Welcome to the new year! We hope the new year offers you all renewed energy and inspiration. The new year can be an exciting time to expand our knowledge and skills in the sexuality education classroom. 

Educators know that teaching sex education is different from teaching about other school-based topics. It’s an ever-expanding field that provides endless opportunities for continued learning and growth. As the new year begins, and as many school districts around the state teach sexuality education lessons/units, it may be helpful to re-review the National Professional Learning Standards for Sex Ed. Delving into these standards can be a motivating new year exercise to hone in on the content, skills, and professional disposition needed to implement sex education effectively. 

We hope that this newsletter provides you with professional learning that will help you confidently and effectively teach about healthy relationships and healthy sexuality. Below, you will find announcements, research, resources, and opportunities for training by ODE, as well as other offerings by statewide and national colleagues.

Header photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash, Newberg, OR

Section photo by Tim Zänkert on Unsplash

ODE Releases Supporting Gender Expansive Students: Guidance for Schools 

This month, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) proudly published Supporting Gender Expansive Students: Guidance for Schools. This guidance is grounded in the recognition, respect, affirmation, friendship, joy, belonging, and safety every human deserves - including the students, staff, and families that make-up our school communities. Gender expansive students are protected under federal and Oregon civil rights laws. School districts have a responsibility to provide a safe and affirming educational environment for all students, including gender expansive students. This updated guidance clarifies new and evolving laws and policies in order to address the diverse needs of a broad range of gender expansive students and the school districts who serve them. 

Alongside the guidance, ODE has created a set of tools and resources aligned with the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan to assist school staff, students, and families with the implementation of these guidelines. There are resources designed to support administrators and school staff, including an action planning tool, a student support and safety plan template, a guide for changing name and gender marker within student information systems, and a document explaining the gender expansive individual education program (IEP) template updates. There are also several student and family-facing resources on filing discrimination complaints, accessing gender-affirming care, and asking for support in schools. 

Read the Guidance

Grant Opportunities

Deadline Extended: Funding for K-5 Sexuality Education & Ethnic Studies Instructional Materials 

An addendum was issued to extend the deadline for responses to RFA S-58100-00005010 Community Building Open Educational Resources to January 23, 2023 @ 1:00 PM.  Please go to the RFA posting on OregonBuys to obtain the addenda and access the full RFA, along with instructions on how to apply through the Oregon Buys eProcurement System, under “file attachments.”

The Oregon Department of Education is funding teams to develop high-quality instructional resources for grades K-5 that integrate Oregon’s sexuality education and ethnic studies standards. The Request for Application (RFA) for the Community Building Open Educational Resources (OER) for Elementary Grant is now open and closes January 23, 2023 @ 1:00 PM

High-quality instructional materials effectively and efficiently yield improvements in student learning outcomes.The K-5 content area standards for sexuality education and ethnic studies are not yet addressed comprehensively in commercially available materials. This project funds  collection of standards-aligned K-5 lessons to specifically address state-adopted standards related to oppression, anti-racism, and violence prevention. Each grantee team will be funded to produce a set of lessons to contribute to the collection. At the end of the project, these lessons will be available for educators, free of charge and openly licensed, on the Oregon Open Learning Hub.

Apply here by January 23, 2023

Job Opportunities

The Oregon Department of Education is hiring for a Safe and Inclusive Schools Grant Manager (Program Analyst 3), closes January 30, 2023

The Early Learning Division is hiring for an Equity Manager (Operations and Policy Analyst 3, open until filled and a Child Care Policy Research Analyst (Research Analyst 3)

Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon is recruiting Promotoras for their Promotores de Salud Program, a Latino/a sexuality and reproductive health program that is bilingual and peer-led, aiming to expand access to sexual and reproductive health information and care. 

Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette is hiring an Education & Training Coordinator to support the training and skill building of partners to effectively deliver sexual health programming. 

Healthy Teen Network is hiring an Accounts Receivable Administrative Assistant to support deliverables, provide bookkeeping and administrative support. 

Multnomah County is hiring a Community & Adolescent Health Program Supervisor to oversee day-to-day functions of Community and Adolescent Health violence prevention activities.