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K-12 education content standards in West Virginia

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See also: K-12 education content standards in the states

This page features the following information about who sets K-12 education content standards in West Virginia public schools:

  • The state entity with the authority to approve K-12 education content standards.
  • Whether West Virginia requires or recommends that local schools or districts follow the K-12 education content standards.
  • The statutory or regulatory language in West Virginia governing the development and application of K-12 education content standards.

Background

State education officials develop content standards in order to facilitate curriculum development for public schools. This section examines the role of content standards in public instruction and the different state approaches that either require or recommend their use in public schools.

What are content standards?

Content standards are educational learning and achievement goals that state education officials either require or recommend that local schools satisfy in K-12 instruction. Content standards are not curriculum but rather aim to guide the development of what state officials view as a robust K-12 curriculum.[1]

The development of K-12 education content standards in public schools varies across the 50 states. State boards of education, state education agency leaders, and local school districts, for example, may play a role in the development and approval of content standards.

Do states recommend or require schools to follow content standards?

State statutes or regulations may require or recommend the use of K-12 education content standards in public instruction.

Some states require local schools to align curriculum with content standards by establishing content standards as a minimum course of study. Such states may also require local schools or districts to adopt content standards as part of their curriculum, or they may require students to demonstrate mastery of content standards through state assessments.

Other states recommend that local schools or districts follow state content standards.

Who sets state K-12 education content standards in West Virginia?

The following section provides information about the development and application of K-12 education content standards in West Virginia as of 2022.

The table below identifies the state entity tasked with setting content standards, whether the content standards are recommendations or requirements for local schools, and the governing statute(s). The text of the governing statute(s) is provided below the table.

West Virginia K-12 education content standards
Entity Recommendations or requirements? Statute or Regulation
State Board of Education Requirements West Virginia Code § 18-2-7


West Virginia Code § 18-2-7:

Courses of Study; Language of Instruction


The state Board of Education shall prescribe minimum standards in the courses of study to be offered in elementary schools, high schools, vocational schools and in all other kinds, grades and classes of schools or departments thereof, which may now or hereafter be maintained in the state, in whole or in part, from any state fund or funds: Provided, That the courses of study in the public schools in the state shall be prepared by the faculties, teachers or other constituted authority thereof, and shall, before going into effect, be submitted to the state Board of Education for its approval. The basic language of instruction in all schools, public, private and parochial, shall be the English language only. The state board shall not adopt any policies or rules which set out time requirements within the instructional day for instruction in kindergarten through fourth grade.[2]

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. Common Core State Standards Initiative, "What are educational standards?" accessed April 21, 2022
  2. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.