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March 2025 Education Update

Oregon Achieves... Together!

A Message from Oregon Department of Education Director Dr. Charlene Williams

ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams 

Dear Education Community,

Let’s Be Real—Things are Hard

By now, you’ve heard it all—"We’re working on it," "These are challenging times"—and while those things may be true, they don’t change the fact that recent weeks have felt heavy for many. For some of our students and families, it’s more than just challenging; it’s scary, exhausting, frustrating, and unfair. However, simply acknowledging that reality is not enough.

In Salem, Governor Kotek, legislators, advocates, community members, and educators are showing up in support of education bills that can help meet the growing needs of Oregon students. Under discussion are a number of education bills including summer/after school learning and educational accountability. By centering students, not only in words but also in actions, we have an opportunity to forge a path and commit ourselves to transformation.

So let’s do what we do best—let’s show up. Not with more statements, but with action. What does that look like for you?

  • Connect with your local leaders and legislators to share what’s working and what’s not in your schools.
  • Follow along in the legislative session to see how policymakers and advocates are shaping the future of education.
  • Check in with a student or family who may be struggling. Support a colleague who’s carrying more than their share.
  • Bring ideas to your teams about what small shifts could make a difference.

Whatever role you play, take a step—because small actions add up.

Let’s lean on each other, strategize, and take tangible steps forward. A conversation, a connection, a plan—momentum builds one step at a time. Change doesn’t happen all at once, but together, we can make sure it happens. It’s spring - let’s dig in!

Our schools are places where every student, regardless of citizenship status, is welcome & protected

Oregon has strong nondiscrimination laws and policies in place to ensure that all Oregon students can be successful in school. That includes Oregon’s sanctuary law – a law that was passed with strong bipartisan support in the 1980’s. Oregon law makes sure our schools are places where every student, regardless of citizenship status, is welcome and protected. Please click on the picture above to watch a video from Governor Tina Kotek.

ODE Releases Adolescent Literacy Framework

Oregon's Instructional Frameworks Adolescent Literacy

News outlets across the state covered ODE’s release of the Adolescent Literacy Framework last month. Click on the links below to review the coverage:

March is Women’s History Month

What started with a single week of celebration in Sonoma County, California, in 1978 has grown to a whole month of celebrating the accomplishments of women. The 2025 theme for Women’s History Month is "Moving Forward Together." It spotlights "women educating and inspiring generations"- reflecting on how this celebration was born in classrooms and spread through the dedication of teachers and education advocates. What began as a week expanded to a month in 1987 after state departments of education across the country recognized its power in achieving equity goals within their classrooms. Educators were the original champions of women's history and continue to be its most important storytellers.

Feel free to use these resources this month and throughout the year to celebrate the role women have played throughout history.

Classroom Resources Women's History Month:

Quality Assurance Panel Application Deadline Approaching

The Oregon Department of Education is seeking 200+ people from across the state to serve on Quality Assurance and Learning Panels (QALP) to review ODE’s assessment of 2025-27 Integrated Applications.

The Integrated Applications empower school districts to describe their implementation of key programs such as Every Day Matters (EDM), High School Success (HSS), Student Investment Account (SIA), Early Indicator Intervention Systems (EIIS), Early Literacy Success School District Grants (ELSSDG), Career and Technical Education (CTE), and Career Connected Learning (CCL), all in one streamlined document.

The purpose of the Quality Assurance and Learning Panel (QALP) is to:

  • Support public understanding and grow confidence in the implementation of the Integrated Application;
  • Create conditions conducive for learning across districts and communities; and
  • Support ODE’s review processes with a quality check.

This is a request for your participation in a single two hour panel which includes volunteering to review and affirm the review process of ODE while increasing learning about the work being done in districts, charter schools, programs, and communities across the state of Oregon.

We are looking for:

  • Practicing or retired educators;
  • Students;
  • Community partners;
  • Family members and/or advocates representing/serving parents and families;
  • Representatives from philanthropy or business;
  • School board members and elected representatives; and
  • School and district administrators - including ESD leaders.

Selected panelists will be asked to commit to a single panel (9am-11am or 1pm-3pm) virtual meeting between late April - June to review ODE's evaluation of an integrated application. To be considered, please submit an interest form by March 16th, 2025.

Participation in the Quality Assurance and Learning Panel is voluntary and subject to public record. Selected panelists will be notified later this month and ODE will coordinate with panelists to find a scheduling time that works.

If you have any questions please contact us at ODE.EII@ode.oregon.gov.

Calling For Youth Advisory Council Applications

Last year, Oregon passed Senate Bill 1552, which mandates the creation of a Youth Advisory Council (YAC) under the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to ensure that the diverse experiences and needs of Oregon's youth are reflected in decision-making processes.

The YAC is open to youth ages 14-18 from across the state who are passionate about leadership and interested in how youth perspectives can influence state education programs. Our goal is to give youth the opportunity to have a voice in shaping and implementing important educational initiatives.

As a member of this inaugural class of youth leaders, YAC members will:

  • Work with the Oregon Department of Education to provide youth voice and input in policy making.
  • Connect with other youth and student leaders from across the state.
  • Lead the development and evaluation of current youth leadership and engagement programs.
  • Provide updates to the Governor and legislative teams on the council’s work.

YAC Member’s term of service is one year. Monthly meetings will be held virtually in the evenings starting in late summer or early fall, and we are thrilled to offer compensation to members for their service.

The deadline for applications is May 9 and members will be selected and notified no later than June 30.

Help Spread the Word!

To learn more about the application process, please visit the YAC webpage or you can contact Amy Hodge, Youth Advisory Council Coordinator at amy.hodge@ode.oregon.gov or call (503) 385-6182. Sign up for our listserv to receive updates about the Youth Advisory Council.

ODE In the News

New Interactive Map Shows Resources For Students And Families In Need of Shelter

ODE has published an interactive map of all known shelter locations across the state in order to help McKinney-Vento liaisons identify resources for students and families in need of shelter. The shelter map includes houseless shelters, domestic violence shelters, warming centers, safe sleep/park sites, youth shelters, and day shelters.

Shelters are indicated on the map by orange dots; click on an orange dot to bring up information about a specific shelter including contact information and location. The map is current as of February 2025 and will be updated periodically. To open the map, click either "Open in Map Viewer" to the right of the summary, or click directly on the map preview on the left side of the website.

To better understand the issues facing students navigating housing instability and what you can do to help, please read ODE’s summary of three recent, critical research briefs.

New ODE Research Reveals the Critical Connection Between Student Opportunities in High School and Career and College Plans

The Oregon Department of Education is excited to announce the release of a new data brief focusing on the Post-Graduation Planning questions from the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey. The brief examines student interests in various pathways after graduation, including college, employment, military, and starting a family, and how those interests differ across demographics. A key feature of the brief is the student responses, which provide an opportunity to directly hear student voice.

A key finding from the brief are the more than 20 percentage point gaps between students’ professed interest in attending college and rates of actual college enrollment.

These gaps vary by student group, with some student groups reporting high interest in college relative to their historical postsecondary enrollment rates. Disparities in college access and support in navigating the system often account for some of these large gaps.

Commonalities among students with specific post high school plans included strong sense of belonging, higher rates of attendance, access to books and other reading materials, and opportunities to connect classwork to careers.

This brief is posted on the Research and Data Briefs page.

In-Person Transformative SEL & Social Science Statewide Summits

In 2023, Senate Bill 5701 and Senate Bill 1050 required the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) to provide professional learning opportunities and resources to support implementation of Oregon’s Transformative Social and Emotional Learning Framework & Standards and the updated Oregon Social Science Standards. In partnership with WestEd, ODE is hosting four statewide professional learning summits at regional locations in Spring 2025 to support educators in implementing both sets of standards.

Combined Transformative SEL and Social Science Summit Locations and Dates

Bend:

Eugene:

Social Science Summit Locations and Dates

Pendleton:

Clackamas:

Summits will provide collaborative professional learning activities in which Oregon educators will:

  • Learn how the new Transformative SEL Framework and Standards and/or Social Science Standards can integrate into coursework and provide deeper learning opportunities for students in K-12 education.
  • Explore professional learning resources and tools designed to help educators deepen standards-aligned content knowledge and support implementation of the standards.
  • Engage with resources designed to help educators plan the delivery of Transformative SEL Framework and Standards and/or Social Science Standards professional development in their own schools and districts.

Who Should Attend?

All summits are intended to build the capacity of education leaders, including:

  • Oregon school or district leaders responsible for supporting and building the learning of other educators.
  • Education Service District and Regional Education Network leaders responsible for supporting the learning and growth of teachers and leaders.
  • Instructional leaders, teacher-leaders, and others seeking access to tools, resources and professional learning protocols that they can use in designing and delivering professional development in their own contexts.
  • All may apply to attend.

Participation is not guaranteed and will be based on our commitment to enable diverse regional representation and based on the capacity for attendance at each summit site. For the combined events, participants may choose to attend one day or both; those who can attend both may need to be prioritized.

More Resources to Come

To help build a foundation of content educators can draw from as they work to implement new requirements, we look forward to sharing additional professional learning opportunities and resources. These new resources were developed using one-time funding from the legislature, with completion expected by June 30th, 2025. For an overview of the resources, please review the following fliers:

Contact Us

For questions regarding summit registration, reach out to Tiffany Katanyoutanant (tkatany@wested.org) For all other questions, please contact:

Diploma Seal Reminder

Graduation is just around the corner! Oregon public school students who earn a 3.5 GPA or above are eligible for an honor diploma seal. Schools and districts are welcome to request diploma seals by calling the Front Desk at 503-947-5600, emailing ode.frontdesk@ode.oregon.gov or faxing (503) 378-5156. The diploma seal request form can be found under Additional Resources on the Oregon Diploma webpage.

Student Spotlight