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Board approves new endorsements and reviews literacy, teacher-prep trends and gifted-screening options
Summary
The board approved 25 new subject-matter endorsement programs, received first review of Virginia Literacy Act intervention guides, discussed alternate teacher-licensure pathways and a possible statewide second-grade gifted screener (with cost and instrument details to return in November).
The Virginia Board of Education took several administrative and policy actions and reviews that affect teacher licensure, curriculum approvals and gifted identification.
Endorsements and program approvals: Mr. Gilstrap presented a slate of 25 new subject-area endorsements from educator-preparation programs and asked the board to approve them. The board moved and approved the endorsements by voice vote.
Literacy and intervention materials: Department staff presented a first review of supplemental and intervention materials aligned to the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) to support K–8 interventions and K–5 core literacy. Staff recommended the guides for first review and said a subsequent evaluation report will follow.
Teacher preparation and licensure trends: Mr. Gilstrap reviewed alternate-route programs in Virginia — I Teach, career-switcher routes, and national programs such as Teach For America — and noted 100% participation in the EPP survey used to populate the department’s "build a table" of program data. He reported a 4% decrease in educator-prep enrollment from the prior year and said the department is tracking trends in provisional licensing and clinical placement quality; board members asked for trend and placement-quality data in a future meeting.
Gifted screening and Standards of Quality: Board members discussed a potential Standards of Quality (SOQ) amendment to require a universal screener for gifted potential at second grade, with an optional rescreening at sixth grade. Staff described common instruments used by divisions (CogAT, NNAT, MAP/i-Ready), estimated that about 14,000 second-grade students currently are not screened statewide, and said a pilot funded in the biennial budget would allow further research. The board asked staff to bring Amanda Nevitrol (director of advanced learning) and cost estimates to the November meeting.
Background checks and operations: Board counsel reviewed options to align K–12 fingerprint and criminal-history checks with early-childhood background-check renewals (five-year refresh) and noted challenges in applying employee-only background statutes to elected school-board members. The board directed staff to draft statutory language and explore regulatory and funding impacts where appropriate.
What the board did: The board approved the new endorsement programs and accepted the VLA supplemental/intervention guides for first review. Several items — including a proposed SOQ change for gifted screening and draft statutory language on background-check renewals — were sent back for more detail and slated for the November meeting with cost estimates and instrument recommendations.
