actions that have made America the world’s exemplar of freedom and opportunity,” Balow said in a press release about the January revision. “At the same time, the standards are unflinching in their presentation of those times when Virginia and the nation failed to live up to our founding ideals.”

Department officials say the draft incorporates input from the more than 200 reviewers who participated in the process over the past two years.

The press release from the department also quotes Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera, who said, “These draft standards are stronger because they reflect the contributions of subject-matter experts, thoughtful citizens, and a broad set of organizations across two administrations. They better meet Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s directive to teach all history — the good and the bad — and will prepare all of Virginia’s students to become informed and engaged citizens and members of our democracy, communities and economy.”

The announcement of the new draft comes one day after two education groups endorsed an alternate draft developed by a coalition group of education and history experts and submitted to the Board of Education last month.

The National Council for the Social Studies and the Virginia Council for the Social Studies announced their support in a press release sent out Thursday, urging the board to accept the alternate draft at its February meeting. The draft was developed by the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, the Virginia Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development and the American Historical Association.

Sam Futrell, president of the Virginia Council for the Social Studies, said Thursday her organization supports the alternate coalition draft because it is inclusive, age-appropriate, historically accurate and responsive to student needs.

Ma’asehyahu Isra-Ul, president of the Virginia Social Studies Leaders Consortium, said the coalition developed the standards in accordance with the Board of Education’s call for a new version that incorporates both earlier drafts. Though the board’s request was to the superintendent and department staff, Isra-Ul said the group felt a need to step in and present an alternative.

“We have not, in my years of education — and I’m in my 25th year in history and social science education — we have not seen a process that has been so vague, so clouded in mystery, than what was produced in November,” he said.

Virginia law requires standards for each subject to be reviewed at least once every seven years. The last time the social studies standards were updated was 2015.

Representatives of the coalition have not yet reviewed the new draft Balow released this week, but released a statement saying they hoped the new draft will meet and exceed the requirements of the board.

Balow said her staff did not collaborate with or use external consultants in the revision of the draft, as directed by the board. But she added that some of the groups involved with the alternate coalition draft were at the table since the beginning of the process and their input was considered in the creation of this revision.

“I don’t know what the thought process was behind the external document that came our way shortly before Christmas, but it was not done in tandem or collaboration with the VDOE,” she said. “And, that said, there are bound to be some parallels in those documents. And I as I understand, some of the board members received that document and so I’m sure that it will be taken under consideration. But the document that they will be receiving for consideration for first review is the document that fulfills the directive that they gave to me and the staff at the VDOE, which was to produce revisions.”

The next Board of Education business meeting is set for Feb. 2. When the board accepts the draft, a period of public comment will begin, before the final standards are adopted. They will be on track for implementation in the 2024-25 school year.

Nour Habib, nour.habib@virginiamedia.com