Oregon Department of Education Well-Rounded Courses Access Update

The Well-Rounded Courses Access Update is the Oregon Department of Education’s (ODE) primary communication tool for topics related to the Well Rounded Access Program (WRAP).  In October 2020, Oregon received a five-year, $9.8 million grant to expand access to well-rounded education courses.  More information about this program can be found on ODE’s Expanding Access to Well-Rounded Education webpage.  

Introducing the New Well Rounded Courses Grant Research Analyst

Caitlin McRae is the newest member of the Well Rounded Access Program (WRAP) team.  She started in May as the Well Rounded Courses Grant Research Analyst and will be an integral part of identifying the needs for well-rounded course offerings throughout the state.  Caitlin grew up in rural Eastern Utah, in an area well-known for its abundance of dinosaur fossils.  She has since called Oregon home, first moving to Corvallis to attend the Master of Public Policy program at Oregon State University.  She has an MPP degree as well as a B.A. in Economics.  After graduating from OSU, Caitlin began working at the Oregon Department of Education as a Research Analyst 3 on the Data, Operations, and Grants Management team in the Office of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and has been in this position for the last three years.

Arts Education Specialist Position Posted for Hiring

ODE is currently seeking an Arts Education Specialist (Education Specialist 2) to support this work in the following ways:

• Work collaboratively with the Well-Rounded Courses Access staff to help develop a system of course dissemination that promotes STEAM and the Arts instruction/courses;
• Establish and maintain relationships with the Arts community to foster collaboration and partnerships;
• Promote the integration of Arts into STEAM educational practices; and
• Review created Arts content for quality, standards alignment, and culturally responsive practices.

Please view the job posting here.  The deadline to apply for this position is June 20, 2021.

Upcoming Work

The first year of this grant is a planning year, and many of the tasks completed so far have been focused on hiring and creating a clear vision, goals, and plan for the upcoming years. Listed below are the next priorities for this project:

• Create a Needs Assessment for Oregon;
• Continue to build a robust team through hiring key positions for this grant;
• Build relationships and engage with community and education partners, with a focus on STEM, STEAM, CTE, Higher Education, and the Arts.

For questions or comments, please email ODE.WRCoursesGrant@ode.state.or.us.  To subscribe to this or other State Government newsletters, please visit the GovDelivery website.  You can access this topic by scrolling to the Professional Learning Topic and selecting Well-Rounded Courses Access.