August 19, 2024 

Dear Colleagues,

School classrooms and hallways will soon come alive with student voices and laughter. Whether students were engaged in summer programs, camps, or work, they were undoubtedly learning and connecting with one another. Many of them formed new friendships, deepened old relationships, and discovered new parts of themselves. Some, it will seem, will have even grown a few inches! All of the experiences that students bring to schools and classrooms are opportunities to apply instruction on healthy relationships, growth and development, and diverse identities.

Educators can leverage the excitement and emotions of this time by designing instruction that brings student voice into the center of their learning. Important welcoming practices in the sexuality education classroom include: co-creating community agreements that prepare students for discourse, keeping students of all genders together for learning, and introducing an anonymous question box to keep instruction responsive to student realities.

It’s also a critical time to provide clear messaging around inclusivity and belonging. As students return to classrooms, they sense where they feel safe and included. This is a time for building and establishing meaningful practices of inclusion. Integrating the Transformative Social Emotional Standards with the 2023 Health and Sexuality Education Standards supports this shared purpose.

This month’s newsletter includes several ODE statewide updates and many resources for providing health and sexuality education in local classrooms. 

Header photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash, Newberg, OR

Section photo by Duy Pham on Unsplash    

ODE Updates & Opportunities

Just Released: 2023 Health Education Standards K-12 Learning Progressions

The Oregon Department of Education created a new K-12 Learning Progressions document to demonstrate how Health Education subtopics vertically align to ensure that students gain age-appropriate knowledge and skills over the years. This document intends to support school leaders, educators, parents, and caregivers to follow the skills and concepts that students should be learning from one grade level to the next. Health Education, when consistently taught and scaffolded across the grades, works to foster student healthy behaviors, empowered decision-making and an understanding of their role in promoting individual and community safety and well-being. 

 Health Education K-12 Learning Progressions

For more information please see the Sexuality Education and the Health Education websites.

Interest Survey: Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI) Sex Ed Professional Learning Opportunity

OTTI offers a full-day, in-person K-12 professional learning for educators and administrators to deliver comprehensive sexuality education as part of health instruction, focusing on healthy relationships, social emotional learning, child abuse prevention education, and healthy sexuality throughout the lifespan. 

The course introduces participants to core knowledge and skills required for teaching sexuality education, including how to answer difficult questions, how to use curriculum, and how to create inclusive learning environments for all students. OTTI workshops are delivered in partnership with Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, and other local partners.

Interested in having an OTTI Sex Ed Training in your area? 

OTTI Sex Ed Training Interest Survey