ODE Sexuality Education Newsletter--November

November 9, 2020 

Dearest colleagues, 

The school year is well under way and we are so encouraged by the resilience and creative solutions we are witnessing across the state. We hope you are finding time to reflect on all you have overcome this year and feeling empowered by your tenacity.

The team at ODE is aware of the impacts the Covid-19 restrictions are having on our staff, students, and caregivers. We are working diligently to address these needs in a safe and sustainable manner. The updated guidance for school metrics and safety, which impacts the return to in-person learning schedules for the Oregon districts was released last week and we hope it provides some clarity and structure for what we can expect in the coming months. Please continue to take time to care for yourself, as needed, and reach out with any questions. 

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

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ODE Sexuality Education & Equity Updates 

Announcing Funding Opportunity for Openly Licensed K-5 or 9-12 Comprehensive Sex Ed Lessons 

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is seeking applications from educators, other non-profit groups, businesses, or individuals, to develop openly licensed lessons that cover Oregon’s Sexuality Education Laws & Health Education Standards and Performance Indicators to be made available on the Oregon Open Learning (OOL) Hub. This project will provide small one-time grants (~$10,000-$20,000) to teams developing free and openly licensed health and sexuality education lessons for grades K-5 or 9-12 for optional use in Oregon schools.  Applications are due by December 14, 2020. Keep an eye out for our RFP and application in the coming days.

For more information, please tune into a Q&A discussion on November 16, 2020 from 3:30-4:30. Register here. Or, reach out to Sasha Grenier at sasha.grenier@state.or.us or Andrea Bibee at andrea.bibee@ode.state.or.us with questions.

Oregon State Board of Education’s Black Lives Matter Resolution

The Oregon State Board of Education released its Black Lives Matter Resolution. Please take the time to read through it if you haven’t had a chance to do so--one important clarification provided in the resolution is that expressing support for Black Lives Matter is not a partisan/political statement and serves to affirm the inherent value and dignity held within each of our students, staff, and caregivers. 

Shared History/Tribal History Update

The Office of Indian Education has released the next online professional development course as part of their virtual asynchronous learning series: SB 13 Tribal History/Shared History Module 2 Online Course

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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) 
• ODE At-A-Glance for the 2019/2020 school year for school districts across the state. 
• 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  
• US teens are having less sex-but stigmatizing their sexuality does more harm than good, NBC News Think (October, 2020).
• Why Some experts are concerned for LGBTQ students in the time of Covid, Yahoo Life (October, 2020).
• The 2019 National School Climate Survey | GLSEN
• The case for comprehensive Sex Education, Journal of Adolescent Health, Goldfarb Eva S., Lieberman Lisa D. (2020).

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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. 

• The popular and free 3Rs curriculum available in three grade bands in Google Classroom has just been translated into Spanish. Please complete this short form to sign up for the grade(s) you want to receive. 

• "Strengthening Comprehensive Sexuality Education Anew: A Commentary," Journal of School Health, Nov. 2020.
• "Talking is Power Campaign" Supports Parents in Educating Native American Youth about HIV," HIV.gov, 10/7/20.
• "A Growth Mindset Approach to Healthy Adolescent Relationships," ETR Blog, 1/8/20.
• El Camino: The Road to Healthy Relationships, an SEL based teen pregnancy prevention curriculum for middle school students, from Child Trends and the District of Columbia.
• "Enhancing Safety Conversations During COVID-19" to support parents and caregivers having conversations on body autonomy and sexual violence prevention, in English and Spanish, WCSAP.
• Free, downloadable LGBTQ+ affirmation posters available from ETR.

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Upcoming Training Opportunities for Educators 

Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI)

We are currently adapting and developing virtual sessions of our OTTI sexuality education training series for the 2020-21 school year. Interested in attending an upcoming virtual training? We’d love to hear more from educators, admin, and other school staff about what your needs and capacity looks like in the 2020-21 school year! Please fill out this 3 minute interest gauging form to make your voice heard. 

• Oregon Health Authority
  
• The November Youth Suicide Assessment in Virtual Learning environments Training, This training is offered at no cost to participants.
  
• Programs from Planned Parenthood:
  
• Virtual Sex Education for 5th and 6th graders
• Virtual Healthy Sexuality Series for 7th and 8th Graders 
  
• Several course offerings from the Transgender Training Institute (TTI):
  
• Building Affirming Workplaces (November 19:1-2 PM ET/10-11 AM PT)
• Non-Binary Basics (January 6: 3-3:30 PM ET/12-12:30 PM PT)
• Getting Comfortable with Pronouns  (January 6: 4-4:30 PM ET/ 9-9:30 AM PT)
• The Sex Education Collaborative Training Hub is a centralized listing of in-person and online professional trainings throughout the U.S.
• SparkED.net is a new online training and professional development program, "designed to ignite excellence in sex education." Self-paced, six training modules, free through December 2020, clock hrs. available. 
• Welcoming Schools trainings are available at no cost to National Education Association (NEA) members and affiliates.
• Nov. 16-18 - Virtual Healthy Teen Network Conference. 
• Nov. 18, 9 am - Digital Beyond Pink: Preventing Violence Against Girls for advocates and professionals working with girls, including cis, trans, and gender-expansive youth, Justice for Girls Coalition of Washington State.
• Nov. 20 - SHAPE Washington Virtual Conference 2020. Workshop proposals being accepted.

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

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Job Openings and Volunteer Opportunities

• Latino Network has an opportunity for a Health and Wellness Coordinator and a Sexuality Educator
• The Oregon Health Authority (OHA), Public Health Division (PHD), HIV, STD and TB Section in Portland, OR is recruiting for a HIV/STD Prevention Interventions Coordinator to coordinate cross-programmatic HIV and STD prevention initiatives and activities with internal, state, and local partners in order to meet population-level public health goals to decrease the transmission, prevalence, and impact of HIV and STDs. Apply here.

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Listserv Submission Process

We welcome your submissions to ODE's Sexuality Education ListServ! If you have important announcements, job postings, or general questions for your colleagues, you can submit them to Sasha Grenier at sasha.grenier@state.or.us or to Andrea Bibee at andrea.bibee@ode.state.or.us.

In an effort to streamline Listserv messages, we are now planning to send out ListServ messages once a month, during the first week of the month. To accommodate this change and to ensure that we can equitably share announcements from everyone, we're now asking that you submit your Listserv posts no later than the 25th of each month.

Questions? Connections? Please reach out to us: 

Sasha Grenier, MPH, CHES (she/her/hers) Sexuality Education and School Health SpecialistOregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, and Assessmentsasha.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 

Andrea Bibee, JD, MA (she/her/hers) Temporary Program Analyst Oregon Department of Education | Office of Teaching, Learning, & Assessment andrea.bibee@state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/ode