Face Covering and Quarantine Guidance Changes for Early Learning
On February 28,
Governor Kate Brown announced Oregon will lift mask requirements for indoor public spaces and schools, including child care, on March 11, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. This decision is based on current COVID-19 case forecasting, which projects hospitalizations falling below 400 or fewer Oregonians per day by March 12. This will return Oregon to a level of hospitalization experienced prior to the Omicron variant. Additionally, because of high vaccination rates and previous infection due to Omicron, Oregon now has significant population immunity.
Beginning March 12, 2022, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) will pause the quarantine requirement for individuals exposed to COVID-19 in child care and K-12 settings.
Staff and children who are ill with COVID-like symptoms or test positive must be excluded from child care and isolate at home for 5 days. They may then return when symptoms are improving and they have been fever-free for 24 hours. When returning to care, staff and children 2 years and older should wear a well-fitting mask in child care and public settings for an additional 5 days after their isolation is completed.
The OHA and Early Learning Division (ELD) recommend that early education and child care programs notify families of an exposure so they can watch for symptoms or test, but children/staff exposed do not need to be excluded unless they are symptomatic or test positive. Early education and child care programs may choose to impose stricter isolation, quarantine or masking requirements.
ELD has a list of
responses to Frequently Asked Questions.
More information can be found on the ELD website.
March is Women’s History Month
Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month by presidential proclamation. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions to American history. Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women planned and executed a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978. The organizers selected the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women’s Day. The movement spread across the country as other communities initiated their own Women’s History Week celebrations the following year.
In 1980, a consortium of women’s groups and historians—led by the National Women’s History Project (now the National Women's History Alliance)—successfully lobbied for national recognition. In February 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th, 1980 as National Women’s History Week. Since 1995, each president has issued annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”
Governor Kate Brown signed a proclamation and also
sent a message on Women’s History Month out on social media.
The 2022 Women’s History theme, “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope,” is both a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.
In addition to the featured resources and opportunities, explore
online exhibits, resources, biographies. Watch a morning news feature on the Smithsonian's recent
project celebrating the women of science with incredible use of 3-D printing. Take a look at
A Mighty Girl's booklists for confident and courageous girls. Organizations like
Girl Up encourage leadership development and
The National Archive for Black Women's History is a clearinghouse of information on African American women's history resources.
Student Education Equity Development Survey Amplifies Student Voices!
The Student Education Equity Development Survey (SEED Survey) and Alt-SEED Survey are now available!
Please administer the survey in your schools to gain valuable information from students’ voices. These surveys, for students who participate in our general assessments in grades 3-11 and for students with significant cognitive disabilities who take our alternate assessments in grades 3-8 and 11, provide an opportunity for districts to gather student voice in areas such as sense of belonging, opportunity to learn, access to resources and self-efficacy beliefs.
The SEED and Alt-SEED Surveys are the product of a collaboration between Oregon Department of Education, University of Oregon partners, Oregon educators, students and community partners.
The SEED survey is short (approx. 10 minutes) and actionable, allowing schools to use the data they receive to support their decision making process. It is also administered through the OSAS Test Delivery System, allowing students access to the same supports they would use on statewide summative assessments.
The SEED Survey is available in English, Spanish and Russian for in-person administration. It will be available for proctored or non-proctored remote administration beginning April 19, with the administration window for the SEED Survey closing on June 3, 2022.
The Alt-SEED survey takes approximately the same time as the SEED Survey and is completed by the educator who knows the student best, through the Training and Proficiency website that the Oregon Extended Assessment is administered in.
Aurora Institute referenced the SEED Survey in an article ‘Centering Student Voice in Statewide Assessment of Student Success Factors: Oregon’s SEED Survey’ by Eliot Levine:
“By embarking on this ambitious effort to create statewide assessments of key educational constructs that are too often ignored, the Oregon Department of Education is amplifying students’ voices and increasing the capacity of schools, districts, families, and policymakers to improve student outcomes and educational equity. By inviting others to adopt or adapt the surveys for local purposes, they are leveraging their work to have an impact beyond Oregon.”
Let’s do our part to listen to our students by administering the SEED Survey by June 3, 2022. More information about the SEED Survey and Alt SEED Survey, including administration, can be found on the
ODE SEED Survey web page.
Please
contact the SEED Survey Team with any questions.
ODE In the News
- ODE Senior Mental Health Officer Dr. B. Grace Bullock shared her thoughts about how mindfulness can reduce stress and improve relationships
on the OEA Grow Podcast.
- ODE is teaming up with Oregon’s Kitchen Table for a series of community conversations and a survey of Oregonians on
the future of graduation requirements in the state. Here’s some of the media stories about the issue: