ODE Sexuality Education Newsletter 

September 1, 2020 

Dearest colleagues, 

We hope this newsletter finds you taking good care of yourself, and one another. Preparations for the upcoming school year have been collaborative and ongoing at the national, state, and local levels over the past few months, due to evolving COVID-19 guidelines from Governor Brown and other public health officials. 

Our team at the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is filled with gratitude for the energy and effort each district, school staff member, caregiver, and student has put in to prepare for the best possible 2020-21 school year. In addition to individual considerations within each community, we acknowledge the lived reality of an ongoing civil rights movement against anti-Black racial injustice, an evolving global pandemic that disproportionately affects communities of color and LGBTQ+ communities, and the resulting trauma and resilience in the face of many intersections of systemic oppression. We will continue to center the ways in which sexuality education may be a catalyst for justice and celebration of our shared humanity. 

In this newsletter, we will share with you some of the newly released health and sexuality education guidance, resources, and opportunities for training by the Oregon Department of Education, as well as other offerings by statewide and national colleagues that may be of interest to you. 

Sex Ed Topic Categories and Essential Questions Document 

As schools re-enter the 2020-21 school year centering the care, connection, and well-being of students, families, and school staff, a wealth of support and skills-based learning can be found in Health and Sexuality Education. Social and emotional learning and trauma-informed mental health promotion are just a few of the integral components of Health and Sexuality Education. As part of the Designing Learning for 2020-21 resource (coming soon!), we collaborated with our Health Education Specialist Suzanne Hidde and our ODE Sex Ed Steering Committee to create a Health, Physical, and Sexuality Education Topic Categories and Essential Questions resource to help districts identify priority standards and topics within the corresponding Oregon Health Education Standards Color Coded by Topic Category - Chart, as you plan for the upcoming school year. 

Register now! OTTI 4-Part Virtual Teacher Training Series on K-5 Sex Ed
Wednesdays, September 9-30, 2020, 1pm-4:30pm PDT

After months of planning and adapting for a virtual format, the Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI) is thrilled to announce a 4-part virtual teacher training series on K-5 comprehensive sexuality education, developed in partnership with DHS, OHA, and local partners across Oregon. Please see the attached flyer and eventbrite page for information and to register for this series. We hope to see you there! 

Need alternate times and/or formats for professional development in your district? We’d love to hear more from educators, admin, and other school staff about what your needs and capacity look like in the 2020-21 school year! Please fill out this 3-minute interest gauging form to let us know what you need. 

Sex Ed Data & Research

Health and sexuality education holds an important responsibility to reflect the lived experiences of students and staff in Oregon and in the United States. Below, please find some local and national research and data that tell the stories of young people, especially as it pertains to experiences within educational environments. 

• 2020 Safe Schools in Oregon Report, Oregon Safe Schools and Community Coalition (OSSCC) 
• National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2020 (PDF version), Trevor Project
• Erasure and Resilience: The Experiences of LGBTQ Students of Color Reports, GLSEN 
  • Black LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools
  • Asian American and Pacific Islander LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools  
  • Latinx LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools
  • Native and Indigenous LGBTQ Youth in U.S. Schools 
• 2019 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Adolescent and School Health 
• Poteat, V. P., Calzo, J. P., Yoshikawa, H., Lipkin, A., Ceccolini, C. J., Rosenbach, S. B., O’Brien, M. D., Marx, R. A., Murchison, G. R., & Burson, E. (2019). Greater engagement in Gender‐Sexuality Alliances (GSAs) and GSA characteristics predict youth empowerment and reduced mental health concerns. Child Development, 1–20. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.13345

Sex Ed News & Resources

Teaching inclusive sexuality education is a critical piece in our equity work. While we know the Oregon Human Sexuality Education OAR 581-022-2050 requires the use of “inclusive materials, language, and strategies that recognizes different sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expression” that must also be “culturally inclusive,” this work cannot happen overnight. ODE is committed to supporting school districts to provide sexuality education that allows all students to feel safe, seen, and valued. 

Please see below some sexuality and health education news and resources, rooted in equity: 

• “Pandemic, protests heighten need for trauma-informed practices,” OSBA, 8/24/2020
• “Black Student Voices: Reflecting on Race and Racism in Schools,” EdWeek, 8/13/2020
• “Why UDL is Necessary for Remote Learning,” Novak Educational Consulting, 8/5/2020
• “Social-Emotional Learning Is the Elephant in the Room: Three Challenges to Consider,” EdWeek, 8/3/2020 (tips for acknowledging trauma and resilience when school re-opens)
• “Teens need easy access to condoms and long-acting reversible contraception, say pediatricians,” CNN Health, 7/20/2020 
• “Keeping Kids Curious About Their Bodies Without Shame,” New York Times, 7/16/2020 
• “Confronting the Weaponization of Whiteness in Classrooms,” Teaching Tolerance, 7/16/2020 
• “What Sex Educators Can Teach Us About How To Socialize During COVID-19,” Huffpost, 7/15/2020 
• “How can LGBTQ+ Youth Navigate COVID-19?,” National Coalition for Sexual Health & GLSEN, 7/152020 
• “The ‘Sex Talk’ Is Actually a Series of Talks,” New York Times, 7/14/2020 
• “7 LGBTQ sex facts you probably didn't learn in high school sex ed class” Insider, 6/30/2020 
• “When SEL is Used as Another Form of Policing,” Medium, 5/7/2020 

Upcoming Training Opportunities for Educators

Register now! OTTI 4-Part Virtual Teacher Training Series on K-5 Sex Ed
Wednesdays, September 9-30, 2020, 1pm-4:30pm PDT

After months of planning and adapting for a virtual format, the Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI) is thrilled to announce a 4-part virtual teacher training series on K-5 comprehensive sexuality education, developed in partnership with DHS, OHA, and local partners across Oregon. Please see the attached flyer and eventbrite page for information and to register for this series. We hope to see you there! 

Need alternate times and/or formats for professional development in your district? We’d love to hear more from educators, admin, and other school staff about what your needs and capacity look like in the 2020-21 school year! Please fill out this 3-minute interest gauging form to let us know what you need.

Online Trainings/Webinars/Resources for Distance Learning Instruction 

• September 3, 2020, 2pm PDT, Session 2:  Teaching Sex Ed Online, Un|Hushed, 2 of 10 training sessions, fee for series. (online synchronous training; for educators; 6-8, 9-12) 
• Tuesdays September 1-22, 2020, 10am-12pm PDT, Effective Practices for Supporting Girls* Virtually, Alliance For Girls, fee for series. (online synchronous training; for educators & adults; *“Girls” refers to gender-expansive youth) 
• 5 Tips for Teaching Sex Ed Remotely, Sex Education Collaborative, 8/24/2020 (video)
• Best Practices When Teaching Sex Ed Online, Advocates for Youth, 8/26/2020 (pdf)
• Teaching Sex Ed Online, Take Two, Un|Hushed, 7/2/2020 (article) 
• Supporting LGBTQ+ Mental Health: Safe and Affirming School Climates During Distance Learning Webinar (PPT), ODE & OHA Collaboration (webinar video recording; for K-12 educators, admin, school staff, school counselors, and other mental health professionals) 

Online Trainings/Webinars for Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppression Professional Development

• September 23, 2020, 4-5pm PDT, Social-Emotional Learning for an Antiracist Future: A Conversation with Dr. Dena Simmons, Facing History and Ourselves (for educators) 
• Abolitionist Teaching and the Future of our Schools, The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and Haymarket Books (video; for educators; K-12) 
• Deepening Your Understanding of Race and Racism | Tools for Anti-Racist Teaching, PBS Learning Media (video; for educators; K-12)

Online Trainings/Webinars for Sexuality Education Professional Development 

• SparkED.net is a new online training and professional development program, "designed to ignite excellence in sex education." (free through December 2020, self-paced, six online training modules; for educators) 
• Sex Ed Made Simple Webinar Series, Oregon Department of Education (webinar recordings; for educators; K-12) 
• Professional Development Webinars Archive, Teaching Tolerance (for educators; K-12) 
• LGBTQ Inclusive Webinars Archive, GLSEN (for educators; K-12) 
• Gender Inclusive Webinars, Gender Spectrum (current and archived webinars for educators; K-12)

Note: Unless hosted or facilitated by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), these training opportunities have not been endorsed or recommended by ODE, but are being shared as relevant and high quality opportunities for sexuality education professionals. 

Questions? Connections? Please reach out to us: 

Sasha Grenier, MPH, CHES (she/her/hers) 
Sexuality Education and School Health Specialist
Oregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
sasha.grenier@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode 

Angie Foster-Lawson, MEd (she/her/hers) 
Sexuality Education Analyst 
Oregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment 
angie.foster-lawson@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode