Self, Health, and Relationship Education (SHaRE): Guidelines for the Consideration of Age Appropriate and Developmentally Appropriate Instruction & SHaRE Guide (Virginia Department of Education, VDOE)

Description:

Legislation passed during the 2020 Virginia General Assembly session requires Individualized Education Program (IEP) Teams to consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to sexual health, self-restraint, self-protection, respect for personal privacy, and personal boundaries of others (§22.1-217.03). Under this legislation, the VDOE has developed guidelines to support IEP Teams in considering the need for this instruction when developing IEPs for students with disabilities.

• The Self, Health, and Relationship Education (SHaRE): Guidelines for the Consideration of Age-Appropriate and Developmentally Appropriate Instruction (PDF) is intended to support local school boards in ensuring IEP Teams consider the need for age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction and assist IEP Teams with considerations for instructional planning in these critical instructional areas.
• The Self, Health, and Relationship Education (SHaRE) Consideration Guide (PDF) is designed to assist IEP Teams in facilitating and documenting discussions regarding a student’s strengths, needs, and potential supports and instructional strategies related to this legislation.

For school divisions utilizing Virginia IEP, an additional question will be added in June 2024 within the IEP template providing a prompt for IEP Team consideration and a place to document a summary of the IEP Team’s discussion. School divisions not utilizing Virginia IEP are encouraged to develop procedures that ensure consideration of age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate instruction related to this legislation is documented within their local IEP system.