The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is the state education authority of the Commonwealth of Virginia. VDOE is a significant educational platform that aims to establish a prosperous public education system to prepare Virginia teachers and students for successful academic attainments. This website is analyzed in terms of teaching English for grades 9-12 using the beneficial resources of the VDOE platform (English, 2017). First, one should navigate to the Standards of Learning (SOL) and Testing section on the main page of the website. After that, one can select from the list of the disciplines, assessment programs, and other tests. Considering the subject of my choice, the website provides me with the Standards of Learning Documents for English from kindergarten to the Grade 9-12 level. Furthermore, VDOE has English Performance Expectations guidelines, Common Core Standards for English and Language Arts, and SOL resources.
By selecting the Grade 9-12, the website provides an educator with the Curriculum Framework, SOL Tests, as well as Resources for Instruction and Assessment. The Curriculum Framework is a document that defines the content knowledge, skills, and understanding measured by SOL assessments. It is a helpful resource to assist in designing an instructional program for students. Each of the strands includes the general framework for students, understanding the standard (teacher notes), essential understandings for students, and essential knowledge, skills, and processes identified for successful learning outcomes. One document includes teaching plans for 9-12 grade-level students presented concisely and clearly through the key elements outlined in bullet points. For additional information, the teacher has access to vocabulary resources, computer adaptive testing, online writing resources, and sample lesson plans. To sum up, the VDOE platform is a practical resource that assists in developing teaching plans and lessons, as well as students’ testing and assessment, in a variety of subjects and disciplines. This analysis, in particular, examined the application of the website for teaching English for 9-12 grade by demonstrating a broad range of resources, which comprise the English language arts content for Virginia educators.
Reference
English. (2017). Virginia Department of Education. Web.