Updated K-12 Health Education Standards

Oregon Department of Education sent this bulletin at 10/30/2023 10:57 AM PDT

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Updated K-12 Health Education Standards
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New K-12 Health Education Standards – ODE, a statewide Health Education Panel, and countless partners have worked over the last year and a half to draft, revise, and solidify new K-12 standards that will guide Health Education in Oregon Public Schools for the next 7 years. The new standards were adopted at the October State Board of Education meeting. ODE will review and adopt Health Education instructional materials in 2024. Schools will have until the 2025-26 school year to fully implement the new standards. 

The new standards reflect updated national education standards, research on best practices in health education, newly passed Oregon laws, and adolescent health data from student health surveys. In response to years of feedback, these standards were also made more concise and more readily accessible for schools and educators to use. 

New and expanded health topics include: 

  • oral health
  • organ and tissue donation
  • eating disorder prevention
  • synthetic opioid overdose prevention and response
  • access to sexual and reproductive healthcare
  • violence and trafficking prevention
  • menstruation, menstrual products, and menstrual dignity
  • examination of historical influences and social justice in relation to health equity

If you have questions about the upcoming Health Education Instructional Materials adoption, please contact ODE's Instructional Materials Coordinator Aujalee Moore.