Welcome to April 

Let's kick this month off with a collective congratulations to Olivia Yin-Dolvig of Westview High School in Beaverton School District for being named one of the 16 crew members of the Million Girls Moonshot! 

The Million Girls Moonshot seeks to re-imagine who can engineer, who can build, who can make. It will inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning opportunities through afterschool and summer programs over the next 5 years.

Draft 2022 K-12 Science Standards

In March 2021, ODE staff began conducting community outreach listening sessions and opened a public feedback form (May 2021 - January 2022) regarding the current K-12 Oregon Science Standards. Since August 2021, the Oregon Science Standards Advisory Panel has been reviewing public input and engaging in discourse on next steps for K-12 Science Standards.

If you would like to provide input on the draft K-12 2022 Oregon Science Standards and the flexibility in middle school science sequencing, please use the 2022 Science Draft Standards Feedback form.  

For additional information or questions, please contact Jamie Rumage, ODE Science Education Specialist.

OSTA 60TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE: A Time for Science

Save the date for the Oregon Science Teachers Association Annual Conference: Saturday, October 8th, 2022 at Ridgeview High School, Redmond, Oregon. For additional conference information and session proposals, please visit the OSTA conference webpage.  

Climate Learning Resources

• The Forces of Nature from NPR's Throughline explores what led to Earth Day, and what Earth Day led to.
• Talk Climate provides educators support for having productive and empowering conversations about climate change in the PK-12 education system.
• The Hechinger Report explores climate change and approaches to engage young learners without sparking fear. 
• PK-12 lessons and units shared from the Washington State science and climate science learning effort that has produced OER resources and portraits of project work.
• A curated set of the STEM Teaching Tools collection relating to the teaching of climate change in school and community settings.

Summer 2022 OSAS Science Assessment Review Panel Opportunities

The Oregon Department of Education is currently recruiting educators to participate in the following OSAS Science Assessment Review Panels:

• Multi-State Rubric Validation Panel: Sessions will be held in the evenings during the weeks of May 23-27 and May 30-June 3, 2022.  Applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 29, 2022. For additional information, please refer to the complete recruitment letter.
• Multi-State Content and Fairness Panel: Sessions will be held during the weeks of June 27th and July 18th, 2022. Invited participants will be able to select the session(s) that best fit their schedule from a list of offered session days and times. It is an estimated 4.0 hour time commitment per session. Applications are due by 5:00 pm on Friday, April 29, 2022. For additional information, please refer to the complete recruitment letter.
• Oregon Content and Fairness Review Panel: Sessions will be held remotely 8:00 am to 4:00 pm during the week of July 11-15, 2022. Applications are due by 8:00 am Monday, May 23, 2022. For additional information, please refer to the complete recruitment letter.

Participants will be paid either a stipend or an hourly rate for each session they participate in, please refer to each recruitment letter for specific details. If you have additions questions, contact Noelle Gorbett, Science Assessment Specialist.

NGSS & ELD Elementary Science Units 

Portland Public Schools developed openly licensed units in Grade 2 and Grade 3. The science and ESL departments at Portland Public Schools, in consultation with NGSS writer Rita Januszyk, have developed units that are aligned with both Next Generation Science Standards and Oregon’s English Language Proficiency standards.

Taking Stock of Science Standards Implementation

This two-day, virtual or in-person convening, April 26 - 27, will build upon the previous sessions to:

• Identify the conditions for implementation that will support a more equitable and coherent system of science education.
• Develop a road map for implementation efforts looking forward that supports research, policymaking, and shifts in practice.

Please register here to join on April 26 and 27, 2022–either in-person in Washington, D.C. or virtually– to continue these important conversations and work collaboratively to determine the current state of implementation and how we can encourage positive development in this area moving forward.

Zero Barriers in STEM Education: Accessibility and Inclusion Program

On July 12 – 14, 2022, the Smithsonian Science Education Center will host an education summit as part of its Zero Barriers in STEM Education Accessibility and Inclusion Program, an initiative focused on increasing the prevalence of accessible and inclusive practices in STEM education and school culture for students with disabilities.  The convening brings teams of educators representing schools, districts, and state education agencies across the US together to develop logic models that focus on a problem of practice related to accessible and inclusive STEM programs and school culture for students with disabilities.

Travel and accommodations provided by the Smithsonian.

Deadline for teams and mentors to apply is May 27, 2022, at 5pm Eastern. Click here to register for an information session or apply for the program.

Equity in PreK–12 STEM Education

The National Academy of Science will be exploring different efforts to address and support equity and STEM education at the state and district levels. Panelists will identify trends in state policies related to equity and STEM education as well as how different states are working toward their respective equity goals.  

To join the conversation on April 11th from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm PT or to receive the recording, please register here.

Statewide OER Workshop - May 10

The Oregon Open Learning team will host a statewide OER workshop on Tuesday, May 10th from 4:00 - 5:30 pm. This virtual workshop will be an interactive professional learning event that will provide participants an opportunity to learn about open educational resources (OER) and the Oregon Open Learning Hub, Oregon’s K-12 repository for OER. 

Register for the event here and share the opportunity with your colleagues. Contact the Oregon Open Learning Team at OregonOpenLearning@ode.oregon.gov with any questions. To receive the Oregon Open Learning quarterly newsletter, sign up here.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to Deb Bailey, STEM Education Specialist, Noelle Gorbett, Science Assessment Specialist, or Jamie Rumage, Science Education Specialist, if you have any questions or concerns.