We’ll Teach Shining Shoes: Virginia School Divisions Responds to State-Mandated Standards

Abstract

Virginia recently adopted content rich cultural literacy standards for social studies and imposed those standards on local school divisions by way of a mandatory statewide assessment program. The new Virginia Standards of Learning represent a significant departure from the previous state curriculum, particularly in the elementary grades. Based on interviews with local curriculum specialists and assistant superintendents, this article reports on one phase of a research project which examines the implementation of those standards. The authors describe district level responses to state mandated curriculum, factors which impact those responses, and the difficulties of implementing the standards. Examining Virginia s standards-based reform also provides opportunities to ask questions about the standards movement itself, the quality of those standards, and the role that assessment should play.