CHAPTER 525
An Act to amend and reenact Chapter 760 of the Acts of Assembly of 2022, relating to Department of Education; Standards of Learning assessment revision work group; timeline for Request for Proposal for provider of revised assessments.
[H 2469]
Approved March 26, 2023
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That Chapter 760 of the Acts of Assembly of 2022 is amended and reenacted as follows:
1. § 1. That the Secretary of Education and the Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction shall convene and consult a work group consisting of representatives of the Department of Education and other appropriate stakeholders to revise the Virginia Standards of Learning summative assessments of proficiency that require students to demonstrate that they possess the skills, knowledge, and content necessary for success and to develop a plan for implementation of such revised assessments.
§ 2. In developing such revised assessments and plan, the work group shall consider (i) best practices and innovations in summative assessments of proficiency from across the nation; (ii) alternative approaches to current and new assessment items, including subject areas and methods of grading such items; (iii) assessment items that include open-ended questions, long-form writing, and other tasks, with student responses scored by the Department according to statewide scoring rubrics; (iv) plan for pilot implementation of such assessment items prior to the 2027–2028 school year as necessary to determine the validity of such items; (v) the process for the development of a bank of vetted sample assessment items that include a comprehensive representation of knowledge and skills being assessed; (vi) the legislative and regulatory changes and funding necessary to implement alternative approaches considered by the work group; and (vii) a proposed timeline for implementation of such new assessments, giving consideration to implementation prior to the 2027–2028 school year. Nothing in this act shall prohibit the work group from looking at all forms of assessment. Such work group shall not be responsible for implementation of such revised assessment items unless there is further action from the General Assembly.
§ 3. That the Department of Education shall submit its initial plan for implementation of revised Virginia Standards of Learning summative assessments of proficiency developed pursuant to § 2 of this act to the Chairmen of the House Committee on Education, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, the House Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations no later than November 1, 2023, and shall provide updates on the implementation of such plan no later than November 1 of each year thereafter through 2027.
§ 4. The Department of Education shall not release a Request for Proposal for a provider of revised Virginia Standards of Learning summative assessments of proficiency until after the work group convened and consulted pursuant to § 1 of this act has submitted its initial plan for implementation of revised Virginia Standards of Learning summative assessments of proficiency pursuant to this act. To ensure continuity in the administration of the state assessment program, and notwithstanding relevant provisions of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (§ 2.2-4300 et seq. of the Code of Virginia), the Department of Education is permitted to extend the current state assessment contract until December 31, 2025.