The Virginia Literacy Act is legislation passed by the Virginia General Assembly in 2022 that establishes new requirements for literacy instruction in Virginia for students in grades K-8. Among the requirements of the VLA are:
- Elementary schools (K-5) are required to use evidence-based (science of reading) literacy curricula for core literacy instruction
- Middle schools (6-8) are required to use evidence-based tools for literacy interventions to support struggling readers
- Students in grades K-8 must have individualized reading plans if they do not meet literacy benchmarks
- Divisions have to create comprehensive “literacy plans”
- Elementary schools must have one reading specialist for every 550 students; middle schools must have one reading specialist for every 1,100 students.