Who can be a Virginia Rules Instructor?
Most instructors are law enforcement officers, however as the program has grown, the types of instructors have expanded as well. Here’s who is teaching Virginia Rules:
- School Resource Officers (SROs)
- School Safety Officers (SSOs)
- Teachers
- Home school parents
- Parole officers
- Juvenile detention officers
- Youth group leaders
- Boys & Girls Club leaders
The Virginia Rules Instructor Portal is for instructors only. Student material is available at https://virginiarules.org/varules-topics/.
Getting Started with Virginia Rules
The first step to getting started with Virginia Rules is to create an Instructor Log In Account. This account will give you access to the downloadable lesson plans, worksheets and student handouts.
If you are working in a school system or community organization, talk with your peers and the school administration to see if the Virginia Rules lessons are already being taught. Collaborate with educators to choose Virginia Rules topics that support existing curriculum and address identified problem areas.
Your role and responsibilities
As an instructor, you are critical to the success of Virginia Rules. The Office of the Attorney General expects the following from instructors:
- Instructors will be fully oriented to the Virginia Rules program, its purposes, its components, and how the program operates. To do this, we encourage you to explore this site fully and create a VaRules login account. Training in Virginia Rules happen year-round and the annual School Safety Conference in August is where yearly updates are reviewed. If possible, you may want to attend that.
- Instructors will examine the school discipline, crime, and violence data for schools where lessons will be taught in order to identify problem areas and Virginia Rules lessons that address the areas.
- Instructors will collaborate with educators to implement Virginia Rules in ways tailored to the needs of particular schools and communities.
- Instructors will be alert to “teachable moments” for students when events occur that create heightened interest in Virginia Rules topics, and will seek opportunities to provide timely lessons.
- Instructors will carefully prepare for delivering lessons.
- Instructors will provide information to the Office of the Attorney General about how they are implementing Virginia Rules lessons, such as where lessons are taught, numbers/grade levels of students, instructor feedback, and periodic educator feedback. Instructors in pilot sites will be asked to submit student pre- and post-test results.
- Stay alert to emerging issues with students and share your best ideas and suggestions with the Virginia Rules program!
