Family Life Education Curriculum Development
Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum is developed with input from stakeholders.
The process of developing the Family Life Education (FLE) curriculum involves several steps. In general, this process takes one school year or more to complete.
FLE Curriculum Steps
The steps include:
FCPS is required to have a committee of stakeholders involved in the development of FLE. This committee is the Family Life Education Curriculum Advisory Committee or FLECAC. The committee is served by a registered parliamentarian and follows Roberts Rules of Order.
Committee members change from year to year, so the first step is to build the background knowledge of the committee members. This can include:
- Topics required by legislation and Virginia Board of Education guidelines.
- The Virginia FLE Standards of Learning (SOLs).
- Current FLE curriculum.
- Work in progress from the previous school year.
- Research studies.
- Information from subject matter experts.
- How other school divisions handle a topic.
FCPS uses a locally developed curriculum for FLE. A locally developed curriculum includes
- All topics required by legislation and Virginia Board of Education guidelines.
- Virginia FLE Standards of Learning as a reference.
The curriculum also includes topics important to our community. Topics considered for the FLE curriculum come from several sources including:
- School Board members
- FLECAC members
- Teachers
- Students
- Parents
- Other community members
The committee reviews and discusses new topics identified for instruction.
FLECAC may consider
- Research studies.
- Information from subject matter experts.
- How other school divisions handle a topic.
FLECAC also reviews and makes recommendations on full-length media used in lessons.
Based on the new topics identified for instruction and the discussion, the committee votes on recommended changes.
Based on the vote, a report of the recommended changes is shared with the School Board.
Changes to the curriculum are published on the FCPS website. Community members may review recommendations and give feedback during a 30-day period.
A feedback form is available during the 30-day period. At the end of the 30-day review period, all responses are compiled. Email addresses and identifying information removed. All responses are shared with the School Board.
The School Board reviews FLECAC recommendations and community comments.
Then the School Board votes on the recommendations.
If the School Board approves the recommendations, lesson development begins.
If the School Board approves the FLECAC recommendations, lessons are written.
A team of teachers and educational specialists create the lessons using many resources
- Experts in the content
- Research studies
- Curriculum experts
Once the lessons are written, the changes are communicated to teachers.
Lessons are shared with parents, caregivers, and the community. Lessons are available
- In Schoology in the All Parent course for each school.
- At the City of Fairfax Regional Library.
