Oregon’s Proposed American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Plan
Summary
Oregon's Proposed American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Plan is dated June 7, 2021, with updates dated January 14, 2022, and May 17, 2022. The cover page lists Cynthia Stinson and Rick Crager as SEA contacts and Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education and Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction, as the printed name. The progress and promising practices section describes three strategies. The first is the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance, which the Oregon Department of Education issued with the Oregon Health Authority in August 2020 and which rests on four Guiding Principles.
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Cite this document
“Oregon’s Proposed American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Plan.”
Original at www.ed.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/department-of-education-pdf-www-ed-gov-2c3d68b31d/
, SHA-256 41c480df91da7f817084a4d5744a5bb7a22eed2d193a8c3329ddff3d5d4b37ba.Full text
Oregon’s Proposed American
Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Plan
June 7, 2021
Updated January 14, 2022
Updated May 17, 2022
Cover Page
Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number (e.g., S425U2100XX): S425U210049
SEA Contact: Cynthia Stinson, Senior Manager of Federal Investments and Pandemic Renewal
Telephone: (503) 881-3992
Email address: cynthia.stinson@ode.oregon.gov
Oregon’s Proposed American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER Plan was updated and submitted on
January 14, 2022. Clarifying updates were submitted on May 18, 2022.
Chief State School Officer or Authorized Representative (Printed
Name)
Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education and
Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
May 17, 2022
Cover Page
Grantee and Contact Information
ARP ESSER PR Award Number (e.g., S425U2100XX): S425U210049
SEA Contact: Rick Crager, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Information Technology
Telephone: (503) 480-5531
Email address: rick.crager@ode.state.or.us
By signing this document, I agree to each of the assurances listed in Appendix C and further
assure that:
To the best of my knowledge and belief, all information and data included in this plan are true
and correct.
Chief State School Officer or Authorized Representative (Printed
Name)
Colt Gill, Director of the Oregon Department of Education and
Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction
Signature of Authorized SEA Representative Date:
June 7, 2021
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Table of Contents:
Cover Page .................................................................................................................................................... 1
Grantee and Contact Information............................................................................................................. 1
A. Describing the State’s Current Status and Needs ................................................................................. 4
1. Progress and Promising Practices ..................................................................................................... 4
2. Overall Priorities: .............................................................................................................................. 9
3. Identifying Needs of Underserved Students ................................................................................... 12
4. Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: ................................................................. 17
5. School Operating Status: ................................................................................................................. 22
B. Safely Reopening Schools and Sustaining their Safe Operations ........................................................ 24
1. Support for LEAs.............................................................................................................................. 24
2. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans: ......................................... 32
C. Planning for the Use and Coordination of ARP ESSER Funds .............................................................. 36
1. SEA Consultation ............................................................................................................................. 36
2. Coordinating Funds: ........................................................................................................................ 43
D. Maximizing State-Level Funds to Support Students ........................................................................... 51
1. Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Describe ................................................................... 51
2. Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs: ...................................................... 54
3. Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs ................................................................. 59
4. Emergency Needs ........................................................................................................................... 63
Update to Sections D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, January 14, 2022 ……………………………………………………….66
E. Supporting LEAs in Planning for and Meeting Students’ Needs ......................................................... 71
1. LEA Plans for the Use of ARP ESSER Funds:..................................................................................... 71
2. LEA Consultation ............................................................................................................................. 78
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP ESSER funds. ..................... 81
4. Describe the extent to which the SEA will support its LEAs in implementing additional strategies
for taking educational equity into account in expending ARP ESSER funds ........................................... 82
F. Supporting the Educator Workforce ................................................................................................... 86
1. Supporting and Stabilizing the Educator Workforce:...................................................................... 87
2. Staffing to Support Student Needs: ................................................................................................ 88
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G. Monitoring and Measuring Progress .................................................................................................. ..99
1. Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting .................................................................................... ..99
2. Monitoring and Internal Controls:…................................................................................................105
Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template………………………………………..107
Appendix B: Reporting Language Included in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”)0…………………...110
Appendix C: Assurances………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….111
Appendix D……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..113
Appendix E: Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance……………………………………………………………………………….115
Appendix F: Table B.1………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………115
Appendix G: 2020-21 COVID-19 Targeted Community Engagement………………………………………………………..120
Appendix H: Student Investment Account Guidance……………………………………………………………………………….126
Appendix I: Data Collections Catalog……………………………………………………………………………………………………....126
Appendix J: Oregon Kitchen Table - Oregon’s Kitchen Table – ESSER III Set Aside Investments:
Refinement Roundtables…………………………………………….…………………………………………………………………………..126
Appendix K: Oregon ESSER III Set Aside Investment Plan……….………………..……………………………………………...126
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A. Describing the State’s Current Status and Needs
The Department recognizes the extraordinary efforts made by States, LEAs, and educators to
support students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe the
progress they have made, the priorities and student needs guiding their ARP ESSER funding
decisions, and their current and projected operating status.
1. Progress and Promising Practices: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3
strategies that have been most effective in supporting the needs of students in
your State during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for students most impacted
by the COVID-19 pandemic. Please include, if applicable, how your State will
submit and encourage its LEAs to submit lessons learned and best practices to the
Department’s Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse so that
they can be shared with other States and LEAs.
Oregon Department of Education (ODE) is centered on a commitment to promoting educational
systems that support every child’s identity, health and well-being, beauty, and strengths.
Students, families, and communities felt the impact of school closures and loss of access to
normally relied-upon resources. As such, equity was not a standalone consideration but
informed every decision at both the state and local levels. Decisions, whether related to health,
instruction, or operations, had the potential to exacerbate existing inequities --
disproportionately impacting those currently and historically marginalized by the education
system. Although equity considerations, key principles, and recommended actions were
specifically addressed in the strategies referenced below, an equity-informed, anti-racist, and
anti-oppressive lens weaves throughout all of the response strategies ODE implemented.
In alignment with Oregon Department of Education’s Education Equity Stance, ODE
implemented the following three strategies:
Pandemic Response Strategy 1: Issuance of Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance
ODE worked jointly with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and used the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance to issue the Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL)
Guidance in August 2020 (See Appendix E). The health and safety aspects of RSSL applied to all
Oregon Local Education Agencies (LEAs), public charter schools, and private schools. The
guidance was updated regularly throughout the pandemic as Executive Orders from the
Governor and guidance from the CDC changed. Success with resuming in-person learning
occurred when an incremental approach was combined with fidelity to health and safety
protocols. RSSL guidance has been one significant tool for communicating these protocols to
LEAs, families, and students.
A key factor in the successful implementation of RSSL was staying anchored by the four Guiding
Principles of RSSL:
• Ensure safety and wellness. The decision to return to school settings must be driven by
health and safety considerations. In planning, prioritize basic needs such as food,
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shelter, and wellness and support the mental, social, and emotional health of students
and staff.
• Cultivate connection and relationship. Quality learning experiences require deep
interpersonal relationships and a learning environment where people feel safe, seen,
and valued. Especially in the midst of returning to school settings from an extended
school closure, supporting students and families should begin with connection and
relationship.
• Center equity. Recognize the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black, American
Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino/a/x, Pacific Islander communities; students
experiencing disabilities; and students and families navigating poverty. Apply an equity-
informed, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive stance to promote culturally sustaining and
revitalizing educational systems that support every child.
• Innovate. The complex circumstances in which learning is currently situated requires
ongoing reflection and iteration to assure deep learning for every student.
Using the above guiding principles, the RSSL guidance was organized by sections to address the
following:
• Returning to In-Person Instruction
• Public Health Protocols
• Facilities and School Operations
• Response to Outbreak
• Equity
• Instruction
• Family, Community, Engagement
• Mental, Social and Emotional Health
• Staffing and Personnel
Sections 0-3 in RSSL primarily focused on health and safety requirements and
recommendations with provisions for flexibility that honored and recognized the uniqueness of
communities across Oregon, and supported schools in designing plans to meet community-
specific needs and strengths. Each school was required to submit an “Operational Blueprint for
Reentry” consistent with the requirements included in RSSL.
Sections 4-8 in RSSL provided clear expectations for instruction, family engagement, mental and
social emotional health support, and staffing. For instance, the RSSL guidance provided
requirements and recommendations for instructional time, the learning day, and instructional
priorities, and a Safeguarding Student Opportunity clause. This clause attempts to mitigate
negative impact to students’ learning pathway or access to a high school diploma as a result of
the spring 2020 school building closures. ODE required districts to recognize the
disproportionate and severe impacts of the pandemic on students and families, and districts
had to provide every student opportunities to regain their learning stride. An equity decision
making tool was provided to assist districts in navigating specific challenges related to equity.
ODE content specialists also developed a Designing Learning webpage as a supplemental
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support to RSSL that provided subject-specific instructional resources for Oregon schools for
the 2020-21 school year. Each subject-area document (English language arts, math, science,
social science, health/physical education, and arts), addressed essential instructional standards
and content as well as best practices and resources for high-quality instruction.
Pandemic Response Strategy 2: Highlight Mental Health Guidance and Resources
ODE maintains that mental health is situated within a continuum of care that meets each
person’s needs for physical and emotional safety, security, social connection, identity, diversity
and purpose. Mental health refers to the emotional, social, cognitive, behavioral, physical and
relational thriving of individuals and systems.
To address the mental health needs of the education community statewide, ODE supported the
internal Safe and Inclusive Schools Team to reinforce a number of bodies of work that focus on
mental health promotion, prevention, intervention, services, and supports for school
communities. These bodies of work include:
• Mental Health Toolkit
• An Integrated Model for Mental Health
• Mental Health Guidance & Resources
• CASEL/CCSSO and National Governor’s Association Strengthening Mental Health in Education
Initiatives
• Suicide Prevention, Intervention and Post-vention (Senate Bill 52 - Adi's Act)
• School Safety & Prevention System (SSPS)
• Every Student Belongs
Provision of resources in response to community needs. These resources were redeployed
during the pandemic as educators, communities, parents, and students requested and looked
to ODE for mental health and social support resources. The need for these resources is
reflected in the data from the Student Health Survey and described further in Section A2 and
cited in Section E3. ODE further responded to the need for mental health and support resources
with its Mental Health and Social Support for Students and Families website.
Pandemic Response Strategy 3: Improve Distance Learning and Close the Digital Divide
Initial Guidance: Distance Learning for All
The emergency closure of schools during Spring 2020 required school leaders, educators,
students, and families to quickly pivot to offering distance learning to respond to COVID-19 and
ensure the safety and health of Oregonians. Educators, students, and families responsibly did
their best to implement distance learning, following ODE’s Distance Learning For All guidance
for how to best operationalize learning during the school building closures. Distance Learning
for All guidance was Oregon’s first effort to ensure care, connection, and continuity of learning
for all of Oregon’s students during Governor Brown’s, “Stay Home, Stay Safe'' order.
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Connect Oregon Students Summit for Learning
On May 28, 2020, approximately 100 partners from education, business, community-based
organizations, philanthropy, industry, governance/policy, and others met to collaboratively co-
create a plan to meet the continuum of opportunity for every Oregon student to access a
reliable and engaging digital learning experience.
Based on the surveys that ODE conducted with districts, the following financial needs were
identified:
• 80,953 student and teacher devices estimated at $55.3 million
• 18,739 hotspots for access estimated at $6.6 million
• 31,931 households needing internet service estimated at $9.8 million for 4 months of
service
• 1,747 Wi-Fi group location sites estimated at $1.2 million
As a result of this summit, a private-public partnership was established to help support and
influence the initial federal funds dedicated to improve student access to learning in the
pandemic. This initial summit provided the momentum needed to generate support for the
Comprehensive Distance Learning Grant Program.
Comprehensive Distance Learning Grant Program
The Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) Grant Program (also discussed in Section C2)
combined funding sources provided by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,
2020 (CARES Act) to assist school districts with establishing distance learning in response to
COVID-19. The CDL Grant Program includes $6.5 million of Elementary and Secondary School
Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund funding, and $19.8 million of Governor’s Emergency Education
Relief (GEER) Fund funding. CDL grant funds were to be used to reimburse eligible expenses
incurred between July 1, 2020 and May 30, 2021.
There were five categories of eligible expenses under this grant program:
1. Access and Connectivity: Adequate infrastructure and/or services that enable net
access and connectivity for student learning.
2. Student and Teacher Devices: Appropriate and user friendly devices for students and
educators to navigate through distance learning curriculums and programs of study.
3. Digital Content and Curriculum: High quality, adaptable, culturally responsive, and
effective digital learning curriculums and content that fosters student learning and
engagement.
4. Learning Management Systems: Online technology that allows educators to successfully
deliver their teaching content and lessons.
5. Professional Learning for Educators: Various supports and training that ensure effective
use of all digital learning tools. This included encouraging LEAs to conduct in-depth
studies of the National Standards for Quality Online Learning, including crosswalking of
these standards with standards of educator practice.
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Digital Learning Team
Early in the pandemic, when the majority of Oregon schools had shifted to distance learning,
ODE began exploring how to form a Digital Learning Team. Prior to the spring of 2020, ODE had
two staff working on digital learning, but lacked a more intentional infrastructure or dedicated
budget. A Digital Learning Director was hired with the help of ESSER I funding in the summer of
2020. Additionally, a budgetary Policy Option Package was created to fund a more robust
digital learning team and was submitted to the Governor and Oregon Legislature as part of
ODE’s budget request (ODE is still awaiting the outcome of the legislature’s budget). The first
priorities of the Digital Learning team were to launch the CDL grants as described above and
also to create an Oregon Open Learning hub.
The Digital Learning Team currently is comprised of three team members. This team is charged
with ensuring that digital learning and education technology supports student learning
throughout the state, both within the pandemic context and beyond. The scope of the team’s
work includes interpreting and assisting districts in implementing CDL guidance as it pertains to
digital learning and pedagogy, organizing and facilitating promising practices and statewide
collaboration (i.e., biweekly meetings of a statewide Ed Tech Cadre, monthly meetings of a
Canvas Admin Users group, and five sessions of a Promising Practices Idea Exchanges for
teachers), developing the Oregon Open Learning hub resources, providing access to materials
for educators, and overseeing Oregon Digital Learning, a program that currently supports
course access for students in rural districts.
Issuance of Companion Guidance to RSSL: Comprehensive Distance Learning Guidance
In preparing for the 2020-21 school year, ODE intentionally re-designed and revised the
Distance Learning for All guidance. The Oregon Department of Education issued Comprehensive
Distance Learning Guidance, A Companion to Ready Schools, Safe Learners: Deepening Care,
Connection and Continuity of Learning (CDL) in August 2020. CDL detailed the criteria and
requirements of an instructional model for schools planning to provide instruction off-site for
the 2020-21 school year. It was rooted in strong instructional practices, effective educator and
student contact time, meaningful peer-to-peer interaction, and equitable learning
opportunities.
Under a CDL model, schools had the responsibility to:
• Maintain high-quality instructional strategies adapted to distance learning.
• Continue to focus on student identity and belonging, care, connection, wellbeing, and
mental, social, and emotional health;
• Actively engage and nurture relationships with students, families, and community;
• Center equity in all outreach and communication efforts with parents and caregivers;
• Provide high-quality, well-rounded learning opportunities; and encourage, support, and
provide opportunities for active collaboration and communication between school
leaders, teachers, and all school staff.
ODE is evaluating how we can submit best practices it finds helpful to share in the
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clearinghouse and will encourage its LEAs to submit lessons learned and best practices to the
Department’s Safer Schools and Campuses Best Practices Clearinghouse.
2. Overall Priorities: Provide your assessment of the top 2-3 issues currently facing
students and schools across your State as a result of or in response to the COVID-
19 pandemic including, to the extent possible, data illustrating why these are the
most critical and/or most widespread issues facing schools and students.
Throughout the last year of navigating the pandemic, feedback from schools, districts, and
communities highlighted several key issues facing students and schools across Oregon. The
three issues listed below surfaced as priorities:
1. Addressing unfinished learning through asset-based acceleration strategies
Addressing unfinished learning as part of a responsive system, grounded in equity, meeting
students where they are and accelerating their learning by building on strengths and creating
the conditions to support needs. Distance learning has created conditions where many students
from historically underserved communities are falling further behind because schools do not
have the resources to adequately engage their families. During this pandemic, we have seen
many community-based organizations work diligently to engage families to find ways to
support their children through CDL. While these efforts are supporting our students, we know
additional challenges still exist for children and families; particularly, those from communities
most impacted by the pandemic. The digital divide and inconsistent access to high-quality
instruction will continue through 2021-22 as many families continue to choose a virtual option
to meet the needs of their student for various reasons. National enrollment patterns reflect the
other disproportionate impacts of the pandemic. For example, enrollment in remote learning
varies widely by race, with Black, Latino/a/x, and Asian students enrolled at rates 15%-45%
above that of White students. For Oregon, enrollment on October 1, 2020 showed a number of
impacts of the pandemic. Total enrollment in Fall 2020 was down nearly 22,000 students from
Fall 2019. This represented a 3.7% decline in K-12 public school enrollment. Much of the
decline was in Kindergarten where enrollment was down by over 6,000 students, or almost
15%. Grades one through six were each down by over 2,000 students (over 5%), while
enrollment in grades 7 through 12 were generally similar to the previous year. At the same
time enrollment in public on-line charter schools rose by over 50%, representing over 7,000
additional students attending those schools. By percentage, enrollment declines were largest
for American Indian/Alaska Native students (over 6%) and for White students (over 5%) while
declines for Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino students were only about 1%.
2. Prioritizing health, safety, wellness, and connections for all communities
Health and safety are critical issues facing Oregon schools as we continue to navigate a global
pandemic. As the majority of Oregon students and staff return to in-person instruction for fall
2021, schools will need to continue to mitigate the risks of COVID-19 by implementing health
and safety operational measures. In addition to protecting the physical health and safety of the
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school community, schools should also address mental health, wellness, and connection for
students and staff (see section A1 Strategy 2).
One data source that has shined a light on the imperative to address mental health is the
Oregon Student Health Survey. Historically, the Oregon Health Authority, in collaboration with
the Oregon Department of Education, conducted the Healthy Teen Survey in odd numbered
years to 8th and 11th graders. In 2020, the survey was revised and renamed as the Student
Health Survey. The survey is an anonymous and voluntary survey of 6th, 8th and 11th grade
youth, and going forward, will be administered in even numbered years. ODE anticipates using
the data produced by this survey to help identify strengths, challenges, gaps and opportunities
as we work to implement ESSER strategies.
The Oregon Health Authority’s 2019 Oregon Healthy Teens Survey results show only 53.8% of
8th grade participants and 56.9% of 11th grade participants met the USAID “Positive Youth
Development” framework. This USAID framework focuses on building strengths and attributes
that can buffer the impact of stress and obstacles young people face.
Preliminary, unweighted data from the 2020 Student Health Survey, reported:
• In general their emotional and mental health was fair or poor.
o 22.3% of 6th graders
o 33.7% of 8th graders
o 47.8% of 11th graders
• Having emotional or mental health care needs that were not met when schools were
not meeting in person.
o 12.2% of 8th graders
o 27.8% of 11th graders
• Feeling so sad or hopeless almost every day for two weeks or more in a row that they
stopped doing some usual activities.
o 41.3% of 11th graders
• In past 12 months seriously considered attempting suicide.
o 15.5% of 11th graders
3. Strengthening high-quality, culturally-sustaining and revitalizing instruction, leadership,
and pathways to graduation and post-secondary transitions.
In order to increase student engagement and accelerate learning in response to the pandemic,
students need access to high-quality, culturally-sustaining and revitalizing instruction. A priority
area for ODE is investing in strategies and supports that strengthen instructional practices and
lead to positive post-secondary outcomes. This includes a focus on growing the capacity of
school leaders to not only lead in the areas of health and safety, but also to continue to hone
their instructional leadership skills. It also means an investment in programs that provide
relevant learning experiences for students that build off of their strengths, identities, and
interests.
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In 2017, Oregon’s Education Innovation Officer conducted community engagement sessions
with upwards of 1,000 key stakeholders closest to Oregon’s education system and published
the What Will It Take to Improve Oregon's Graduation Outcomes Report which confirmed the
need to focus on equitable practices and outcomes. The recommendations from this report also
include the need for relationships, partnerships and relevance within the Oregon education
system.
In response to the themes listed above and feedback from more recent engagement sessions,
ODE is taking a two-pronged approach to provide tools and resources for culturally-sustaining
and revitalizing instructional practices while also supporting strategies to diversify the
workforce.
Decades of research provide data about the positive impacts of educator diversity on academic
achievement and social and emotional development for Black, Brown, and Indigenous students,
as well as their White peers. Studies investigating the impact of racial matching for teachers
and students found positive results on racially, ethnically and/ or linguistically diverse student
test scores and improved perceptions of teachers of color for White students, a key facet of
developing anti-racism in today’s schools and society (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007). Another
longitudinal study provided evidence that Black students taught by a Black teacher at least once
between third and fifth grade were less likely to drop out of high school and more likely to
aspire to go to college (Gershenson, et al., 2017). These disparities were highlighted in section 2
of the 2020 Oregon Educator Equity Report by the Educator Advancement Council and
addressed in Section F of this application.
In addition, as Oregon seeks to re-engage students, especially those who have been most
impacted by the pandemic, it will be important that we continue to invest in career-connected
learning. Engagement in career and technical education (CTE) and earning college credit while
in high school is correlated with higher attendance and graduation rates. In 2020, CTE
participants (those students taking at least one CTE course) graduated at a rate of 90.8 percent
in four years and CTE concentrators (students passing two classes in a CTE Program of Study)
had a 94.8 percent graduation rate in four years. The same communities who have been
impacted the most by the pandemic are the communities that see the most benefit from
participation in CTE and college credit in high school programs. A critical part of recovery will
be to ensure that every student is given the opportunity to participate in relevant career-
connected learning as they advance towards graduation and post-secondary options.
Pandemic Impact
Unfortunately, clear measures of educational impact and definitive best practices to assist
students and families navigating a prolonged, worldwide pandemic, socio-political upheaval and
(in Oregon) historic wildfires while trying to provide consistent and meaningful learning
opportunities were not feasible given the conditions and constraints needed to respond to
COVID-19 and collateral impacts.
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In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ODE suspended administration of the statewide
assessments for spring 2020. Additionally, the State Board adopted OAR 581-022-0103, which
waived the Assessment of Essential Skills graduation requirement for students graduating in the
2019-2020 school year. In fall 2020, the State Board adopted OAR 581-022-0104, which
extended this waiver for students graduating in the 2020-2021 school year. While the pandemic
has disrupted ODE’s ability to monitor and address the equity concerns present in student
performance and participation patterns, historical data along with other leading indicators
signal a further disproportionate impact in math and language arts.
The data that we do have demonstrates the impact of the pandemic on students and schools,
including:
• Almost 20% decline in FAFSA completion rates (40% in 2021, 52% 2020, 59% 2019)
• A decline in Oregon community college enrollment
• Approximately 6,000 students are likely to enter 1st grade without having enrolled in
public kindergarten. Many of these students will have had no formal kindergarten
experience.
• Students from historically underserved communities continue to have significantly lower
attendance rates in 2020-21 than other students, showing they face greater challenges
in accessing distance learning.
• Many CTE programs were paused or modified during the 2020-2021 school year as a
result of lack of in-person instruction.
3. Identifying Needs of Underserved Students: Describe your State’s 2-3 highest
priority academic, social, emotional, and/or mental health needs for the remainder
of the 2020-2021 school year (if applicable) and for the 2021-2022 school year
related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the following student
groups:
i. Students from low-income families,
ii. Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying
disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by race or
ethnicity),
iii. Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender),
iv. English learners,
v. Children with disabilities (including infants, toddlers, children, and
youth with disabilities eligible under the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (“IDEA”)),
vi. Students experiencing homelessness,
vii. Children and youth in foster care,
viii. Migratory students, and
ix. Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have
been identified by the SEA (e.g., youth involved in the criminal
justice system, students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
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students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures, and LGBTQ+
students).
To the extent possible, this description should include data on indicators such as
estimates of the academic impact of lost instructional time,1 chronic
absenteeism, student engagement, and social-emotional well-being.
The specific student groups named in the application have been and remain a focus of Oregon’s
attention and resources. We are clear about the ongoing and historic disproportionality and
impact of inequity and that the pandemic only exacerbated these issues; thus, Oregon will use
these funds to layer onto existing initiatives as well as implement specific strategies that are
formed by community engagement.
ODE’s three highest priorities listed above in Section A.2. apply to every student including the
student groups specified in the ESSER application:
1. Addressing unfinished learning through asset-based acceleration strategies
2. Prioritizing health, safety, wellness, and connections for all communities
3. Strengthening high-quality, culturally-sustaining and revitalizing instruction, leadership,
and programming including supporting pathways to graduation and post-secondary
planning
Throughout the pandemic, ODE has worked alongside community based organizations, tribes,
and school districts, to support students and families from historically underserved
communities during these challenging times. We identified the priorities in A.2. based on
multiple engagement sessions conducted over the last year with educators, communities, other
stakeholders and tribes. ODE recognizes the need for deeper engagement with each of these
groups and tribal governments to inform the specific strategies that will be used to fully address
our three priorities. (See section C.1. for more in depth information on past and planned
engagement.) These strategies will be identified based on ongoing engagement with historically
underrepresented groups.
The Statewide Education Initiatives Account invests in improving educational opportunities for
Oregon students, especially historically underserved student groups. With these investments,
historically underserved groups have developed student success plans for: American
Indian/Alaska Native Students, African American/Black Students, Latino/a/x and Indigenous
Students, and LGBTQ2SIA+ students. Although not explicitly aligned, these comprehensive
student success plans affirm the three priorities listed in A.2.
Specific to students experiencing disability who receive special education and related services
under the IDEA, ODE also believes that our first work is to address the same three highest
priorities, and that the first efforts in doing this must be through the same supports available to
all students. For instance, students experiencing disability must first be afforded access to the
1
For the purposes of the plan, “academic impact of lost instructional time” refers to “learning loss” experienced by
students as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as referenced in the ARP Act and the CRRSA Act.
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asset-based acceleration strategies used to address unfinished learning across an entire
classroom, grade level, school, or system. However, ODE also recognizes that there are and will
be instances where these priorities alone will not be sufficient to address the unique needs that
arise from a student’s disability. Such instances will need to be addressed by the student’s IEP
team and the consideration of Individualized COVID-19 Recovery Services as appropriate. ODE
is working to support IEP teams in making these important decisions and will continue to
provide guidance towards that end.
More information about the use of processes and data collection already implemented under
the Student Success Act that will be braided with work under ESSER is discussed in Section E.
Data on Indicators
Student enrollment and attendance data are one of the ways ODE can estimate the academic
impact of lost instructional time, chronic absenteeism, student engagement and social-
emotional well-being. Clearly this data does not tell the whole story, and additional data should
be collected through surveys and other indicators as we recover from the impact of the
pandemic. ODE does have some initial data on the impact of COVID-19 on students, and more
will be available as the 2020-2021 school-year collections are completed this summer.
• Enrollment on October 1, 2020 showed a number of impacts of the pandemic. Total
enrollment in Fall 2020 was down nearly 22,000 students from Fall 2019. This
represented a 3.7% decline in K-12 public school enrollment. Much of the decline was in
Kindergarten where enrollment was down by over 6,000 students, or almost 15%.
Grades one through six were each down by over 2,000 students (over 5%), while
enrollment in grades 7 through 12 were generally similar to the previous year. At the
same time enrollment in public on-line charter schools rose by over 50%, representing
over 7,000 additional students attending those schools.
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Table: Enrollment for the 2020-21 School Year by Grade
Grade Fall 2019 Enrollment Fall 2020 Enrollment Change
Kindergarten 42,322 36,151 -14.6%
1 42,987 40,342 -6.2%
2 43,075 40,824 -5.2%
3 43,838 41,152 -6.1%
4 44,220 41,989 -5.0%
5 45,374 42,893 -5.5%
6 47,024 44,012 -6.4%
7 46,851 46,031 -1.8%
8 45,985 46,200 +0.5%
9 45,430 46,115 +1.5%
10 45,511 44,972 -1.2%
11 44,085 44,381 +0.7%
12 45,959 45,855 -0.2%
All Grades 582,661 560,917 -3.7%
• By percentage, enrollment declines were largest for American Indian/Alaska Native
students (over 6%) and for White students (over 5%) while declines for Black/African
American and Hispanic/Latino students were only about 1%. While more information is
needed to fully understand the contributing factors, preliminary analysis shows that
many families have chosen to delay their children’s entry into public school by not
enrolling them in kindergarten. Many of these children may be entering first grade
without any instruction in kindergarten and also without having been identified for (and
hence not receiving) specialized services, including learning disability and English
language development support.
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Table: Enrollment for the 2020-21 School Year by Race/Ethnicity
Student Fall 2019 Enrollment Fall 2020 Enrollment Change
Group
All Students 582,662 560,917 -3.7%
American Indian/Alaska 7,010 6,570 -6.3%
Native
Asian 23,209 22,733 -2.1%
Black/African American 13,176 13,021 -1.2%
Hispanic/Latino 138,273 137,101 -0.8%
Native Hawaiian/Pacific 4,431 4,335 -2.2%
Islander
Multiracial 38,306 38,629 0.8%
White 358,257 338,528 -5.5%
• Attendance data from Fall 2020 shows that students from historically underserved and
marginalized communities continue to face challenges to regular school attendance.
Preliminary Regular Attenders data for Fall 2020 show that students from historically
underserved student groups continue to experience barriers to school attendance. For
example, American Indian/Alaska Native and Black/African American students are twice
as likely to not be regularly attending school than White students, and four times as
likely to not be regularly attending as Asian students. (It is important to note that ODE
shifted the definition of attendance away from seat time, in order to better reflect
attendance and engagement in Comprehensive Distance Learning.) Daily and period
attendance was still required to be taken, but it could include participation in video
classes, other two-way communication, and posting completed coursework. These
changes to the definition of attendance means that attendance data for the 2020-21
school year should not be compared to attendance data from other years. However, we
can still compare 2020-21 attendance data between student groups to help gauge the
effect of the pandemic.
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Table: Regular Attenders, Fall 2020
Student Group Number of Students Percent Regularly Attending
All Students 537,284 76
American Indian/Alaska Native 5,993 60
Asian 22,390 91
Black/African American 12,633 66
Hispanic/Latino 133,347 68
Multiracial 37,030 77
Native Hawaiian/Pacific 4,192 60
Islander
White 321,699 79
Female 259,855 78
Male 276,633 74
Nonbinary 796 68
Economically Disadvantaged 273,698 69
English Learners 51,032 67
Foster 3,905 68
Migrant 13,130 67
Students with Disabilities 75,150 67
Data Notes:
1. Data include students enrolled on October 1, 2020 for at least 50 school days between
the start of the school year and December 31. Students are regular attenders if they are
in attendance for more than 90% of their enrolled days.
2. Data for Foster and Migrant include students who were enrolled on October 1, 2020 but
were foster or migrant in the previous year.
4. Understanding the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Describe how the
SEA will support its LEAs in identifying the extent of the impact of the COVID-
19 pandemic on student learning and student well-being, including identifying the
groups of students most impacted by the pandemic. Where possible, please
identify the data sources the SEA will suggest its LEAs use in thoughtfully
diagnosing areas of need, including data on the academic, social, emotional, and
mental health impacts of lost instructional time.
Local Education Agencies (LEAs) in Oregon have access to a wealth of data at the local level,
much of which is retained locally and not submitted to the state. These data can provide real-
time and actionable information that can be used in determining areas of need for students.
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Guidance and supports for use of local data at the LEA level
ODE has already developed resources for educators and families to help guide them through
the 2020-21 school year. Many of these are located at the Ready Schools, Safe Learners web
page. ODE will also be releasing guidance for the 2021-22 school year, starting in Summer 2021.
Some of the existing guidance includes:
• Mental Health and Well-Being Resources
• Ensuring Equity and Access for students with disabilities
• Designing Learning for all students during the Pandemic
ODE staff are also continuing to provide professional development, coaching, and support for
many programs, including but not limited to:
• Increasing the number of students who are regular attenders
• Promoting practices so that schools can provide supports for student to finish 9th grade
on track to graduate
• Promoting Safe and Inclusive Schools
• Providing guidance to design and implement summer learning programs
The above resources and programs begin to suggest the types of information that LEAs could
use to identify and support students most impacted by the pandemic. Additional key sources of
information for LEAs to use include, but are not limited to:
• Universal screening, progress monitoring and the use of local assessment resources and
practices, including formative assessment practices and interim/benchmark
assessments, to adapt instruction to meet student needs
• Daily attendance and engagement data
• Family and student empathy interviews
• Level of success in coursework, including core courses
• Student health and wellness surveys
State Data and State Reporting to Identify the Impact of the Pandemic
ODE has a number of already existing strategies to collect and report data that can support
LEAs in their efforts to identify the impact of the pandemic. These data and reports can provide
disaggregated data to help monitor progress and make adjustments to state and local ESSER
plans. These data collections and reports are described in more detail below.
The Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED Survey)
Oregon is currently piloting the Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEED Survey),
with full implementation planned for the 2021-2022 school year. The SEED Survey will gather
information about the educational experiences of students in Oregon and inform ODE
regarding how to develop appropriate resources and supports for LEAs in Oregon, and better
target those resources and supports where they are most needed. The SEED Survey results will
also help ODE better interpret information we are already gathering through statewide testing.
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SEED Survey information may also help LEAs develop a fuller picture of their local contexts and
aid in making strategic improvements to curricula and pedagogy offered to students.
The SEED Survey pilot will measure student perceptions in four core constructs at all grade
levels:
• Access to Learning Resources
• Opportunity to Learn;
• Self-Efficacy Beliefs; and
• Sense of Belonging
While the Access to Learning Resources and Sense of Belonging constructs are not content-
specific at any particular grade level, the Opportunity to Learn and Self-Efficacy constructs focus
on specific content areas in each grade level. Grades 3, 6, and high school review Opportunity
to Learn and Self-Efficacy in English language arts; Grades 4, 7 and high school review those two
constructs in mathematics; and Grades 5, 8 and high school do so for science.
In addition, there are grade-specific constructs measured as follows:
• Grade 3-5: Well-Rounded Education
• Grade 6-8: Career and Technical Education (CTE)
• High School: CTE, Extra-curricular Engagement, and Post-Graduate Planning
It’s important to note that data regarding Well-Rounded Education is collected from other
sources in Grades 6 and above, so is not collected here to avoid redundancy.
Data from the survey will be used to support the following purposes:
• Honor the importance and necessity of incorporating student voice into the continuous
improvement process for Oregon’s public education systems.
• Provide LEAs with actionable data regarding investments and quality pedagogy that can
be used to increase student group outcomes (e.g., academic achievement, graduation
rates, post-secondary success).
• Develop promising practices guidance regarding appropriate uses of SEED Survey data
independently and in combination with comparison to summative assessment results.
• Expand reporting beyond outcomes to include information about investments and
quality pedagogy that Oregon’s education systems make in supporting students, their
families, and the educators who serve them.
• Validate summative assessment approaches by reviewing SEED Survey results in
comparison to summative results, reviewing expected and unexpected patterns in
relationships.
Statewide Assessment Data
Oregon was granted a waiver to suspend Statewide Assessments in English language arts,
mathematics and science for the 2019-20 school year, and for the 2020-21 school year received
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a waiver that allowed the state to require these statewide assessments only in the following
subjects and grades:
• English language arts: grades 3, 6, 7, and 11
• Mathematics: grades 4, 7, 8, and 11
• Science: grades 5 and 8
This, combined with historically low participation rates, means that ODE will have limited
statewide assessment data until the 2021-22 school year. While ODE won’t have complete data
on the impact of the pandemic on student assessment scores during the pandemic, these
assessments will help measure the long-term impact to a limited degree. In particular, they will
provide (in concert with the SEED Survey) crucial information on progress of Oregon’s youngest
students as they reach 3rd grade and enter the assessment system and help the state direct
resources long-term for those students working to complete unfinished learning from the
pandemic. ODE is also positioned to leverage the stability of our assessment system prior to the
pandemic to support LEAs in determining where systems of instruction are strong and where
improvement is required using target report analysis in language arts and mathematics.
Class Roster
The Class Roster collection includes information about self-contained classroom assignments
for students in elementary schools, and specific course and class information for students in
middle school and high school. This allows the state to produce disaggregated data in a
number of areas, such as
• Enrollment in AP or IB courses
• Enrollment in math courses at the Algebra 1 level and above
• Breadth of course offerings and access of students to those courses
Career and Technical Education collections
The CTE Student collection contains information on which students enroll in approved CTE
courses and it also includes their course grades. This information will allow ODE to produce
disaggregated data on:
• The number of students who enroll in CTE courses
• The number of students who are CTE Participants or CTE Concentrators
The expansion of CTE participation is a key component of Oregon’s strategy to provide a well-
rounded education to all students. Oregon will monitor enrollment and concentrator
attainment in CTE as well as student participation in work-based learning experiences and
attainment of industry recognized credentials. Oregon also monitors postsecondary placement
of CTE students by tracking college enrollment and employment after graduation.
Regular Attenders
ODE annually reports disaggregated data on the number and percentage of students who
attend more than 90% of their school days, and those students who attend 90% or fewer of
their school days. While not a direct measure of engagement, it does provide information on
students who face barriers to regularly attending school, and research has shown that some
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groups of students do face more of these challenges and are in need of additional support. This
information will allow schools, districts, and the state to monitor successful re-engagement of
students who are returning to in-person instruction, and who may be returning to K-12 public
education next school year after choosing other options during the pandemic.
The Every Day Matters program is ODE’s Chronic Absenteeism Statewide Plan implemented in
July 2017 to increase regular attendance throughout the state through three major projects:
• A statewide awareness campaign and toolkit;
• Technical support to all school districts through regionalized plans housed in 10 ESDs
across the state; and
• Grants directly to the school districts with the highest rates of chronic absenteeism.
The Tribal Attendance Promising Practices (TAPP) program focuses on Native American
students; the strategies emphasize the importance of a family advocate in bridging the distance
between schools and children to bring success for Native American students who struggle with
absenteeism. However, as TAPP is a school-wide initiative, these efforts have a positive
attendance impact for all students. The program is a unique partnership between the nine
federally-recognized tribes of Oregon and schools participating in TAPP efforts.
9th Grade On-Track
The 9th Grade On-Track collection provides the lists of students who earn at least one-quarter
of their graduation credits by the end of their first year in high school. Research in and outside
of Oregon has shown that students who are on-track at the end of high school graduate at a
much higher rate than their peers who have faced challenges in earning credits in 9th grade.
The data collected here can monitor progress of the state over time and help determine which
groups of students and which schools may need more support to address unfinished learning
that occurred during the pandemic.
Additionally, the High School Success statute requires eligible grant recipients to demonstrate
in their biennial plans how they will provide sufficient time for teachers and staff of students in
grades 9, to review data on student’s grades, absences, and discipline by school and by course,
and to develop strategies to ensure at-risk students stay on track to graduate. During the 2020-
21 school year, High School Success program staff met with LEAs, charter schools, and Youth
Corrections Education Program (YCEP)/Juvenile Detention Education Program (JDEP) facilities to
assess each grant recipient’s staff collaboration practices. If any recipient did not have a fully
implemented collaboration system, required action steps were shared and ODE staff will be
engaging in quarterly check-ins to ensure these systems become regular practice. Recipients
with exemplary collaboration systems have been asked to share materials and these items are
being housed in a library for other recipients to utilize in building their own systems.
ODE, in partnership with colleagues in the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and the
University of Oregon, was awarded a three-year Institute for Educational Sciences (IES) grant.
“A Study in Equity: Oregon’s 9th Grade Transition,” that leverages our state longitudinal data
system (SLDS) to address the efficacy of Measure 98 (High School Success), with a particular
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focus on 9th Grade On-Track coaches as a treatment intervention. The research design takes
advantage of a pre- and post-pandemic interrupted time series, along with teacher surveys and
panel discussions, to evaluate the impact of Measure 98 and will provide important contextual
information regarding how well Oregon is serving high school students during the grant period
(2021-2024).
Staff Collections
ODE maintains several staff level collections that provide information on the staff employed
and, for licensed staff, how licensure connects to the classes they teach. These do provide some
data on staff shortages, and can provide data on:
• State and regional growth toward meeting national recommendations on student-staff
ratios, such as the number of students per counselor.
• The number and percentage of staff with emergency/provisional credentials, or who are
teaching out of field.
• The years of experience of teachers, and the number and percentages of teachers who
are relatively new to the field.
Enrollment Collections
ODE collects detailed daily enrollment data for students. These data allow us to understand
which students may have completed the 2019-20 school year, but did not return at the start of
the 2020-21 school year. ODE will also be able to identify those students returning to public
education as LEAs resume hybrid or fully in-person instruction, or who may have delayed their
entrance to public education and enter as first graders. ODE’s data shows the majority of these
students were in elementary grades; ODE and the state need to help ensure that these students
are receiving the foundational instruction and skills they will need to succeed as they move
through their K-12 career.
5. School Operating Status: It is essential to have data on how students are
learning in order to support the goals of access and equity, especially for student
groups that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Describe the current status of data collection on operational status and mode of
instruction of all schools in your State. This description must include:
i. A description of to what extent, and how frequently, the State
collects now and will collect in the future data for all schools in your
State on:
a. Mode of instruction: The number of schools in your State that are
offering fully remote or online-only instruction; both
remote/online and in-person instruction (hybrid model); and/or
full-time in-person instruction;
b. Enrollment: Student enrollment for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction; and
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c. Attendance: Student attendance for all students and
disaggregated for each of the student groups described in A.3.i-
viii for each mode of instruction.
In Oregon, there are 197 LEAs with 1,461 schools located throughout the state. ODE created a
process in the 2020-21 school year that tracks the mode of instruction - onsite learning,
remote/online learning, and hybrid learning (combination of onsite and remote/online
learning) - for each school. These reports provide information on the mode of instruction as
well as the number of students participating. ODE collects these reports from LEAs and schools
every week and then uses them to update the department’s website that provides the status
for each school.
In terms of enrollment data, the ODE Accountability Team is able to produce disaggregated
data by school using our Average Daily Membership collection. This information can then be
applied to the appropriate mode of instruction reported, to produce a periodic status report of
the number of students disaggregated by student group and what mode of instruction they are
currently in.
In terms of student attendance, ODE’s status report does provide the number of students by
school that are participating. Using the mode of instruction reported for each school, ODE then
has the ability to provide total students participating in each mode of instruction, however,
there is currently not a way to disaggregate the information. ODE will continue to look at the
feasibility of how to expand data collections to gather information that disaggregates data
based on mode of instruction.
ii. The data described in A.5.i.a. and b. using the template in Appendix
A (and to the extent available, the data described in A.5.i.c.) for the
most recent time period available. Please note that this data can be
submitted separately within 14 calendar days after a State submits
this plan. The SEA must also make this data publicly available on its
website as soon as possible but no later than June 21, 2021, and
regularly provide updated available information on its website. The
Department will periodically review data listed in A.5.i on SEA
websites.
Based on the methodology described in A.5.i.a. and b., ODE is able to provide the information in
Appendix A- Tables 1 and 2 and plans to make the information available on its website by June
21, 2021. In addition, the Department’s data includes information for all schools in the state
and separated by elementary, middle schools and high school.
Please note, Oregon defines Hybrid Instruction differently than USED. Oregon’s definition is
presented for reference.
Hybrid Instructional Model Defined - Any design or operational blueprint that is not fully On-
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Site and in-person (with all students attending on-site every day) or fully in Comprehensive
Distance Learning. Hybrid models allow LEAs to adjust for multiple variables and continue to
access on-site instruction to the greatest extent possible while meeting public health
requirements. An On-Site instructional model becomes a Hybrid instructional model when any
portion of instructional time used to meet instructional hours requirements is delivered in a
distance learning format. Hybrid instructional models require prioritization of on-site learning
activities and determinations regarding key elements of successful content delivery and
engagement from a distance. Additional information can be found in the Hybrid Design Review
resource. Note: If a school is operating multiple models (I.e.: K – 4th On-Site and 5th –8th in
Comprehensive Distance Learning) then for purposes of reporting the school would select
Hybrid as your schools instructional model.
iii. To the extent available, a description of the planned operational
status and mode of instruction for the State and its LEAs for Summer
2021 and for the 2021-2022 school year.
The state legislature has made a significant state investment to get students back into
enrichment and academic activities for Summer 2021 that enable peer to peer engagement,
address unfinished learning, and support emotional, social, and mental well-being. As such, the
funding provided to LEAs includes preference for programs and services to be conducted
onsite. To the extent that online learning provides for a more effective or viable solution for
students, this will be allowed. All summer learning activities are voluntary for LEAs and
students. Please see Section D.2. for more detail on this summer learning initiative.
Oregon is approaching the 2021-22 school year with the intent of providing onsite instruction
to all students in the state. Oregon will be aligning with CDC health guidance and protocols that
prioritize the safety and well-being of all students and staff. These protocols are discussed in
more detail in Section B.
B. Safely Reopening Schools and Sustaining their Safe Operations
The Department recognizes that safely reopening schools and sustaining their safe operations
to maximize in-person instruction is essential for student learning and student well-being,
and especially for being able to address the educational inequities that have been worsened
by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their
LEAs in this vital area.
1. Support for LEAs: Describe how the SEA will support its LEAs in safely
returning to in-person instruction and sustaining the safe operation of schools.
This description must include:
i. How the SEA will support its LEAs implementing, to the greatest
extent practicable, prevention and mitigation policies in line with the
most up-to-date guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (“CDC”) for the reopening and operation of school
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facilities to effectively maintain the health and safety of students,
educators, and other staff;
Complete the table below, adding rows as necessary, or provide a
narrative description.
Returning to in-person instruction and the safe operation of school facilities are Oregon’s
highest priorities. These priorities go hand-in-hand with supporting the health and safety of our
students, staff and families. Schools not only provide the education that Oregon’s children need
to succeed, but schools also provide multi-tiered mental health services and supports
(prevention, intervention and crisis services), nutritious meals, and access to medical care.
To support schools with safe operations and returning to in-person instruction in the 2020-21
school year, ODE partnered with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and used CDC guidance to
develop the Ready Schools Safe Learners (RSSL) Guidance. This guidance included both
requirements and recommendations on health and safety protocols. The health and safety
aspects of RSSL applied to all Oregon Local Education Agencies (LEAs), public charter schools
and private schools and was updated regularly throughout the pandemic as Executive Orders
from the Governor and guidance from the CDC changed. In addition, ODE created
supplementary supports, aligned with the RSSL, to communicate, respond to, and understand
the on-the-ground needs of our schools.
In the coming school year, the ODE will continue to support Local Education Agencies (LEAs) to
safely return to in-person instruction through an approach that centers equity and focuses on
health and safety. To do so, ODE will take the following actions - many of which build upon
existing efforts.
SEA Supports for LEA’s Implementation of Health and Safety Protocols.
To support LEA’s implementation of prevention and mitigation policies) for the reopening and
operation of school facilities, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) will:
1. Streamline and update the RSSL guidance for the 2021-22 school year. ODE is currently
engaged in a process to update the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance (RSSL) for the
2021-22 school year. Below is a timeline of the RSSL revision process:
o April 2021 - June 2021: ODE will collect public input by conducting an online
survey and facilitating two rounds of virtual engagement sessions with the
following partner groups:
Charter Schools
Small School Districts
Medium School Districts
Large School Districts
Tribal governments
Teachers
Coalition of Oregon School Administrators
Coalition of Oregon School Administrators Equity Board
Advisory and Community Groups
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o June 25, 2021: ODE will release RSSL Requirement Framework for Fall Planning
to help schools prepare for returning to in-person instruction this Fall. This
framework will be in line with the most current CDC guidance.
o July 22, 2021: ODE will release final RSSL Guidance for 2021-22 school
year. This guidance will include the ESSER required health and safety
components: mask wearing; physical distancing; handwashing and respiratory
etiquette; cleaning and maintaining healthy facilities including improving
ventilation; contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine;
diagnostic and screening testing; vaccinations; and appropriate accommodations
for children with disabilities with respect to the health and safety policies. (Refer
to Table B1 in Appendix F for how the RSSL guidance currently addresses these
health and safety protocols.)
o August 2021 - June 2022: Continue to make necessary updates to the RSSL
guidance to align with CDC guidance.
2. Dedicate additional state and federal resources to those most impacted by the
pandemic. To support the safe return to in-person instruction, the Oregon legislature
passed House Bill 5042, which provides:
o $195.6 million from the Summer Learning Program Account and $10.0 million in
Federal Funds for LEA grants for high school credit recovery, K-8 enrichment and
K-5 child care grants.
o $12 million in General Fund and $11.2 million in Federal Funds for the Early
Learning Division to expand existing programs for Summer 2021.
o $41.2 million in General Fund for a one-time grant for the Oregon Community
Foundation (OCF) award summer enrichment grants for K-12 and Parent-Child
support program grants for the summer.
3. Ongoing Technical Assistance, Professional Learning, and Supportive Communication
Efforts. ODE will continue to provide technical assistance and on-going communication
to LEAs to support the safe return to in-person instruction by:
• Sponsoring regular office hours for school leaders and staff.
• Dedicating staff to support an email inbox for Ready Schools, Safe Learners
implementation questions and issues.
• Consistently reaching out to LEAs to understand their support needs via surveys.
• Supporting regionalized technical assistance, similar to the network of regional
“reopening advisors” that ODE deployed in the 2020-21 school year.
• Partnering with Oregon’s Coalition of School Administrators (COSA) and the
Oregon Education Association (OEA) to offer ongoing training and professional
learning to teachers and school and LEA leaders throughout the 2021-22 school
year. (Refer to this PowerPoint for an example of a training offered during the
2020-21 school year.)
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• Collaborating with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to continue to build upon
training and resources like Contact Notification and Identification and infection
control consultations for schools.
• Providing regular updates directly from ODE’s agency director, through press
conferences, public service announcements, written communications, and
facilitated engagement sessions.
• Centralized messaging and website resource hub, resources and updates on a
centralized web platform, the ODE’s RSSL webpage, including a dedicated
section for news and updates.
4. Implementing a statewide media campaign. Recognizing that families and communities
are essential parts of a school system, ODE contracted with a local marketing firm to
launch a campaign to help families, communities and the public better understand
health and safety protocols and how a safe return to school is made possible in Oregon.
This campaign will restart in mid-July and last until at least mid-September with updated
messaging and video ads to appear online, on local television and radio and in
newspapers. The messaging will likely align with messaging from the Spring campaign,
which included these social media/web/TV ads (see Videos and PSAs) and this web
page. ODE is also collaborating with the Oregon Health Authority on their Safe + Strong
media campaign which provides Oregon families with information regarding a broad
range of topics including public health guidelines, recognizing and responding to mental
health concerns, destigmatizing mental health concerns, crisis supports, and links to
community resources (food, housing, employment, health and mental health) across the
state.
5. Mobilizing and adding staff to ODE’s team. During the pandemic, ODE formed a joint,
high-level ODE/OHA team to develop, carry out, communicate, and support required
and recommended health and safety protocols in schools. To strengthen this effort, ODE
is adding three full-time positions who will support schools in implementing measures
to return safely to in-person instruction.
6. Identifying available PPE and facilitating delivery to local school districts.
7. Providing statewide school data on web dashboards. ODE is partnering with other
agencies to maintain dashboards so that schools have easy access to important
statewide health data, such as school-related cases and outbreaks. ODE and OHA are
collaborating with COSA to ensure that the 2020 Student Health Survey is implemented
by selected districts. This survey will provide valuable information to participating LEAs
regarding student experience with health and wellness during the 2020-21 school year,
including specific impacts of COVID-19 on student health and wellbeing, allowing
schools to best plan supports and interventions for a successful return to in person
instruction in the fall of 2021.
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8. Facilitating statewide support of discounted hotspots statewide; along with
broadband supports. The pandemic has disproportionately impacted students in rural
communities and other students whose families are not able provide computer
technical support for the student in the home, or who are not able to afford essential
equipment or internet connectivity to access virtual learning.
9. Coordinating school-based mental health prevention, intervention and crisis
response. ODE will continue to work with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to ensure
continuity of mental health, including access to telehealth services.
ii. Any Statewide plans, policies, estimated timelines, and specific
milestones related to reopening and operation of school facilities,
including any mechanisms the SEA will use to track, monitor, or
enforce their implementation;
Statewide Policies and Plans
Oregon has operated under a State of Emergency since March 2020. As such, the health and
safety of schools has been governed through a series of Executive Orders issued by Oregon’s
Governor Brown, who serves as Oregon’s Superintendent of Public Instruction.
In March 2021, Governor Brown published Executive Order 21-06, which orders public school
districts to offer fully on-site, in-person instruction, with an option for online learning for
individual students. The Order continues the requirement of all schools (public and private) to
comply with guidance issued by ODE and OHA, including the health and safety protocols
outlined in Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance.
In June 2021, Oregon’s State of Emergency is set to expire. At this time, Oregon will return to
regular statutory authority and schools will return to their previous local governance structure.
As such, Oregon is approaching the 2021-22 school year with the intent of providing onsite
instruction to all students in the state. As stated in this section, Oregon will be aligning with
CDC health guidance and protocols that prioritize the safety and well-being of all students and
staff.
Tracking, Monitoring or Enforcing Implementation of Statewide Plans and Policies for
Reopening Schools
As Oregon moves back to pre-pandemic statutory authority, ODE will monitor and enforce the
implementation of statewide plans and policies for reopening schools by:
• Working with the State Board of Education to enact administrative rules related to
reopening of schools such as safeguarding student opportunities, instructional time,
health and safety standards, complaint procedures, and accountability;
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• Monitoring other state agencies’ policies related to health and safety standards in
schools, such as the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon Occupational Safety and
Health Agency;
• Tracking and implementing any statutory changes related to reopening schools
enacted by the Oregon State Legislature;
• Monitoring formal public complaints related to reopening plans and policies;
• Monitoring cases and outbreaks in Oregon’s public K-12 schools through the OHA
COVID dashboard and providing assistance to LEAs as needed; and
Constantly evaluating and tailoring state support to LEAs to sustain safe operation in schools
and maximize in-person instruction. We know that in-person education is essential for student
learning and student well-being, especially to address the educational inequities that have been
worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic.
iii. To what extent the SEA and its LEAs consult with Federal, State,
and local health officials. This description should include, if
available, whether the SEA and its LEAs have received support for
screening testing from their State or local health department based
on funding awarded by the CDC; and
The Oregon Department of Education has consistently consulted with federal, state and local
health officials throughout the pandemic and will continue to do so during the 2021-22 school
year. To better understand these efforts, a brief description of our current and proposed
continued practices are detailed below.
State & Local Health Officials Consultations
To support LEAs during the pandemic, ODE and the Oregon Health Authority are currently
meeting twice a week, and will continue to meet weekly to:
• Update health and safety protocols to be in line with CDC guidance;
• Provide answers to questions that are elevated by Local Public Health officials (LPHAs),
LEAs, and other partners;
• Support improved coordination between schools, LEAs, and local agencies (including
LHPAs) to prepare for future COVID-19 outbreaks;
• Support contract tracing through LPHAs and the ODE guidance for schools to support
contact notification and identification;
• Develop school-based guidance such as Planning for COVID-19 Scenarios in Schools;
• Maintain a process for reporting COVID-19 cases in schools;
• Track statewide COVID outbreaks and the emergence of any new variants;
• Coordinate and communicate about screening available for unvaccinated K-12 teachers
and staff; and
• Implement the COVID-19 School Testing Program, including monitoring testing in
schools.
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To support the connection between state and local officials, Oregon deployed “reopening
advisors” -- dedicated liaison staff throughout the state in the 2020-21 school year. These
reopening advisors served as boots-on-the-ground support for schools and districts, relaying
information, barriers, problems, questions, and needs between local schools and state officials.
This included needs surfaced through the local public health as well as families and
communities. It is the intent of the agency to continue this type of regionalized consultation
support in the 2021-22 school year.
Federal Consultation
In Oregon, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) is charged with directly consulting with federal
health officials, including the CDC staff. As such, ODE regularly seeks OHA’s recommendations
on CDC guidance and has met, and will continue to meet, regularly with OHA to align
mitigation, health and safety protocols within the K-12 school setting.
The CDC ELC Reopening Schools Supplement awarded Oregon $127 million to launch screening
in K-12 settings. Below is an outline for Oregon’s phased approach for implementing screening:
Phase 1
Phase I consists of targeting unvaccinated K-12 staff members for weekly screening.
OHA launched this project on April 21, 2021 in partnership with Willamette Valley
Toxicology (WVT) laboratory in Corvallis, Oregon. Enrollment is confidential and swabs
are sent directly to participants’ homes by mail. Participants self-swab and return
specimens by mail. While shipping delays can be an issue in a large state such as
Oregon, WVT is able to return results within 24 hours upon receipt of specimens.
Phase 2
Phase 2 consists of expanding screening to camp settings in alignment with CDC
Guidance for Operating Youth and Summer Camps During COVID-19. OHA has planned
three expansions of current testing strategy during phase 2 with a tentative launch date
of June 7, 2021.
1. OHA will expand access to diagnostic testing for all overnight camps leveraging
its existing COVID-19 Testing in Oregon’s K-12 Schools project.
2. OHA will offer unvaccinated day and overnight camp staff members’ weekly
screening by expanding its phase 1 project in partnership with WVT.
3. OHA will offer cohort screening for overnight camp cohorts on day 0 and day 3-5.
While this largely aligns with CDC guidance, it should be noted that CDC
recommends pre-arrival testing 1-3 days prior to camp arrival. While we agree
with this as a best practice policy, it also represents a barrier to camp
participation and that offering free screening upon arrival to camp will remove
barriers to camp participation. This screening will occur in partnership with WVT
but will leverage courier systems to route specimens quickly to the laboratory
for a goal turn-around time of < 24 hours.
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Phase 2 will also be used to explore the options for expanding screening to include
students during the 2021-2022 academic year.
Phase 3
Phase 3 consists of expanding screening to K-12 students during the 2021-2022
academic year. OHA anticipates extending its phase 1 screening for unvaccinated K-12
staff which offers the benefits of confidential participation and does not require staff to
disclose their vaccination status to their employers. The options for expanding screening
to K-12 students are under consideration and may include targeting specific age levels
or those participating in sports and extracurricular activities.
iv. Any guidance, professional learning, and technical assistance
opportunities the SEA will make available to its LEAs.
As stated above, ODE will continue to provide guidance and opportunities for technical
assistance and professional development to LEAs to support the safe return to in-person
instruction by:
• Issuing the Ready School, Safe Learners guidance for the 2021-22 school year.
This guidance will be in line with the most recent CDC guidance.
• Sponsoring regular office hours for school leaders and staff;
• Dedicating staff to support an email inbox for Ready Schools, Safe Learners
implementation questions and issues;
• Consistently reaching out LEAs to understand their support needs via surveys;
• Supporting regionalized technical assistance, similar to the network of regional
“reopening advisors” that ODE deployed in the 2020-21 school year. .
• Partnering with Oregon’s Coalition of School Administrators (COSA) and the
Oregon Education Association (OEA) to offer ongoing training and professional
learning opportunities to teachers and school and LEA leaders throughout the
2021-22 school year. (Refer to this PowerPoint for an example of a training
offered during the 2020-21 school year.)
• Collaborating with the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) to continue to build upon
training and resources like Contact Notification and Identification and infection
control consultations for schools.
• Regular updates directly from ODE’s agency director through press conferences,
public service announcements, written communications, and facilitated
engagement sessions.
Centralized messaging and website resource hub, resources and updates on a centralized web
platform, the ODE’s RSSL webpage, including a dedicated section for news and updates.
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2. Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plans:
Describe how the SEA will ensure that its LEAs that receive ARP ESSER funds
meet the requirements in section 2001(i) of the ARP Act and the requirements
relating to the ARP ESSER funds published in the Federal Register and available
at https://oese.ed.gov/offices/american-rescue-plan/american-rescue-plan-
elementary-and-secondary-school-emergency-relief/ (ARP ESSER requirements)
to either: (a) within 30 days of receipt of the funds, develop and make publicly
available on the LEA’s website a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction
and continuity of services, or (b) have developed and made publicly available on
the LEA’s website such a plan that meets statutory requirements before the
enactment of the ARP Act, including:
i. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan includes, or will be
modified to include, the extent to which it has adopted policies and a
description of any such policies on each of the strategies listed in
table B1;
ODE has determined that the currently required RSSL Operational Blueprint for Reentry meets
the ESSER statutory requirements under section 2001(i)(3) of the ARP Act for the Safe Return
to In-person Instruction and Continuity of Services plan.
Section 2001(i)(3) of the ARP Act of 2021 - Previous Plans
As required by Section 2001(i)(3) of the ARP Act of 2021, Oregon’s current Operational
Blueprint for Reentry includes key prevention and mitigation strategies such as a
Communicable Disease Management Plan; Physical Distancing; Public Health Communication
and Training; Isolation and Quarantine; Facility Operations, including cleaning, disinfecting and
ventilation; Face Coverings; and Addressing High Risk Populations.
Additionally, the Operational Blueprint for Reentry requires LEAs to affirm that their
operational plan meets the requirements of the Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance on
equity; instruction; family and community engagement; and mental, social, and emotional
health. If an LEA is unable to meet these requirements, it must provide a plan and timeline for
coming into compliance.
To develop the Operational Blueprints for Reentry, LEAs worked with a district planning team,
considered input from school partners; made blueprints publically available on the LEA website;
and submitted the blueprints to their local school board and the Local Public Health Authority.
During the implementation period, LEAs maintained their blueprints on their websites; received
and considered public input on their operation; and continued to provide links to their
blueprints on the ODE webpage where members of the public could access the Operational
Blueprints for Reentry from all Oregon schools.
Ensuring LEA Plan Includes Health and Safety Policies
To ensure that LEA plans includes health and safety policies on each required strategy, ODE will
require LEAs to:
1. No later than June 23, 2021 (30 days after the allocation of funds in accordance with
Section 2001 (d)(1) of ARP Act of 2021): Continue to comply with this requirement
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through their existing Operational Blueprints for Reentry, which includes the required
health and safety policies. To validate this, ODE will verify that all LEAs continue to
make their operational blueprints publicly available on their websites and will require
LEAs to assure that they developed a qualified plan for the safe return of in-person
instruction and continuity of services prior to the enactment of the ARP;
2. No later than August 22, 2021 (90 days after the allocation of funds in accordance with
Section to Section 2001 (d) 1) of ARP Act of 2021): Certify that they have revised their
operational plan (after seeking and taking into account public comment) in accordance
with the new template for the LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services. The plan template will require LEAs to describe how it will
maintain the health and safety of students, educators, and other school and LEA staff,
and the extent to which it has adopted policies, and a description of any such policies,
on each of the CDC’s safety recommendations listed in Table B1.
3. No later than February 22, 2022 (six months after the initial revision and certification on
August 22, 2021): Complete a review of their Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services plan. During the review, the LEA must seek public input on
whether to revise its plan and on any revisions to its plan, taking into consideration the
timing of significant changes to CDC guidance on reopening schools. Going forward,
LEAs will be required to complete a review every six months for the remainder of the
ESSER performance period.
To support LEAs in meeting the requirements, ODE will:
• Release LEA allocations in accordance with Section 2001 (d)(1) of the ARP Act of 2021)
no later than May 24, 2021.
• Verify that all LEAs continue to make their operational blueprints publicly available on
their websites and , if needed, provide support to LEAs to meet this requirement;
• Communicate the Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services
process to LEAs by July 1, 2021; and
• Provide the revised template for the ESSER LEA Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services plan to LEAs no later than July 22, 2021. This template will require
the LEA to describe the extent to which it has adopted the key prevention and
mitigation strategies identified in the CDC guidance.
ii. How the SEA will ensure that each LEA plan describes how it will
ensure continuity of services including but not limited to services to
address the students’ academic needs, and students’ and staff social,
emotional, mental health, and other needs, which may include
student health and food services;
As stated above, ODE has determined that the current Operational Blueprint for Reentry meets
the Section 2001(i)(3) of the ARP Act , including describing how it will ensure continuity of
services related to equity, instruction, family and community engagement, and mental, social
and emotional health. In August 2021, Oregon will transition LEAs to a new operational plan
template, based specifically on the requirements for the ESSER LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-
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Person Instruction and Continuity of Services. At that time, ODE will again verify that each LEA
plan describes how it will ensure the availability of essential services. (Please refer to the next
paragraph for more details.)
To ensure that the LEA plan describes how it will ensure continuity of services, ODE will
require LEAs to:
• No later than June 23, 2021 (30 days after the allocation of funds in accordance with
Section 2001 (d) (1) of ARP ESSER Act of 2021): Continue to comply with this
requirement through their existing Operational Blueprints for Reentry, which includes
the required health and safety policies. To validate this, ODE will verify that all LEAs
continue to make their operational blueprints publicly available on their websites and
will require LEAs to assure that they developed a qualified plan for the safe return of in-
person instruction and continuity of services prior to the enactment of the ARP;
• No later than August 22, 2021 (90 days after the allocation of funds in accordance with
Section 2001 (d) (1) of ARP ESSER Act of 2021): Certify that they have revised their
operational plan (after seeking and taking into account public comment) in accordance
with the new template for the LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services. The template will require LEAs to specifically address how they
will provide essential services to meet students' academic needs, students’ and staff
social, emotional, mental health, and other needs such as students’ meals and access to
medical services.
iii. How the SEA will ensure that the LEA periodically reviews, no less
frequently than every six months for the duration of the ARP ESSER
grant period (i.e., through September 30, 2023),2 and revises as
appropriate, its plan, and how the SEA will ensure that the LEA
seeks public input, and takes such input into account on (1) whether
revisions are necessary and, if so, (2) the revisions to the plan; and
To ensure LEAs periodically review and revise, as appropriate, their plans, ODE will require LEAs
to:
• No later than August 22, 2021 (90 days after the allocation of funds in accordance with
Section 2001 (d) (1) of ARP ESSER Act of 2021): Certify that they have revised their
operational plan (after seeking and taking into account public comment) in accordance
with the new template for the LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and
Continuity of Services plan. The plan will continue to specifically address how the LEA
will:
o Implement health and safety protocols (as provided in B1) that are in line with
CDC guidance; and
2
ARP ESSER funds are subject to the Tydings amendment in section 421(b) of the General Education Provisions
Act, 20 U.S.C. 1225(b), and are therefore available to SEAs and LEAs for obligation through September 30, 2024.
Review and revisions of these plans, if necessary, are not required during the Tydings period.
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o Provide essential services to meet students' academic needs and students' and
staff social, emotional, mental health, and other needs through, such as
students’ meals and access to medical services.
• No later than February 22, 2022 (six months after the initial revision and certification on
August 22, 2021): Complete a review of their LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person
Instruction and Continuity of Services. During the review, the LEA must seek public
input on whether to revise its plan and on any revisions to its plan, taking into
consideration the timing of significant changes to CDC guidance on reopening schools
and how it will continue to provide essential services. Going forward, LEAs will be
required to complete a review every six months for the remainder of the ESSER
performance period.
• Self-certification: To self-certify, LEAs must provide to ODE:
o A signed form that verifies that they have met each review component, including
all public input requirements; and
o A publicly available link to their revised plan.
In addition to LEA self-certification, ODE will continue to conduct its regular monitoring process
for federal grants.
To support LEAs in meeting the review requirements, ODE will:
• Communicate the process for transitioning to the LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person
Instruction and Continuity of Services to LEAs no later than July 1, 2021;
• Provide the revised template for the LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction
and Continuity of Services to LEAs no later than July 22, 2021;
• Remind LEAs of the review requirements, including public input requirements, three
months prior to the review deadline; and
• Provide Office Hours and Inbox, Virtual and/or in-person question and answer sessions
with school leaders and reopening advisors about the ESSER review process.
iv. Describe, to the extent the SEA collects it, information about LEA
implementation, to the greatest extent practicable, of each element of
the most up-to-date CDC guidance listed in table B1 and its LEAs’
needs for support and technical assistance to implement strategies
consistent, to the greatest extent practicable, with relevant CDC
guidance.
1. Information on LEA implementation of the most up-to-date CDC guidance: ODE will
continue to collect information on LEA implementation of CDC guidance through the
following methods:
• Public Complaint Process: ODE monitors how many formal complaints are filed
related to the LEA implementation of CDC guidance.
• School Cases and Outbreaks on OHA COVID Dashboard: ODE tracks school cases
and outbreaks.
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• Operational Plans: Tracking the most recent LEA’s Operational Blueprint for
Reentry plans and posting them on the ODE webpage.
2. Information on LEAs need for support and technical services with CDC guidance. ODE
will continue to collect information on LEA support needs through the following
methods:
• Sponsoring regular office hours for school leaders and staff;
• Dedicating staff to support an email inbox for Ready Schools, Safe Learners
implementation questions and issues;
• Consistently reaching out to LEAs to understand their support needs via surveys;
• Supporting regionalized technical assistance and feedback loops, similar to the
network of regional “reopening advisors” that ODE deployed in the 2020-21
school year.
• Partnering with Oregon’s Coalition of School Administrators (COSA) and the
Oregon Education Association (OEA) to offer ongoing training to teachers and
school and district leaders throughout the 2021-22 school year. (Refer to this
PowerPoint for an example of a training offered during the 2020-21 school
year.); and
• Monitoring concerns elevated by Local Public Health officials.
C. Planning for the Use and Coordination of ARP ESSER Funds
The Department recognizes that seeking input from diverse stakeholders is essential to
developing plans for the use of ARP ESSER funds that are responsive to the needs of
students, families, and educators. In this section, SEAs will describe their plans for
consultation and for coordinating the use of ARP ESSER funds with other resources to meet
the needs of students.
1. SEA Consultation: Consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements, describe how
the SEA engaged in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, and incorporated
input into its plan, including, but not limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. Tribes (if applicable);
iv. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
v. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators);
vi. superintendents;
vii. charter school leaders (if applicable);
viii. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions; and
ix. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
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The description must include how the SEA provided the public the opportunity to
provide input in the development of the plan, a summary of the input (including
any letters of support), and how the SEA took such input into account.
Oregon has taken bold steps to deepen its commitment to engagement, including how the SEA
engages and consults with stakeholders and how LEAs carry out their engagement with their
community. In order to understand how the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has
engaged stakeholders, it’s important to capture some of the historic efforts that preceded the
COVID-19 pandemic in order to understand 1) our values for engagement and consultations; 2)
how we’ve continuously improved our engagement and consultation; and 3) how we will tap
into existing systems to inform the ARP ESSER work and requirements.
The Passage of a State Law Rooted in Authentic Engagement & Equity
During the 2019 legislative session, Oregon’s leaders made a real promise to our children, our
educators, our schools and our state with the passage of the Student Success Act (SSA). When
fully implemented, the Student Success Act is expected to invest $2 billion in Oregon education
every two years; that’s a $1 billion investment in early learning and K-12 education each year
through the Early Learning Account, the Student Investment Account (SIA), the Statewide
Education Initiatives Account, and $200 million of additional State School Fund support.
At the heart of the SSA is a commitment to improving access and opportunities for students
who have been historically underserved in the education system.
One of the most promising aspects of this new law is that it is rooted in the ideas of authentic
community engagement and equity. For communities and school districts across Oregon, our
collective vision to improve schools and the outcomes of students relies on collaboration and
partnership. By law, Oregon school districts are required to engage staff, students and families,
particularly:
• Students of color;
• Students experiencing disabilities;
• Emergent bilingual students; and
• Students navigating poverty, homelessness, and foster care; and other students that
have historically experienced disparities in our schools.
To support schools and LEAs with these efforts, ODE published the Community Engagement
Toolkit and a Tribal Consultation Toolkit to assist LEAs working with tribal
governments. Starting in 2019, real and noteworthy engagement has occurred in Oregon
communities, led by LEAs and charter schools to engage, listen, and plan with students,
families, communities, and educators. This is evidenced by the hundreds of engagement
artifacts submitted to ODE that tell powerful and authentic engagement stories, and highlight
lessons learned from across Oregon.
Examining & Reconfiguring ODE’s Current Engagement Practices
This body of work does not live in isolation of the economic, health, and community conditions
across Oregon. The opportunities to deepen partnerships while addressing the challenges
brought on by systemic racism, poverty, COVID-19, wildfires, loss of power, water crisis, and the
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hundreds of ways we struggle to respond to the wholeness of students, families, educators, and
school leaders are clear, complex and daunting.
Since the passage of this new law, ODE has examined its own practices around community
engagement. ODE leaders have taken bold action to ensure its engagement with educators and
the education community is authentic, reciprocal, and honors the strengths of the diverse
communities served. At the heart of its work, ODE believes effective community engagement
facilitates a process of co-creating a common vision, goals and a plan where the community is
involved in identifying needs and assets, developing ideas and making decisions. It also comes
with the shared responsibility among all participants to be engaged in ensuring the success of
strategies to achieve the community’s goals.
These are examples of how ODE has established a system for consultation with all stakeholders
required in this section:
• Expanding the makeup of advisory committees to reflect the students who have been
historically underserved by Oregon’s education system. This includes appointing
community leaders to existing groups and initiating new groups to inform specific
policies. The Department has also established monthly touch-points with each advisory
committee/group as a consistent feedback loop to inform decision-making. These
advisory groups include:
o American Indian/Alaska Native Success Advisory Committee provides guidance,
input, advocacy, and recommendations on policy, rules, and legislation related
to Indian Education. The committee recommends goals and measurable
objectives for the American Indian/Alaska Native Student Success Plan to
implement by the Oregon Department of Education.
o African American/Black Student Success Advisory Committee provides
recommendations, community feedback, guidance, and updates to the Oregon
Department of Education for the purposes of fulfilling the intent and impact of
the Oregon African American/Black Student Success Plan.
o Latino/a/x Student Success Advisory Group advises the Oregon Department of
Education on educational matters affecting Latino/a/x students and families. This
effort will seek to address systemic inequities experienced by Latino/a/x
students through focused investments and community partnerships.
o English Learner/Emergent Bilingual Advisory Committee is a diverse group of
community and district stakeholders who are an important part of Oregon
Department of Education’s (ODE) decision-making process and effective
implementation of the EL Strategic State Plan. This group is composed of district
and school administration, teachers, students, parents, and community
members.
o DACA/Undocumented Committee is a community group that the Department
brings together periodically to inform policy and provide input on the
DACA/Undocumented Committee Toolkit.
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o Every Student Belongs Kitchen Table Conversation (Community Advisors) is a
community group that the Department brings together periodically to inform
policy and provide input on the Every Student Belongs resources.
o School Safety and Prevention System (SSPS) Advisory is a community group of
professionals that meet monthly to inform policy, rules, and guidance related to
the School Safety and Prevention System, and Senate Bill 52 (Adi’s Act).
o LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Advisory Committee provides recommendations,
community feedback, guidance, and updates to the Oregon Department of
Education to address barriers to educational success for Oregonian students who
identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, non-binary, transgender, gender queer, two-
spirit, intersex, asexual (+).
o Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) is a diverse group of stakeholders that seeks
public input on the development and drafting of administrative rules as well as
whether the rule has a fiscal or small business impact and to what extent that
impact will be.
o State Advisory Council for Special Education (SACSE) exists to provide policy
guidance with respect to special education and related services for children with
disabilities in the State. SACSE advises the State of unmet needs in the education
of children with disabilities, comments publicly on any rules or regulations
proposed by the State regarding the education of students with disabilities,
advises the State in developing evaluations and reporting data to the U.S. Office
of Special Education, advises the State in developing corrective action plans to
address findings identified in federal monitoring reports, and advises the State in
developing and implementing services for children with disabilities.
o State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) ensures interagency coordination
and to support the ongoing development of quality statewide services for
infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children who experience disabilities and
their families. The SICC advises, advocates and collaborates on state, local and
individual levels to maximize each child’s unique potential and ability to
participate in society.
o Early Childhood Inclusion State Leadership Team works to plan and implement
a sustainable, cross-agency, state infrastructure for developing and scaling up
sustainable high quality early childhood inclusion.
o Regional Inclusive Services Management Team serves as a special education
advisory group that meets regularly to support the state’s Regional Inclusive
Services, which provide support for students with high impact, low incidence
disabilities.
o Dispute Resolution Committee is a special education advisory group that meets
periodically to review ODE's due process hearing decisions, complaint
resolutions, and mediation activities. The Committee also reviews Department
policies & procedures related to dispute resolution and makes recommendations
to the Department.
o Oregon Educator Equity Advisory Group (OEEAG) helps design and produce the
Educator Equity Report as well as provide additional support and input on
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diversifying the educator workforce. This group is coordinated and hosted by the
Educator Advancement Council.
o System of Care Advisory Council (SOCAC) provides oversight of children’s mental
health system planning and System of Care implementation in Oregon.
o Children’s System Advisory Council (CSAC) serves as an advisory council for
OHA's Child and Family Behavioral Health programs.
o There are 10 Regional Educator Networks (REN) that are guided by Coordinating
Bodies. These Coordinating Bodies consist of a diverse representation of regional
stakeholders and must include 51% educators. The Coordinating Body guides
how the region will best support educators from recruitment to retirement from
an educator-driven stance.
o Digital Learning Partners (formerly “Technology Connectivity and Core Capacity
Work Group”) is a group of stakeholders who develop recommendations and
guidance and engage partners and community to create and implement a
statewide Digital Learning Plan that encompasses the vision that each and every
student has access to the technology, tools and learning opportunities that are
used to individualize engaging learning experiences that address their abilities,
strengths, and weaknesses and development as a life-long learner and creator of
knowledge.
• Facilitating, at minimum, bi-weekly discussions with superintendents and charter school
leaders about real-time information and changes to school guidance. The Department
often meets with groups of districts by size (small, medium, and large districts) to better
understand how policies and guidance impact local capacity and intersect with
community needs.
• Hosting weekly “Office Hours” for all school and LEA staff along with supplemental
Office Hours, held weekly and as needed, by program specialists:
o Charter School Leaders Office Hours
o Federal Systems Office Hours
o Private Schools Office Hours
o Business Managers Office Hours
• Continuing monthly Government to Government Education Cluster meetings with
leaders from the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon.
• Collaborating with the Coalition of School Administrators (COSA) to deliver information;
collect information to better understand challenges experienced by school leaders; and
take a unified approach to supporting students, staff and families throughout and
beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Facilitating focused engagement with teachers to listen and learn from their stories,
experiences, shared concerns and wonderings in order to inform guidance for schools
throughout the 2020-21 school year.
• Partnering with the Oregon Education Association (OEA), Stand for Children,
Foundations for a Better Oregon, and other organizations.
• Proactively sharing information with legislators and other policymakers.
• Creating a system for students, families and the public to share their input through a
statewide survey.
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To see additional detail on the correlation between the Department’s community engagement
and the focal groups listed in Section C.1.i.-ix., please refer to Appendix G 2020-2021 COVID-19
Targeted Community Engagement
SEA engagement incorporated input into this plan
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a change in practice: facilitating engagement and deepening
relationships with our community in a virtual environment. Despite the mode of engagement,
ODE has continued to host meetings with our stakeholders and has developed six critical bodies
of guidance informed by the input from the engagement. These resources will shape how the
Department guides districts in planning to use their ARP ESSER funds and how the state will
invest its portion of the funds.
Two resources provide the core framing for Oregon’s ARP ESSESR priorities. First is the Equity in
Education Investment Framework, which was shaped through input from our advisory groups
and COVID-19 engagement sessions. This framework is designed to guide LEA and state
investments that are centered in education equity and support school safety and wellness. ODE
is currently sharing this Framework broadly through current engagement efforts. Each of
Oregon’s guiding priorities named in Section A.2 are embedded within this framework.
The second resource is Student Learning: Unfinished, Not Lost, which reframes student
learning needs from the deficit-based lens of “learning loss” to “unfinished learning,” an asset-
based approach to meet students and families where they are and account for the learning they
gained during the pandemic. In addition to reframing learning, this resource encourages
educators to prioritize acceleration over remediation, again, starting where students are and
moving forward instead of repeating prior lessons. Finally, the document reframes “recovery”
into “renewal” where education systems acknowledge what was gained over the last year, like
improved family involvement and relationships, and builds on this to create a stronger system
post-pandemic. The strategies identified in the implementation of Section 2001 (f) of the ARP,
as described in Section D, are intentionally broad until we can do further engagement.
However, Section D continues to build off of this framing and will use this input to shape
ongoing planning.
Three other resources that have been developed in close consultation with community partners
include the Mental Health Toolkit, the Summer Learning Best Practice Guide, and the various
student group advisory plans (Appendix J includes links to each plan). These extensive
resources contain much of the guidance, information, and community voice Oregon will need
to begin planning specific strategies to achieve each of the ARP ESSER priorities in Section A.2.
SEA provided the public with the opportunity to share input in the development of the plan
From the beginning of the pandemic, ODE has engaged the entire State of Oregon through our
targeted groups as described above. In May 2021, the Department coordinated four
engagement sessions specific to ARP ESSER. These sessions were conducted virtually and
included 45 participants from the following groups:
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• African American Black Student Success Advisory Committee
• Latino/a/x & Indigenous Student Success Advisory Group
• American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Committee
• English Learner/Emerging Bilingual Advisory Committee
• State Advisory Council for Special Education (Current & Incoming)
• LGBTQ2SIA+ Advisory Committee
• ODE/SBE Rules Advisory Committee
• Summer Learning Collaborative
• Oregon Advocacy Commissions Office, Advocacy Commissioners, and Community
Stakeholders
• State Leadership Team
• Dispute Resolution Committee
• State Interagency Coordinating Council
• Racial Justice Council + ERC
• Education Partners (COSA, OSBA, OEA, etc.)
• Philanthropy Partners (FactOregon, Oregon Business Council, Better Oregon, etc.)
In each session, ODE provided a clear overview of the federal funding, and a summary of how
the Department has incorporated ongoing prior engagement into Oregon’s ARP ESSER priorities
from Section A.2. Participants evaluated the information and provided input on essential
considerations for the ongoing planning and investment of ARP ESSER funds. Several themes
emerged that were important to participants across all three priority areas:
1. Family Engagement: Realize family and community engagement strategies in each area
and hold LEAs accountable to their plans.
2. Centering Equity: Don’t let equity get lost in the shuffle within each priority area.
3. Disparate Impact: Students in special education, in foster care, from highly mobile
populations, who are BIPOC, from areas with low vaccination rates, and others were
affected differently and may need different solutions in each area.
4. Grade Level Transition: Assessments can be a part of ensuring students are
acknowledged for their achieved mastery, acknowledging students may not need to
only be learning in one grade level across subjects.
5. Sustainability: The one-time nature of these funds is of concern when it comes to
sustaining efforts in each area, as well as ODE’s ability to support the continuity.
The feedback from these sessions were compiled into a report that was shared back with all
participants, shared with Department staff, and will be the first in an iterative process of
ongoing community engagement and plan development.
ODE will conduct ongoing meaningful engagement with stakeholders
The Department will continue to develop a comprehensive set of strategies for the ARP ESSER
funds in the coming months using feedback from ongoing engagement and consultation with
the US Department of Education. ODE will utilize established networks to expand and deepen
engagement with the advisory groups, partners, and the public to assess ODE’s progress toward
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developing a plan that reflects the needs of our communities. All feedback collected will be
carefully captured by a core team at the Department who will create reports to inform
Department staff supporting ARP ESSER programs and thoughtfully share back to the
communities a synthesis of their feedback and how it will be used to inform state planning.
Additional engagement efforts with Tribal governments will occur as applicable.
2021-2024 Ongoing Community Engagement Plan
Summer/Fall 2021 Identify staff and build Department capacity to lead ESSER work
Coordinate with US Department of Education on ESSER Plan
Continue updates and engagement with communities and established
groups
Winter/Spring 2022 Build Department capacity to lead ESSER work
Share draft strategies through ongoing community engagement
Evaluate 2020-21 School Year & Summer data, Refine strategies
Summer/Fall 2022 Build Department capacity to lead ESSER work
Share final strategies through ongoing community engagement
Refine strategies and prepare implementation
2023/2024 Sustain Department capacity to lead ESSER work
Continue ongoing engagement for continuous improvement
Implementation and evaluation
As the state’s ARP ESSER plan is being developed, the Department will post updates and drafts
to the ODE ARP ESSER Website. In addition, ODE’s agency director will provide monthly reports
to the State Board of Education in public meetings where public comment is received. The
Department will schedule regular updates and presentations to the State Board of Education
and will collect public comment at these meetings to be used to inform implementation. Staff
will capture public input and consider recommendations as the plan is finalized.
2. Coordinating Funds: Describe to what extent the SEA has and will coordinate
Federal COVID-19 pandemic funding and other Federal funding. This description
must include:
i. How the SEA and its LEAs 1) are using or have used prior to the
submission of this plan and 2) plan to use following submission of
this plan, Federal COVID-19 funding under the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and the CRRSA Act
to support a safe return to and safely maximize in-person instruction,
sustain these operations safely, and address the disproportionate
impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual student groups
(including students from low-income families, children with
disabilities, English learners, racial or ethnic minorities, students
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experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and
migratory students);
Complete the table below or provide a narrative description.
ESSER I/GEER I and ESSER II/GEER II - CARES Act and CRRSA Act
Since the award of CARES Act funding, ODE has been coordinating federal COVID-19 relief
funding for LEAs and other education partners across the state. Under the CARES Act, and the
subsequent CRRSA Act approved in December 2020, ODE has administered and allocated the
majority of $694.5 million in funds from ESSER and GEER. The funding provided through GEER
has been awarded to ODE as the administrator on behalf of the Governor, however, $44.0
million of this funding has been allocated specifically for higher education, early learning and
child care programs, and emergency assistance for non-public schools (EANS). The remaining
$650.5 million of funding has been focused primarily for ODE as the SEA, LEA’s and other K-12
education partners to ensure the continuity of education for all students in Oregon’s K-12
public education system.
Between CARES and CRRSA (ESSER I, II, and GEER I and II) ODE has allocated $3.4 million for
overall administration. With a portion of these funds, ODE provides guidance to LEA’s through
the Ready School, Safe Learners 2020-21 Guidance and companion tool Ensuring Equity and
Access: Aligning State and Federal Requirements. This guidance supports LEAs in using the
resources they are allocated to provide for the safe return of all students and safely maximize
in-person instruction, as well as sustaining those operations as the threat of the pandemic
decreases. ODE also produced the Summer Learning Best Practices Guide 2021 which provides
information regarding the utilization of various state and federal funding sources as districts
plan summer learning opportunities.
Of the remaining $647.1 million, 97.4% ($630.4 million) has been dedicated to K-12 public
education and has been allocated in a way to ensure education partners recognize and address
the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on the identified student groups. The sections below
summarize how these resources were awarded.
District Formula Grants $559.2 million
The bulk of the allocated resources, 88.7%, have been provided as School District Grants
to all 197 of Oregon’s LEAs. While the 90% requirement in ESSER does not dedicate
funding to every LEA, Oregon has used some of the state set-aside funding to ensure all
LEAs and Oregon students are provided with funding to help overcome the impacts and
challenges created through COVID. While LEAs are still in the process of spending these
funds, the early focus by LEAs has been primarily on expenses related to providing
technology support for distance learning, and additional cost for teachers, including
professional development, that help with additional learning supports. As the state
began transitioning to either onsite or hybrid learning in late winter/early spring, the
funding has begun to shift and focus more on the safe reopening of schools which has
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included upgrades of air ventilation systems, additional custodial and cleaning costs,
capital improvement and expansion to enable social distancing, and additional
transportation expenses.
Comprehensive Distance Learning (CDL) Grants - $26.3 million (ESSER I and GEER I)
Early in the pandemic, Oregon schools faced the reality they would not be able to
provide onsite education, and all student education would be provided through remote
and distance learning. To address this, LEAs were required to complete plans that
ensure the ability to implement some form of distance learning platform for schools and
students. The CDL Grants were provided to 196 (one district declined the funding) of
Oregon LEAs for the purposes of addressing the barriers of distance learning and
providing effective learning for students from a distance. These funds provided student
devices, internet connectivity, digital learning platforms, professional learning for
educators, and other direct support for distance learning. The funding was also
allocated to ensure that larger shares of funding be allocated to school districts with
higher rates of poverty, larger populations of migrant students, and/or identified as
small, rural, or remote.
Education Service District Support Grants - $12.9 million (ESSER I and II)
Education Service Districts (ESDs) provide critical support to LEAs in ensuring they are
able to meet the needs of their students. This includes support in areas such as
technology, coordination of education services, facilitation, warehousing, and technical
assistance. Support Grants have been provided to 19 ESDs throughout the state to help
LEAs in responding to the impacts of the pandemic. While services vary depending on
the needs of the LEAs served by the ESD, some of the primary areas of focus have been:
• Supporting the development of LEA RSSL Plan;
• Serving as the central warehousing and delivery mechanism of PPE to LEAs;
• Providing critical technology services to small and remote LEAs that lack the
capacity for distance learning; and
• Coordinating efforts such as teacher and student vaccinations.
State Specialized Services Programs - $14.9 million (ESSER I and II)
ODE, LEAs, and ESDs all have contractual responsibilities to provide a variety of services
to students with specialized needs. These include services to students that are currently
in youth corrections or juvenile detention, hospital care, and long term care and
treatment. This also includes children and students attending their home schools that
require education support based on their specialized needs. In addition to this, ODE is
responsible for the Oregon School for the Deaf and four State Sponsored Charter
Schools. To support service providers in helping their students overcome the challenges
of the pandemic and ensure a continuity of ongoing learning, grants have been provided
to each organization that provides these unique and very critical programs.
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Statewide Public Awareness Campaign - $7.0 million (ESSER II)
As Oregon began to return students back to onsite or hybrid learning in the late
winter/early spring, it was recognized that there was still much apprehension and fear
on the part of families and students returning. While the state has gone to great lengths
in following all CDC health guidelines and setting up for a high degree of safety
protocols, there needed to be more communication and assurance provided to the
public. As a result the state invested in a contract that provides for both current and
ongoing public awareness about the safe return to onsite learning. This includes the use
of statewide media and advertising to inform the public about school safety measures,
as well as health guidelines that provide reassurance for students.
District Broadband Initiatives $10.1 million (GEER II)
The Governor has been very clear that as a state, we must learn from the pandemic and
begin work to address and overcome the challenges we experienced during this time.
One of those significant challenges has been internet connectivity for students in rural
and remote areas of the state. As the state was thrust into distance learning, many
students in these areas of the state did not have the connectivity necessary to
accommodate online learning. To begin addressing connectivity challenges, the
Governor has allocated $10.1 million in grants to LEA’s to finance the necessary
infrastructure to enable higher quality and scalable internet connectivity.
ESSER III - ARP Act
As Oregon transitions to the next iteration of ESSER (ESSER III) provided from the American
Rescue Plan Act, 2021 (ARP Act or ARPA) and the submission of the required state plan, the
focus will be on the 3 priorities outlined in Section A.2. Through ESSER III, Oregon has been
allocated $1.121 billion. As with ESSER I and II, Oregon again provided School District Formula
Grants by using the required 90% allocation, as well as set aside funding to ensure all state LEAs
receive support. In addition, the state will allocate a portion of the set aside to ensure the four
State Sponsored Charter Schools and the Oregon School for the Deaf receive funding. In total,
this will account for 90.43% of the funding allocated through Oregon.
Oregon reserved the allowed 0.5% for administration, leaving a remaining 9.07% of the SEA set-
aside which has yet to be allocated. The timing of the submission of this plan did not align with
meaningful feedback from community members, policy makers, and the Governor’s office. In
addition, ODE is waiting to receive the IDEA allocation from the ARP Act and doesn't want to
exclude planning for students who experience disabilities if additional IDEA funding is
inadequate. ODE’s commitment for these funds, as well as the allocations made to date, is to
focus on strategies that meet the following priorities in Section A2.
As ODE begins to allocate its remaining set-aside resources from ESSER III for specific strategies,
it will focus on proven and best practices at both a state and national level and be informed by
critical needs identified through engagement that has and will continue to occur. In addition,
the Department will work in alignment with Oregon’s Governor who is the Superintendent of
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Public Instruction, to ensure the targeted strategies are not only in alignment with the priorities
identified above, but also are in support of Oregon’s state education goals and objectives. As
planning for the remaining set-aside continues, ODE will center equity and continue to
coordinate with other federal resources to address the ongoing needs of the identified student
groups.
ii. To what extent ESSER I and ESSER II funds have been awarded to
LEAs and, if funds have not yet been made available to LEAs, when
they will be. In addition, please provide any available information on
the total dollar amounts of ESSER I and ESSER II funds that have
been obligated but not expended by the SEA and its LEAs, including
whether the SEA is able to track LEA obligations.
The grant awards, obligations, and planned commitments made with ESSER I and II are outlined
below. ODE tracks LEA and Education Service District (ESD) expenditures, but not their
obligations. The Department tracks both expenditures and obligations for funds allocated to the
Oregon School for the Deaf (OSD).
• ESSER I:
o All $121.1 million of ESSER I has been fully awarded and obligated.
o To date, 96.1% of ESSER I Funds have been allocated to LEAs. 3.4% has been
allocated to Education Services Districts (ESDs) and the Oregon School for the
Deaf, with the last 0.5% dedicated to ODE administration.
o Oregon schools have been reimbursed for 70% of the obligated ESSER I funding
to date. The remaining balance of the ESSER I obligation not yet claimed for
reimbursement by LEAs is $38.1 million. While these funds have not been paid
out by ODE, it is anticipated that most have been expended by LEAs, but just
have not submitted their claims for reimbursement.
• ESSER II:
o 96.7% of the $499.2 million of ESSER II funds have been awarded and obligated.
o In total, 91% of ESSER II has been allocated to LEAs and 3.7% to ESDs. There is
1.4% dedicated to a statewide public awareness campaign and 0.5% for
administration. 3.4% is unallocated.
o The 3.4% set-aside, as described above, has been partially awarded and
obligated. The remaining is anticipated for award and obligation by the end of
June 2021.
o To date, $482.4 million has been awarded or dedicated and $16.7 million is
currently being reviewed and evaluated to determine the best and most
strategic use of the resources.
o As of May 21, 2021, $9.6 million has been claimed for reimbursement. The
remaining balance of the ESSER II obligations not yet claimed for reimbursement
is $465.4 million.
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iii. In supporting LEAs as they plan for the safe return to and continuity
of in-person instruction and for meeting the academic, social,
emotional, and mental health needs of students resulting from the
COVID-19 pandemic, the extent to which the SEA is also using
other Federal funding sources including but not limited to under the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (“ESEA”), IDEA,
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (“WIOA”), funding for
child nutrition services, and McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance
Act, and the funds to support the needs of students experiencing
homelessness provided by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act.3
ODE has made several tools available to support LEAs to maximize the use of COVID-19 relief
and other federal funding sources. Some of the specific tools and strategies are detailed
below.
IDEA: Throughout the pandemic, ODE has developed guidance, tools, and resources for LEAs as
they serve students who experience disabilities which can be accessed through the ODE COVID-
19 Resources for Special Education website. Oregon has not yet received its final ARP IDEA
allocation increase information, but is anticipating sending around $30 million in additional
dollars to LEAs, over $2 million to preschools, and over $2 million to infant and toddler
programs in support of special education services. When the parameters of this funding are
known, ODE will provide additional guidance and resources to LEAs to utilize these dollars in
conjunction with other state and federal funding sources.
Title IV-B, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC): Since the beginning of the
pandemic, 21st CCLC programs have continued to serve students and families during out-of-
school time. Whether it was leveraging partnerships to ensure Emergency Child Care was
available, food delivery coupled with enriching activities delivered to students and families, or
through distance learning and the distribution of hands-on science kits, 21st CCLC programs
have adapted to deliver services in ways that never existed before. Of the 24 grantees offering
service representing 101 community learning centers statewide, 75% assembled and provided
physical learning kits to students. 91% of grantees offered synchronous and/or asynchronous
virtual activities. These virtual 21st CCLC centers provided students a digital safe place to
socialize and express themselves, which was found to be particularly important after being “on
mute” all day in the virtual classroom setting. They also provided practical support to families
and caregivers, as well as offered engaging activities for families to participate together. For
instance, developing hubs where families can seek support with technology issues in-person
3
Please note that the needs of students experiencing homelessness must be addressed (along with the other groups
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic) through the use of the ARP ESSER SEA reservations and
the required LEA reservation for the academic impact of lost instructional time; the funding provided to support the
needs of students experiencing homelessness by section 2001(b)(1) of the ARP Act is in addition to the supports and
services provided with ARP ESSER funds.
48
and virtually and providing resource lists to help with paying for utilities, mental health
supports, and food pantries.
To support grantees in these efforts, Oregon created the 21st CCLC Companion Guidance to
Ready Schools, Safe Learners which included 21st CCLC Operational Blueprints to ensure the
health and safety of students, staff and families and the requirements for instructional models
during out-of-school time. Oregon initially provided technical support with weekly meetings,
then eventually with bimonthly meetings and optional Office Hours where programs could ask
specific questions or grapple with a problem of practice. To mitigate the effects of unfinished
learning as LEAs shift to more in-person instruction in the summer of 2021, Oregon’s 21st CCLC
program held the Infinite Possibilities of Summer Learning Conference: Centering Equity,
Engagement and Opportunity focused on centering equity through purposeful program
planning and strategic use of braiding state and federal funds to create inclusive programs.
Other areas included child nutrition coordination, student recruitment, incorporating Social
Emotional Learning, CTE, project-based learning, and well-rounded learning. This summer
learning conference was developed in collaboration with community partners as well as ODE’s
Title I-C, Title III, Title I-A, and Title IV-B teams. Support from our McKinney-Vento, Foster Care,
and state summer grants teams were also embedded throughout the conference.
Oregon’s 21st CCLC program conducted Progress Monitoring Interviews resulting in a 21st CCLC
Interview Summary Report focused on the impacts of COVID-19 as a check to ensure federal
dollars were being spent wisely and as way to inform additional technical supports needed,
innovative practices, and implementation of 21st CCLC programming with varied instructional
models. Additionally, approximately $1,000,000 in supplemental 21st CCLC funds will be
awarded to grantees looking to enhance or expand programming. Oregon will prioritize award
amounts for programs that:
• Add or enhance school year schedules in 2021-22 (extend hours of operations, operate
5 days a week to support working families),
• Add or enhance summer programs,
• Provide additional SEL supports,
• Provide student recruitment and outreach efforts (hire an outreach coordinator),
• Expand partnerships, and
• Do not have remaining 18-19 or 19-20 funds.
The priorities for these supplemental funds are based on the 2019-2020 Overall State
Evaluation of Program, program interview report, and grantees discussions from meetings
based on what is working well in programs and what is needed to improve.
McKinney-Vento: In addition to the pandemic, Oregon experienced an unprecedented wildfire
season that resulted in entire schools and communities burning to the ground. As a result,
many of our communities experienced significant trauma. We are still determining how many
of our students are experiencing houselessness as a result of the wildfires. Our migrant
students and families also experienced significant disruption to their education and lives since
49
the fires were in our agricultural and farming regions. Oregon provided additional emergency
relief funds to our LEAs and regions in the Fall of 2020 and has been working with our families
and students to ensure they get the support they need. ODE provided emergency funds to LEAs
via Title I-C funding to ensure that migrant families received the support needed including food,
shelter, and supplies. In addition, ODE expanded support for Oregon’s McKinney-Vento (MV)
eligible students and increased liaison training. Transportation was one of the biggest barriers
to MV and Foster Care students attending school, so ODE worked with LEAs to ensure that MV
and Foster Care students had access to in-school and afterschool programs by providing
additional training around transportation access and needs.
Child Nutrition Programs: USDA waivers have allowed LEAs to provide meals in non-congregate
methods (e.g., grab-and-go, meal delivery via bus routes, and meal delivery directly to homes).
These flexibilities have aided schools as they have provided hybrid instruction and
comprehensive distance learning. Additionally, USDA waivers have allowed LEAs to provide
multiple days’ worth of meals allowing families to pick-up more than one meal at a time. LEAs
that provide meals are reimbursed through USDA funding. These waivers and meal
reimbursements have allowed for families to continue to receive meals that would have
normally been served at school.
USDA is also providing additional funding to LEAs, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program
(CACFP) organizations for expenses incurred during specified months at the initial stage of the
pandemic to help offset losses of program revenue.
Other Tools: When the Governor’s executive order closed schools in March of 2020, ODE staff
held monthly webinars to help LEAs track the quickly changing requirements and answer
questions relative to the use of federal funds to support LEA needs due to the shift to remote
learning. At the beginning of the 2020-21 school year, the Federal Systems Team (FST)
implemented office hours to allow LEAs regular access to ask questions of ODE staff and share
problems of practice with their peers. LEAs have consistently attended and indicated that they
value these opportunities to seek clarity. The FST intends to continue this practice next school
year.
Anticipating significant LEA investment of both state and federal dollars in summer school, ODE
released Summer Learning Best Practice Guide: Supporting Mental Health, Addressing
Unfinished Learning and Providing Enrichment Opportunities in April of 2021. This guide draws
upon research and best practices for how to design and implement summer learning programs
and, while it aims to support summer learning for all students, it prioritizes programming for
migrant students, emerging bilingual students, students experiencing disabilities, and students
in need of high school credit. Particular emphasis is placed on how to “braid” funds to ensure
maximum benefit to students and flexibility to LEAs.
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D. Maximizing State-Level Funds to Support Students
The Department recognizes that States have an extraordinary opportunity to address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students through the
ARP Act’s required State set-asides to address the academic impact of lost instructional time,
provide summer learning and enrichment programs, and provide comprehensive afterschool
programs. In this section, SEAs will describe their evidence-based strategies for these
resources.
1. Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time: Describe how the SEA will use
the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(1) of the ARP Act (totaling not less
than 5 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER funds) on evidence-
based interventions to address the academic impact of lost instructional time by
supporting the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool
programs, or extended school year programs, and ensure that such interventions
respond to students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The
description must include:
i. A description of the evidence-based interventions (e.g., providing
intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating learning) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
those interventions on an ongoing basis to understand if they are
working;
Over the past year, the phrase “learning loss” has been used to describe the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on student learning. Despite a disrupted school year, there are countless
stories and artifacts of student learning, progress, and strength. While academic learning may
be unfinished, it is not lost. With commitment and care, educators, school leaders, school
support staff, families and communities continue to provide students with opportunities to
learn while also tending to students’ physical, social, and emotional needs. A responsive
system, grounded in equity, meets students where they are and accelerates their learning by
building on strengths and needs. Collectively, this means redesigning teaching and learning and
reexamining deeply rooted deficit-based thinking.
The three strategies below paint a broad picture of the Oregon Department of Education’s
interventions, leaving space for community input and co-creation. Upon meaningful, intentional
engagement with community, educators, and families, these three strategies will become more
specific and targeted. The disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students
underserved by the system will only be addressed when we are in the right relationship with
our students and community, listening well and responding to their strengths and needs. With
future engagement will come deeper clarity and precision around specific interventions within
each of the following three areas of focus.
• Focus on accelerated learning. In contrast to remediation efforts, which perpetuate low
expectations and lead to disparate outcomes, students who access accelerated
learning and advanced coursework demonstrate consistently higher learning
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outcomes and increased engagement. This particular strategy will create or expand
existing efforts to increase statewide capacity to provide accelerated learning
opportunities to all students. The state funds will be used to focus expanding
opportunities to students currently and historically underserved by the system. For all
students, this will include a focus on ensuring that students have access to grade level
or above standards in all content areas. In addition, this may include increased
enrollment in AP/IB/Dual Credit programs. Reframing a focus from remediation to
accelerated learning will directly assist those students who have lost the most
instructional time due to school closures and online learning settings.
• Design best practice tools & resources for teaching and learning. The intent is to
include high-quality: 1) formative assessment practices that honor student identity
and agency to determine where learning must be accelerated; 2) professional learning
opportunities for educators on learning acceleration, culturally affirming and
sustaining pedagogy, and technology-enabled instruction to ensure students have
access to well-rounded, world-class academic experiences; 3) strategies and
professional learning for principals and teachers to leverage school-based teacher
leadership, distributed leadership, and innovative staffing models to provide
supervision and support to tutors and teachers; and 4) culturally responsive and
representative instructional materials investments.
• Support Career, College and Community Readiness. Work with LEAs and other
educational partners to re-engage high school students who need additional credits to
graduate and provide support and guidance for students to navigate the transition to
career and/or college. This could include using federal and state funds to expand
existing statewide efforts to address unfinished learning, provide well-rounded
educational experiences, and create career-connected learning systems. A core
component of this work includes working with existing high school success and career
and technical education programs to ensure that each LEA has an equity-centered plan
to invest in drop-out prevention, accelerated learning opportunities (i.e., dual credit),
and CTE programs that are tailored to local needs and careers of the future. ODE will
work with LEAs and other educational partners to expand college and career counseling
and financial aid support.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update
to Sections D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was
originally submitted January 14, 2022.
ii. How the evidence-based interventions will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to determine the impact of lost instructional time; and
Educators, community, and students know firsthand the high cost of this prolonged period of
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distance learning, from the toll on mental health to the lack of access to in-person learning. The
shutdown of face to face teaching in schools resulted in the majority of Oregon’s students
spending over a year engaged in distance learning, compounding racial disparities in learning
and achievement. While we have made significant efforts to close the digital divide and
improve distance learning, the implementation of school-based health and safety precautions
enabled most students to return to classrooms in the spring of 2021. However, Black, Latinx
and Indigenous students continue to be more likely to remain remote and are less likely to have
access to the prerequisites of learning—devices, internet access, and live contact with teachers.
Left unaddressed, these opportunity gaps will translate into wider achievement gaps. While all
students are suffering, those who came into the pandemic with the fewest academic
opportunities are on track to exit with the greatest learning loss.
The three strategies listed above when well implemented, will disrupt the negative
consequences of the impact of COVID-19. These strategies will help eliminate current
unfinished learning, and give educators the skills and training needed to reduce or eliminate
ongoing and invasive historical opportunity gaps. Students historically underserved by the
system are also the students that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Specific interventions will become sharper and more focused upon meaningful engagement
with the groups named in A.3.i-viii. At a high level, these three areas will help to ensure
students are successfully reengaged, learning grade level or above content, and receiving
quality feedback on their work and learning.
The data sources that we will most likely use to determine the impact of loss instructional time
will be:
• 2021 and 2022 graduation rates
• 2020-21 student attendance data
• Statewide SEEDs survey results
• FAFSA Completion
• Postsecondary Enrollment
• Kindergarten Enrollment
¶
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
• ODE will use the data collected from LEA and public charter school Operational
Blueprints for Reentry during the 2019-20 school year, as well as the weekly
53
instructional model data collected throughout the 2020-21 school year, to identify
students who have missed the most in-person instruction in the 2019-20 and 2020-21
school years.
• ODE will evaluate attendance and enrollment data to determine which students did not
consistently participate in remote instruction and/or disengaged from instruction
altogether.
• ODE will support LEAs in engaging these students through the provision of summer
programming and accelerated instructional opportunities described above. In addition,
ODE will evaluate the results from our 2021 pilot of the Student Educational Equity
Development (SEED Survey) to determine what supports students themselves have
identified as important or needed.
• ODE will explore additional data collections that may be necessary.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
2. Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs: Describe how
the SEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(2) of the ARP Act
(totaling not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER
funds) for evidence-based summer learning and enrichment programs, including
those that begin in Summer 2021, and ensure such programs respond to students’
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description must
include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs that address the
academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs of students
(e.g., providing intensive or high-dosage tutoring, accelerating
learning) the SEA has selected, and the extent to which the SEA will
evaluate the impact of those programs;
Oregon has made an unprecedented investment in state dollars to fund summer learning
programs to mitigate the immense and disruptive impact of the pandemic on Oregon’s
children. There are two new state grant programs beginning the summer of 2021:
1. The Summer Learning Initiative invests S196.6 million General Fund and $10 million
federal dollars in grant funding to participating LEAs for academic summer school to
support high school students facing academic credit loss, summer enrichment programs,
and wrap-around child care. These funds provide immediate assistance to help move
Oregon’s students from pandemic recovery to renewal in the summer of 2021; and
2. The Student Success Act Summer Programs Grant is a $3 million dollar investment each
summer beginning in 2021 for schools that are considered high poverty under Title I-A
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; have significant achievement gaps; and
have been determined by ODE to require additional support and interventions based on
school performance. This grant is an on-going state investment in summer learning.
54
These new state funds as well as federally funded grants designed to provide summer learning
programs such as: 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Title IV-B, Migrant
Education Programs (MEP) Title I-C, Extended School Year programs (ESY) and the addition of
ARP ESSER funds for summer learning have created a once in a generation opportunity to
create comprehensive inclusive summer learning experiences for students across Oregon.
Summer programs prior to the pandemic were often stand alone programs with minimal
braiding of federal dollars and little to no state funding. This summer provides a unique
opportunity to create more robust, inclusive programs that leverage federal and state funding
streams to provide more opportunities for students to realize unfinished learning and enter the
2021-22 school year with a sense of belonging and renewal.
Funding alone doesn’t guarantee the benefits of summer programming for children and youth:
quality matters. During the summer of 2021, our schools’ highest priority for students must be
promoting and supporting their mental health, well-being, and providing learning opportunities
grounded in student interests that can ignite and renew engagement, foster learning, and
nourish in-person connections. Oregon created the Summer Learning Best Practice Guide and
companion document Student Learning: Unfinished, Not Lost as guidance to districts as they
develop a variety of summer learning experiences unique to the strengths and needs of their
students and communities they serve. This guidance highlights six key evidence-based
strategies on designing and implementing a high-quality summer program that are the most
critical in supporting our students as they transition back to in-person learning.
Six Key Strategies for Summer Learning
1. Elevate Relationships and Enrichment
2. Deepen Community Partnerships
3. Integrate Well Rounded Learning and Work that Matters
4. Promote and Support Mental Health and Well-Being
5. Engage Students and Families
6. Hire Effective Educators and Invest in Professional Learning
Oregon’s summer learning efforts will be focused around these six strategies. Furthermore,
school and learning does not exist in isolation, but rather within the broader context of
community. All of these supports and relationships are valuable by themselves, but students
and families thrive and prosper when purposeful collaboration and alignment of resources are
realized. Meaningful engagement is about co-creation, sharing ownership, breaking down
barriers and building bridges. Oregon has created a Summer Learning Collaborative with the
purpose of creating an iterative process for meaningful and authentic engagement to inform
summer learning programs. These discussions directly apply to out-of-school time as a whole
and will help shape our efforts as we work to meet the strengths and needs of our students.
Program Goals that Elevate Relationships, Enrichment and Well Rounded Learning that
Matters During Out-of-School Time
The Oregon Department of Education has not yet determined the specific strategies in using
55
ARP ESSER Funds for Evidence-Based Summer Learning and Enrichment Programs. However,
the Department is in the process of establishing a foundation in which the funds create high-
quality summer learning programs through the application of evidence-based practice to
address unfinished learning and increase opportunities that elevate relationships, enrichment,
and well-rounded learning that matters to students. Some of the early concepts in which ODE
will use as a starting point in developing specific strategies for ongoing summer programming
include:
1. Providing opportunities for academic enrichment and tutorial services to help students,
particularly students who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, to meet
state performance standards in core academic subjects such as reading, writing, science and
mathematics.
2. Offering students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities, including but
not limited to:
a) Strengths-based, trauma- and social emotional learning- informed, equity-centered
mental health services and supports;
b) cultural and linguistic learning;
c) well-rounded youth development activities;
d) career and technical education (CTE);
e) work-based learning;
f) CTE student leadership organizations (CTSO) engagement/activities and postsecondary
preparation;
g) service learning;
h) arts, music, physical fitness; and
i) internship or apprenticeship programs that are designed to reinforce and complement
the regular academic program of participating students.
3. Family and community engagement opportunities that support an active and meaningful
connection to their children’s education which ensure whole family access to additional
services, including but not limited to, community-based health, mental health, social
services, and other enrichment opportunities.
Summer programs that run for five weeks or more have shown to be more effective as does
consistent student attendance, strong student recruitment efforts, small class sizes, and strong
community partnerships. Furthermore, the evidence is clear that keeping programs up and
running for more than one summer or school year is critical to the effectiveness and quality of
programming.
As mentioned, ODE is currently implementing state legislation and funding for summer
programming in 2021. ARP ESSER Funds will be used to further ongoing summer programming
efforts and once those have been specifically identified, this plan will be updated.
Evidence of Effectiveness and Continuous Quality Improvement
ARP ESSER summer programming and afterschool programs will follow the same evidence
56
based programmatic model and continuous quality improvement process as outlined in Student
Success Act Summer Program guidance, which focuses on student achievement, closing
opportunity gaps, increasing student attendance, increasing students’ sense of belonging, and
providing valuable resources and additional support to families.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections D.1.i-
iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted January 14,
2022.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3. i.--viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of summer learning and enrichment
programs; and
There is broad consensus and evidence that the COVID-19 crisis and school closures have
illuminated and exacerbated the structural economic and racial inequities in the education
system. Summer planning and implementation should prioritize in-person programming, focus
on the students most underserved by the system, and proactively seek input from families and
students in their language of choice about their wants and needs. Summer learning experiences
have the potential to respond to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 and COVID-19
response efforts on historically underserved communities and those for whom existing systems
most marginalize.
National evidence suggests summer programs were out of reach for nearly 14 million children
in 2019. The majority of these children were from families with low incomes. This unmet
demand continued and deepened last year throughout the pandemic creating more of a burden
for working families. Parents in higher income families spend five times as much on summer
programs for their children, and are three times more likely to have a child in a summer
program than parents of low income families. This exacerbates and increases the gap in
opportunities that spark joy, deepen learning and nourish connections for children. The
greatest barriers for families to participate in summer programs are cost, location,
transportation, and information about programs. It’s been demonstrated that these barriers
are greater for low income families and families who have been disproportionately impacted by
the pandemic.
To address the inequities that have been spotlighted and the opportunity gap that has only
intensified as a result of the pandemic, the Oregon Department of Education will develop a
process to distribute funds to LEAs and educational entities. Since participation in summer
learning is voluntary, priority will be given to programs who can effectively demonstrate
evidence-based recruitment and comprehensive outreach methods to actively engage and
retain the following student groups:
• Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on
57
underserved student groups by race or ethnicity),
• Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
gender),
• English learners,
• Children with disabilities,
• Students experiencing homelessness,
• Children and youth in foster care,
• Migratory students,
• Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have been identified by
the ODE(e.g., youth involved in the criminal justice system, students who have missed
the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during
school building closures, and LGBTQ+ students)
ARP ESSER Summer programs must be free of charge to students and include transportation to
and from the program. To the extent practicable, students should have access to programs that
are a reasonable distance to where they live.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
iii. The extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify
and engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person
instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2)
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction
when offered during school building closures.
ARP ESSER funds for summer learning will require LEAs and other educational entities to
identify, create and employ effective outreach strategies to recruit and retain students into
summer learning programs who missed the most in-person instruction and students who did
not consistently participate in remote instruction during the school 2020-21 school year. This
could include but is not limited to, hiring an outreach coordinator who consistently follows-up
and connects with students and families in culturally responsive and student and family-
centered ways. Building the necessary relationships that encourage students to engage, feel a
sense of belonging and are eager to participate in summer programs are critical to the success
of these programs. One of the key areas we monitor and evaluate is "who" attends these
programs and if they are engaging for these particular student groups. To be considered for any
funds allocated, LEAs and other educational entities will have to explain how they will ensure
they are actively reaching out, recruiting and retaining focal students into the program.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections D.1.i-
iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted January 14,
2022.
58
3. Evidence-Based Comprehensive Afterschool Programs: Describe how the
SEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(f)(3) of the ARP Act
(totaling not less than 1 percent of the State’s total allocation of ARP ESSER
funds) for evidence-based comprehensive afterschool programs (including, for
example, before-school programming), and ensure such programs respond to
students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs. The description
must include:
i. A description of the evidence-based programs (e.g., including
partnerships with community-based organizations) the SEA has
selected, and the extent to which the SEA will evaluate the impact of
those programs;
Much like summer programming, the highest priority for students engaging in afterschool
programs in 2021-2022 must be promoting and supporting their mental health and well-being
and providing learning opportunities grounded in student interests. High-quality afterschool
programs can provide children and youth with rich opportunities for growth, learning and fun.
Research has shown quality after school programs are proven to help young people learn, grow
and thrive. Decades of research shows that kids who participate in afterschool: 1) Develop
strong social skills, 2) Engage in physical activity 3) Get excited about learning 4) Attend school
more often 5) Make gains in reading and math 6) Improve work habits and grades 7) Explore
career paths and gain workforce skills 8) Have higher graduation rates.
Quality afterschool programs give our students a better shot at filling their spare time with
enrichment rather than idleness and risk in the critical times when school is not in session and
working families are not home. Afterschool can be a nourishing space narrowing opportunity
gaps for our underserved and historically marginalized students that were only exacerbated
during the pandemic. Afterschool programs can also be an ideal setting for students to learn
and cultivate skills for coping with stress, and building and sustaining positive social
relationships when skilled and trusted adults are there to guide them.
The Six Key Strategies for Summer Learning outlined in the previous section directly align and
complement Oregon’s 21st CCLC comprehensive list of 11 evidence-based elements of quality
programming that was created in 2018 from an intensive literature review and community
engagement sessions. The 11 elements are described below:
11 Elements of Quality Out-of-School Time Programs
(Finn-Stevenson, 2014; Granger, 2010; Hammond & Reimer, 2006; National Afterschool
Association, 1998; Scharf & Woodlief, 2000).
1. Program Administration: A quality program has an effective management that develops
and implements policies and procedures to ensure the successful operation of the after
school program based on the program goals, vision, and design.
2. Staff Qualifications and Staff Development: High quality afterschool programs recruit,
hire, and develop diverse staff members who understand, value, and promote high
quality practices.
3. Partnerships: High quality afterschool programs build strong partnerships with families,
schools, and the community to enhance the quality of afterschool and youth services
59
4. Evaluation and Continuous Improvement: High quality after school programs conduct
evaluations and continuous improvement for program planning, monitoring and to
determine overall program effectiveness.
5. Sustainability: High quality afterschool programs plan for sustainability
6. Diversity, Inclusion, Access, and Equity: High quality afterschool programs embrace and
value diversity, and have a conscious commitment to helping all youth thrive by
providing inclusive, accessible, culturally responsive practices, activities, and
opportunities.
7. Physical Environment: High quality afterschool programs provide an appropriate,
accessible physical environment.
8. Safety, Health, and Nutrition: High quality afterschool programs ensure the emotional
and the physical safety of youth and staff; provide a healthy, welcoming, and
accommodating environment; ensure that emergency preparedness is a priority; and
provide nourishment based on health and wellness standards for children and youth.
9. Interactions and Relationships: High quality afterschool programs provide positive,
ongoing connections between and among youth participants and adults in the program.
10. Youth-Centered: High quality afterschool programs provide youth-centered activities
and acts in partnership with youth to foster appropriate youth voice and leadership.
11. Mental Health and Social Supports and Active Engagement: High quality afterschool
programs encourage active participation and ownership by youth, and offer
opportunities for mental health promotion, social support and social skills development.
The 11 Elements of Quality Programming are the foundation of the 21st CCLC, Title IV-B,
Continuous Quality Improvement Process (CQIP). These 11 elements have been broken into
subcategories and captured in a Program Reflection Tool where grantees can assess the extent
to which their program practices embody the elements by ranking themselves according to 4
levels of mastery. The Program Reflection Tool is used as a workbook to assess areas of
strength, opportunities and to notate opportunities for improvement. At the conclusion of this
process, program staff integrate, prioritize and refine improvement goals identified in a formal
action plan that is submitted annually as part of the overall improvement process. This process
and use of the Program Reflection Tool will focus the design, implementation and continuous
quality improvement efforts of ARP ESSER funds for summer learning, afterschool programs,
SSA Summer Programs and 21st CCLC programs. This cohesive concept system will enable the
state to leverage state and federal dollars to build a comprehensive technical assistance
program focused on increasing the quality of programs that can be sustained through other
programs after ARP ESSER funds are no longer available.
Program Goals that Elevate Relationships, Enrichment and Well Rounded Learning that
Matters During Out-of-School Time
The Oregon Department of Education has not yet determined the specific strategies in using ARP
ESSER Funds for Evidence-Based After School Programs. However, the Department is in the process of
establishing a foundation in which the funds create high-quality out-of-school programs through
the application of evidence-based practice to address unfinished learning and increase
opportunities that elevate relationships, enrichment, and well-rounded learning that matters to
students Some of the early concepts in which ODE will use as a starting point in developing
60
specific strategies for after school programs include:
1. Providing opportunities for academic enrichment and tutorial services to help students,
particularly students who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, to meet
state performance standards in core academic subjects such as reading, writing, science and
mathematics.
2. Offering students a broad array of additional services, programs and activities, including but
not limited to:
a) Strengths-based, trauma- and social emotional learning- informed, equity-centered
mental health services and supports;
b) cultural and linguistic learning;
c) well-rounded youth development activities;
d) career and technical education (CTE);
e) work-based learning;
f) CTE student leadership organizations (CTSO) engagement/activities and postsecondary
preparation;
g) service learning;
h) arts, music, physical fitness; and
i) internship or apprenticeship programs that are designed to reinforce and complement
the regular academic program of participating students.
3. Family and community engagement opportunities that support an active and meaningful
connection to their children’s education which ensure whole family access to additional
services, including but not limited to, community-based health, mental health, social
services, and other enrichment opportunities.
Once ODE has identified its specific strategies for Evidence-Based After School Programs, this
plan will be updated.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
ii. How the evidence-based programs will specifically address the
disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on certain groups of students,
including each of the student groups listed in question A.3.i.-viii.
When possible, please indicate which data sources the SEA will use
to identify students most in need of comprehensive afterschool
programming; and
There is broad consensus and evidence that the COVID-19 crisis and school closures have
illuminated and exacerbated the structural economic and racial inequities in the education
system. Afterschool planning and implementation should prioritize in-person programming,
focus on the students most underserved by the system, and proactively seek input from
families and students in their language of choice about their wants and needs. Afterschool
61
learning experiences have the potential to respond to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19
and COVID-19 response efforts on historically underserved communities and those for whom
existing systems most marginalize.
To best address the inequities that have been spotlighted and the opportunity gap that has only
intensified as a result of the pandemic, the Oregon Department of Education will develop a
funding process. Since participation in afterschool programming is voluntary, priority will be
given to programs who can effectively demonstrate evidence-based recruitment and
comprehensive outreach methods to actively engage and retain the following student groups:
• Students from each racial or ethnic group (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on
underserved student groups by race or ethnicity),
• Gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
gender),
• English learners,
• Children with disabilities,
• Students experiencing homelessness,
• Children and youth in foster care,
• Migratory students,
• Other groups disproportionately impacted by the pandemic that have been identified by
the SEA (e.g., youth involved in the criminal justice system, students who have missed
the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years,
students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during
school building closures, and LGBTQ+ students)
ARP ESSER Summer programs must be free of charge to students and include transportation to
and from the program. To the extent practicable, students should have access to programs that
are a reasonable distance to where they live.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
iii. the extent to which the SEA will use funds it reserves to identify and
engage 1) students who have missed the most in-person instruction
during the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years; and 2) students
who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when
offered during school building closures.
ARP ESSER afterschool programs will require LEAs and other educational partners to identify,
create and employ effective outreach strategies to recruit and retain students into the
programs who missed the most in-person instruction and students who did not consistently
participate in remote instruction during the school 2020-21 school year. This could include but
is not limited to, hiring an outreach coordinator who consistently follows-up and connects with
students and families in culturally responsive and student and family-centered ways. Building
the necessary relationships that encourage students to engage, feel a sense of belonging and
62
are eager to participate are critical to the success of these programs.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
4. Emergency Needs: If the SEA plans to reserve funds for emergency needs under
section 2001(f)(4) of the ARP Act to address issues responding to the COVID-19
pandemic, describe the anticipated use of those funds, including the extent to
which these funds will build SEA and LEA capacity to ensure students’ and
staff’s health and safety; to meet students’ academic, social, emotional, and
mental health needs; and to use ARP ESSER funds to implement evidence-based
interventions.
As stated in section C2, ODE is still coordinating with state leaders on the final designation of
these funds. At this time, the Department is proposing to reserve funds for emergencies
related to the COVID-19 pandemic and deploy them through three strategies: 1) Addressing
Funding Gaps for Public Schools and Local Education Agencies, 2) Specialized Education
Services for Vulnerable Populations, and 3) Technical Assistance for Emergency Planning.
These strategies will help districts meet the social, emotional, mental health, and academic
needs oftheir students with the intent to target those students most vulnerable to
disruptions in learning in the event that in-person education is unable to continue.
The types of anticipated emergencies include outbreaks at local school districts requiring the
school district to stop in-person learning and pivot to distance learning. Additionally,
anticipated emergencies include concurrent natural disasters that have a compounding
deleterious effect on the mental health of students. These additional disasters can include
wildfires, ice storms and other severe weather events that damage homes and buildings. In the
summer of 2020, Oregon experienced historically destructive wildfires which compounded the
disruption to student learning and well-being already caused by CODIV-19. For this reason,
concurrent emergencies are interwoven through the strategies below to maximize LEA
readiness and minimize disruption to student well-being in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks
and other simultaneous emergencies. These emergencies affect all students in the state,
including students in alternative education environments, such as youth correctional or
detention facilities, hospitals, or early learning centers.
Strategy 1 - Addressing Funding Gaps for Public Schools and Local Education Agencies
The first strategy from the SEA set-aside for emergency needs is to fill funding gaps for three
school groups that would not otherwise receive adequate funding through the 90% funding
formula identified in the law.
• ODE awarded $1,620,000 to 18 LEAs that would either receive zero funding due to being
non-eligible for Title I funds, or would receive less than $90,000 under the 90% formula.
This ensured all LEAs in Oregon received a minimum of $90,000 under ESSER III to
support the schools, teachers, and students in various areas of the state.
• ODE awarded $2,459,148 to three LEAs as pass-through grants to support the four State
Sponsored Charter Schools which are not supported directly by the LEA. These schools
63
receive funding directed by the state that pass-through their home LEA.
• The Oregon School for the Deaf has been awarded $753,750 to enable support for the
teachers and 120 hearing impaired students served by the school. OSD receives funding
directly from the state.
The State Sponsored Charter Schools and the Oregon School for the Deaf were awarded
funding based on the same formula used to calculate the 90% LEA awards. This funding will
allow all schools in Oregon to utilize the framework ODE has described in this application to
address students’ and staff’s health and safety needs, as well as aiding schools to address
academic, social, emotional and mental health needs. A total of $4,832,898 from the SEA
emergency needs set-aside was allocated for this purpose.
Strategy 2 - Specialized Education Services for Vulnerable Populations
In evaluating the remaining emergency needs set-aside, ODE is proposing to utilize funding for
LEAs and Education Service Districts (ESDs) that provide direct specialized education services to
vulnerable populations. LEAs and ESDs currently provide services in their district or region as
described in the table below, which directly support these students’ specialized needs across
Oregon.
Program # of Students # of # of
LEAs ESDs
Juvenile Detention Education Program 147 6 4
Youth Corrections Education Program 307 3 3
Long-Term Care and Treatment Program 995 15 6
Hospitals Program 302 0 3
Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education 14,694 1 8
Program
Regional Programs 11,946 1 7
In the case of a local increase in COVID-19 cases or other emergencies which dramatically
impacts the ability for safe in-person school operations, these LEAs and ESDs would provide
additional support to ensure a continuity of learning for these vulnerable students.
The grant funds could be used to provide targeted additional resources to help LEAs and ESDs
meet student and community needs, including but not limited to:
• Supporting families, students, and staff that may be displaced or severely impacted by
multiple, concurrent emergencies whose responses are complicated by CODIV-19 (i.e
wildfires.)
64
• Adapting school models and operations to prioritize and ensure access for students who
may be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
• Providing adequate infrastructure and/or services that enable internet access and
connectivity for student learning.
• Providing appropriate, user friendly, and accessible devices for all students and teachers
to participate in online learning.
• Identifying and providing high quality, adaptable, culturally responsive, and effective
digital learning curricula, digital tools and content that fosters student learning and
engagement.
• Providing and/or maintaining online technology such as Learning Management Systems
that allows educators to successfully deliver their teaching content and lessons
• Support staffing and operational needs related to a rapid shift to distance learning
include nutrition services, mental health services for families, students and staff, device
distribution, transportation, and communications.
• Provide funding for programs where revenues were impacted by the pandemic to
ensure continued services.
Strategy 3 - Technical Assistance for Emergency Planning
These funds will be proposed as targeted technical assistance to support LEAs in responding to
the impacts of COVID. The funding would be provided as grants to ESDs or other Community
Based Organizations to support LEAs in leveraging their local ARP ESSER dollars for emergency
planning, preparation and response to COVID-19 outbreaks, and concurrent emergencies. Many
LEAs in Oregon are very small and have already developed relationships with their regional
ESDs to assist them in planning and for administration in areas identified by the LEA. This area
of need is even more exacerbated in emergencies where these LEAs don’t have the capacity to
manage emergency planning and implementation and rely even more on their established
relationships with ESDs. This additional technical assistance could increase the capacity of LEAs
to respond to any changes in the pandemic by creating high quality emergency operations plans
that follow federal, state, and local guidelines. This assistance could include:
• Providing additional funding to current ODE School Safety and Emergency Management
trainers and programs.
• Ensuring LEAs are applying an equity lens to emergency planning with a recognition that
COVID-19 and other concurrent emergencies have had disproportionate negative
impacts on certain communities, as have previous responses to those emergencies.
• Supporting LEAs in reflecting and evaluating lessons learned from this previous year and
incorporating those data into current Emergency Operations Plans.
• Improving coordination between schools, LEAs, and local agencies including LHPAs in
anticipation of future COVID-19 outbreaks.
• Supporting LEAs in planning to support the social, emotional, and mental health needs
of students and families Ensuring strategic allocation of local ESSER funds to anticipate
operational needs in the case of local outbreaks.
This Section has been amended by the Oregon Department of Education Update to Sections
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D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, below and in Appendix K. The update was originally submitted
January 14, 2022.
Oregon Department of Education Update
to Sections D.1.i-iii, D.2.i-iii, and D.3.i-iii, January 14, 2022
As required, the Oregon Department of Education is providing an update to Section D.1 I-iii, D.2 I-iii and
D.3 I-iii of the Oregon ESSER III State Plan.
Background
ODE intended to embark on multiple engagements with community members in the winter through the
spring of 2021-2022 as originally detailed in Section C of this plan. However, in mid fall of 2021 ODE was
concerned about specific language in the ESSER III GAN and ARP law regarding “award” of the ESSER III
Set-Aside funds by one year from the date of allocation. Other language also detailed that at least two-
thirds of the funds must be awarded by 3/24/22 and the final one-third by 7/15/22, the date of USED’s
letter approving ODE’s plan submission. ODE was also aware of procurement processes at the state
level that made the time constraints even more critical. It took some time to clarify that award could
entail a specific public plan and intention for the funds, short of having executed contracts and grants in
place. In the interim, ODE decided, reluctantly, to truncate the original engagement plan to attempt to
have contracts and grants in place by 3/24/22 and 7/15/22.
ODE worked with a contractor at Portland State University, Oregon Kitchen Table, to assist with three
Refinement Roundtables held on November 17, 2021. The Roundtables served to reengage
conversations started in May of 2021 regarding Oregon's ESSER plan and further refine the twelve
proposed Oregon ESSER III Set-Aide investments. Over 1000 people including educators, administrators
and community partners were invited to the Roundtables. Nearly 100 people attended.
The proposed investments were well received, and participants provided valuable input and feedback as
we moved forward to implement the investments. A summary of the sessions, Oregon Kitchen Table’s
ESSER III Set Aside Investments: Refinement Roundtables, is provided as Appendix J.
Following the Refinement Roundtables, ODE finalized the proposed ESSER III Set-Aside Investments and
posted them publicly on the ODE website on December 8 in addition to making it available to all the
Refinement Roundtable participants.
The ODE ESSER III Set-Aside Plan, as detailed below and provided as Appendix K, encompasses twelve
key investments and fulfills the federal obligation to use 1% of the state Set-Aside funds for Summer
Learning, 1% for After School Programs and 5% to address Unfinished Learning.
ESSER III Set Aside Investment Plan
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund III
Lenses & ODE Equity Plan Alignment
• Oregon Identified Priorities
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o Address unfinished learning as part of a responsive system, grounded in equity, meeting students where
they are and accelerating their learning by building on strengths and addressing needs.
o Prioritize health, safety, wellness, and connection for all communities.
o Strengthen high-quality, culturally-sustaining and revitalizing instruction, leadership, and programming.
• Oregon Themes
o Family Engagement: Realize family and community engagement strategies in each area and hold districts
accountable to their plans.
o Centering Equity: Don’t let equity get lost in the shuffle within each priority area.
o Disparate Impact: Students in special education, in foster care, from highly mobile populations, who are
Black/African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino/a/x, Pacific Islander communities, from
areas with low vaccination rates, and others were affected differently and may need different solutions in each
area.
o Grade Level Transition: Assessments can be a part of ensuring students are acknowledged for their
achieved mastery, acknowledging students may not need to only be learning in one grade level across subjects.
o Sustainability: The one-time nature of these funds is of concern when it comes to sustaining efforts in each
area, as well as ODE’s ability to support the continuity.
ODE’s Equity Stance
“Education equity is the equitable implementation of policy, practices, procedures, and legislation that translates
into resource allocation, education rigor, and opportunities for historically and currently marginalized youth,
students, and families including civil rights protected classes. This means the restructuring and dismantling of
systems and institutions that create the dichotomy of beneficiaries and the oppressed and marginalized.”
Budget
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1
1
Oregon Identified Priorities: (1) unfinished learning, (2) health, safety, wellness, and connection for all communities, and (3) strengthen high-quality, culturally-sustaining and revitalizing instruction,
leadership ,and programming.
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ODE is working internally and with external partners to implement the twelve ESSER III Set-Aside investments.
E. Supporting LEAs in Planning for and Meeting Students’ Needs
The Department recognizes that the safe return to in-person instruction must be accompanied
by a focus on meeting students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs, and by
addressing the opportunity gaps that existed before – and were exacerbated by – the
pandemic. In this section, SEAs will describe how they will support their LEAs in
developing high-quality plans for LEAs’ use of ARP ESSER funds to achieve these
objectives.
1. LEA Plans for the Use of ARP ESSER Funds: Describe what the SEA will require its LEAs to
include in LEA plans consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements for the use of ARP ESSER
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funds, how the SEA will require such plans to be made available to the public, and the deadline by
which the LEA mustsubmit its ARP ESSER plan (which must be a reasonable timeline and should be
within no later than 90 days after receiving its ARP ESSER allocation). The LEAplans must include,
at a minimum
Oregon’s Approach to Meeting LEA Planning Requirements
With the passage of House Bill 3427, the Student Success Act (SSA) was established in Oregon in
2019. The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) has been implementing this robust state law,
which is deeply aligned with the goals, priorities, focal student groups, and public plan
accountabilities required by ARP ESSER funding.
The Student Investment Account (SIA) which is part of the SSA has two main aims: 1) to support
students’ mental and behavioral health needs and 2) to increase academic achievement and
reduce academic disparities for focal student groups that include emerging bilingual students;
students of color; special education students; students navigating poverty, homelessness, and
foster care; and any other students who have historically experienced academic disparities as
determined by the State Board of Education. Through the SIA, LEAs are eligible to receive
noncompetitive grant funds if they meet application requirements, which are provided in the
comprehensive Guidance for Eligible Applicants. Requirements include evidence of ongoing and
authentic community engagement, application of an equity lens, and development of a three-
year SIA plan and budget.
ODE asserts that many of the desired requirements for LEAs are sufficiently met through the
implementation of the SIA. ODE proposes alignment in practice and program implementation
to streamline administrative processes, while also seeking maximum coordination in terms of
outcomes for students, families, and schools. LEAs would provide additional, supplemental
information not already captured by the SIA that is needed to meet ARP ESSER requirements as
detailed below.
As directed by USED, at least 90% of the ARP ESSER Funds flow directly to LEAs with the initial
allocation of funds having taken place on May 24, 2021. ODE’s plan is to have LEAs in Oregon
meet the planning requirements set forth here no later than August 22, 2021.
The outline of the existing architecture of the Student Investment Account (SIA)
implementation is provided as part of this plan, given ODE’s proposal.
The following table maps this information:
Requirement for LEA Requirements for LEAs that Supplemental information
Plans for Use of ARP Submitted a Student Investment LEA’s would be required to
ESSER Funds Account (SIA) Plan submit to address ARP
ESSER funding
requirements not already
covered by the SIA.
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Community engagement, LEAs with an approved SIA plan LEAs will need to submit an
with a focus on focal have met the requirement for additional narrative
student groups: community engagement by response to how they’ve
submitting narrative responses and engaged with:
• Low-income artifacts of engagement for the • Migratory students
families, following focal student groups: • Children who are
• Students of color, • Low-income families, incarcerated
• English learners, • Students of color
• Children with • English learners,
disabilities, • Children with disabilities,
• Students • Students experiencing
experiencing homelessness,
homelessness, • Children and youth in foster
• Children and care
youth in foster
care,
• Migratory LEAs are continuing to engage with
students their communities for input on SIA
• Children who are plan priorities to inform plan
incarcerated updates due by June 30, 2021,
which is also a requirement of
ESSER.
LEAs to use evidence- LEAs with an approved SIA plan LEAs will be invited to
based practices or have met this requirement through share and utilize
practices with an use of the Quality Educational information from the What
emerging evidence-base Model (QEM) to inform SIA plan Works Clearinghouse.
development.
Application of an equity LEAs with an approved SIA plan LEAs will assure the
lens have met this requirement by utilization of the equity
uploading and providing a narrative lens they’ve already been
response to how the equity lens using to determine new
was applied to SIA plan uses of ARP ESSER funds.
development.
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Public posting and LEAs with an approved SIA plan Supplemental information
comment have met this ESSER requirement to covering ARP ESSER
gather input from the community to requirements will be
inform how funding is spent to posted alongside existing
support student’s social, emotional, SIA information, meeting
and mental health needs. LEAs took the same standards and
the following steps with their SIA requirements.
plan that included information
about how community engagement
informed the application and plan
development as well as how LEAs
will support student’s mental and
behavioral health:
1. Posting the SIA application,
plan, and budget to the
website and having a copy
available in the main office
2. Presenting the application,
plan, and budget at an open
meeting with the
opportunity for public
comment
3. Having the application, plan,
and budget approved by the
governing board
LEAs are continuing to engage with
their communities for input on SIA
plan priorities, including how to
meet student’s mental and
behavioral health needs amidst
COVID, to support plan updates that
would also incorporate ESSER
requirements, due by June 30, 2021.
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Department review LEAs with an approved SIA plan Additional planning and
have already had the SIA plan supplemental information
reviewed by at least two ODE staff that is submitted to ODE
members. Staff determined if the meet ARP ESSER
SIA application, plan, and budget requirements would get
met requirements or did not meet similar departmental
requirements based on guidance in review (eg, meeting CDC
Section 3 of the December 2019 requirements).
guidance.
Mental and behavioral LEAs with an approved SIA plan, or LEAs will be asked for any
health needs of all amended plan in light of the additional supplemental
students impacts of COVID and/or SIA information needed
funding reduction, have already met
this requirement by identifying
which activities would support
student’s health and safety as well
as providing narrative responses to
how planned activities and
strategies would meet student’s
mental and behavioral health needs
in the original application. LEAs are
currently submitting plan updates
where there is an optional question
where they can identify how they’ve
prioritized spending to meet
student’s mental and behavioral
health needs amidst COVID and
funding reductions.
ODE currently captures information from LEAs for the SIA application, plan, and budget through
Smartsheet. The additional information needed in order to meet all ARP ESSER requirements
could also be collected via the Smartsheet platform to be integrated with SIA components. This
would allow for sharing of information across ODE offices, such as the Office of Teaching,
Learning, and Assessment, to ensure that all requirements for the ARP ESSER are met by all
LEAs.
Only three LEA’s in Oregon are not currently participating in the SIA program. For those three
LEAs the following planning will be required:
1. LEAs that have not submitted a SIA plan will need to submit a narrative response to how
they’ve engaged with:
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o Low-income families,
o Students of color,
o English learners,
o Children with disabilities,
o Students experiencing homelessness,
o Children and youth in foster care,
o Migratory students
o Children who are incarcerated
2. LEAs that have not submitted an SIA plan will need to submit an assurance that they
have considered Oregon’s Quality Educational Model (QEM) or other relevant evidence-
based practices from the What Works Clearinghouse.
3. LEAs that have not submitted a SIA plan will need to submit a copy of the equity lens
they are applying to their planned used for ARP ESSER funds.
4. LEAs that have not submitted a SIA plan will need to submit an assurance that they’ve
taken the following steps:
o Posted the plan for their ARP ESSER funds to the LEA website
o Presented the plan for their ARP ESSER funds at a local, public meeting with the
opportunity for public comment
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5. LEAs that have not submitted a SIA plan will need to submit a narrative response that
identifies how they will meet the social, emotional, and mental health needs of all
students.
ODE will review the information and assurances submitted by LEAs that have not submitted an
SIA plan for meeting ARP ESSER requirements.
i. The extent to which and how the funds will be used to implement
prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent
practicable, in line with the most recent CDC guidance, in order to
continuously and safely operate schools for in-person learning;
Funds used to implement prevention and mitigation strategies to safely operate in-person
learning
To continuously and safely operate schools for in-person learning, LEAs would need to continue
to implement a qualified LEA Plan for Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of
Services, as required under ESSER. In implementing these plans, it is anticipated LEAs will utilize
funding to support efforts to ensure safe reopening of schools and quality ongoing student
learning. This includes, but is not limited to, expenditures for facility improvement that enable
social distancing of students and educators; upgrades of ventilation systems that effectively
reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19; purchase of PPE that enables safety for teachers and
staff as they operate through in person learning; and as necessary, acquisition of goods and
service to ensure ongoing distance learning. In addition, LEAs must meet Oregon laws and
procedures related to health and safety requirements in school settings. See Section B for
additional information.
ii. How the LEA will use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1)
of the ARP Act (totaling not less than 20 percent of the LEA’s total
allocation of ARP ESSER funds) to address the academic impact of
lost instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based
interventions, such as summer learning or summer enrichment,
extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended
school year programs;
Focusing on unfinished learning through instruction, evidence-based practices, and
enrichment
As outlined in Section D, ODE has identified key areas of potential instructional focus while
recognizing that we don’t have enough information, yet, to determine a fixed approach that will
best address the range of strengths and impacts on student learning experienced across
Oregon.
ODE will be asking LEAs for supplemental information about their specific instructional
approaches to address unfinished learning as defined in Oregon. ODE will move through
engagement, planning, and data collection processes to further refine and share instructional
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approaches that LEAs can use with specific attention to strategies that might best mitigate
disproportionate impacts amongst focal student groups.
ODE has also shared the Summer Learning Best Practice Guide to support LEAs with
implementation of enrichment programs, including summer learning and programming.
iii. How the LEA will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent
with section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act; and
iv. How the LEA will ensure that the interventions it implements,
including but not limited to the interventions under section
2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost
instructional time, will respond to the academic, social, emotional,
and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those
students disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,
including students from low-income families, students of color,
English learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing
homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory
students.
Spending within allowable uses and ensuring LEA planning addresses the students experience
disproportionate impact
LEAs will be required to report on the programmatic usage of funds, to support the LEAs in
sharing with ODE how the investment is having an impact on lost instructional time or
unfinished learning, with a particular emphasis on how the activities being implemented are
supporting students being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. ODE will review
programmatic reports to ensure the spending is allowable and consistent with the intent of ARP
ESSER funds to address the academic impact of lost instructional time.
Additionally, LEAs will be required to submit financial reports, which is detailed in Section G.
2. LEA Consultation: Describe how the SEA will, in planning for the use of ARP
ESSER funds, ensure that, consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements], its
LEAs engage in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, including, but not
limited to:
i. students;
ii. families;
iii. school and district administrators (including special education
administrators); and
iv. teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and
their unions.
One of the most significant and clearest opportunities for coordination with the requirements
for ARP ESSER funds is to directly align them to the community engagement and consultation
requirements already established and being supported in Oregon through the implementation
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of the Student Investment Account. From Fall 2019 - Summer 2020, LEAs in Oregon
substantively engaged their communities (particularly their most underserved communities) as
part of the development of their SIA plans. All SIA plans required local governing board
approval with opportunities for public comment. The opportunity for this level of community
engagement has been lauded by Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), education partners,
and the Oregon State Board of Education for its significant change to how districts engage their
communities. Many of the relationships built through these engagements created conditions
for closer family relationships during COVID-19 responses and Comprehensive Distance
Learning. Additionally, LEAs are currently in the process of engaging with students, families, and
communities to inform SIA Plan Updates, which are due to ODE by June 30, 2021.
In April 2021, ODE released a new Community Engagement Toolkit, which provides a
framework for deepening community engagement practices. ODE will use this toolkit to guide
technical assistance and coaching to LEAs over the next five years. The toolkit, which is adapted
from the Movement Strategy Center and Facilitating Power, takes lessons learned from the first
SIA application cycle to support the development of a spectrum that names different levels of
engagement practices from ignore (level 0), inform (level 1), consult (level 2), involve (level 3),
collaborate (level 4), to defer (level 5). The toolkit includes key strategies to move across the
levels and articulates a form of community engagement that is robust and beyond what is
merely required in statute.
The LEA must also engage in meaningful consultation with each of the following
to the extent present in or served by the LEA:
i. Tribes;
ii. civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
and
iii. stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities,
English learners, children experiencing homelessness, children and
youth in foster care, migratory students, children who are
incarcerated, and other underserved students.
The description must also include how the SEA will ensure that LEAs provide the
public the opportunity to provide input in the development of the LEA’s plan for
the use of ARP ESSER funds and take such input into account.
ODE’s Tribal Consultation Toolkit is an equally important resource. Taken together, and if
approved, ODE would leverage these resources to support and guide LEAs in engagement and
consultation in the use of ARP ESSER funds while making meaningful alignment and connections
with existing efforts so these resources and processes strengthen rather than strain community
and educational response efforts.
In that same spirit, ODE continues to work to align broader federal school improvement
processes with other state programs, including the SIA. This alignment work seeks to support
districts to a simplified and higher quality avenue for strategic planning, implementation, and
high-integrity and high-context accountability process as outlined in Oregon’s ESSA Plan.
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This kind of coordination is the right direction for the state, regardless of ARP ESSER funding,
and will be a work in progress over the next four years. The state of Oregon sees significant
opportunities to align several federal and state programs and resources to make a concerted
effort to not just make a full recovery from pandemic impacts, but to leverage recovery
efforts to shape a future with a stronger and more coherent educational system that leads to
meaningful learning opportunities each and every day for each and every student in the state.
As named in the table in section E.1. ODE will require LEAs who submitted an SIA plan to submit
a supplemental narrative response to share how they’ve engaged with student groups named
in ESSER that do not overlap with those named in the SIA. LEAs that didn’t submit an SIA plan
will need to submit a narrative response as to how all of the ESSER required focal student
groups have been engaged. ODE will follow-up with LEAs to ensure that engagement with the
focal student groups has occurred.
3. Describe how the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using
ARP ESSER funds.
The description must include:
v. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs’ implementation of
evidence-based interventions that respond to students’ academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs, such as through summer
learning or summer enrichment, extended day, comprehensive
afterschool programs, or extended school year programs – including
the extent to which the SEA will collect evidence of the
effectiveness of interventions employed;
vi. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in specifically
addressing the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic
on certain groups of students, including each of the student groups
listed in question A.3.i.-viii; and
A Sustainable Approach to Monitoring and Evaluation
The monitoring and evaluation infrastructure that is being put in place for SIA implementation
again offers a sustainable avenue for being both accountable to and supporting the system
learning and capacity building needed to consider the impacts of ARP ESSER Funding. ODE
created a “Common and Customized” monitoring and evaluation framework for the SIA. Within
this framework, there are three components: 1) Longitudinal Performance Growth Targets
(LPGTs), 2) progress markers, and 3) local optional metrics.
LEAs are required to co-develop LPGTs for five common metrics - regular attendance, third
grade reading, ninth grade on-track, four year graduation, and five year completion. In the fall
of 2019, ODE provided LEAs with suppressed (data will not show if number of students is too
low and there risk of students being personally identified) and unsuppressed data for the five
common metrics over the past five years as an input to their application development as well as
to inform their initial drafts of the LPGTs. As part of the LPGTs, LEAs are required to establish
baseline targets, the minimum expectations for progress; stretch targets, an ambitious
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achievement target that is realistic and represents significant improvements in either raising
academic achievement or reducing academic disparities; and gap closing targets, targets set to
monitor the reduction of academic disparities between students, especially focal student
groups.
While in the initial application cycle, LEAs submitted draft targets; ultimately in response to the
impacts of COVID-19, the Oregon Legislature released the requirement of LPGTs during the
August 2020 special session, meaning that LEAs were not required to develop LPGTs for the
2020-2021 school year. ODE is currently exploring what the LPGTs will look like for the 2021-
2022 school year given the challenges in collecting data during the 2020-2021 school year.
When LEAs are required to develop and track LPGTs, these targets could be used to support
LEAs with disaggregating impact by subgroups for the five common metrics.
Additionally, the framework includes a set of progress markers, which illuminate the depth
and complexity of changes that advance over time. Moving from early and expected changes,
towards likely changes; and then extending all the way toward profound changes desired based
on the efforts of LEAs. Initially, pre-COVID-19, ODE convened staff, LEA leadership, and ESDs to
develop progress markers for each of the five common metrics. However, in the midst of the
pandemic, ODE consolidated the progress markers into a set of 15 general progress markers.
The final set of progress markers were included in the LEAs’ grant agreements and LEAs are
currently naming the changes and shifts in behavior that they are seeing in their quarterly
programmatic progress reports.
If ODE’s proposed direction for this ESSER plan is approved by USED, a review would be
completed to see what, if any, progress markers might be added to charter early impacts and
progress from the kinds of activities ARP ESSER funding allows.
It is worth noting that within the customized SIA framework, LEAs also have the ability to create
local optional metrics, which could be additional metrics or progress markers that they want to
track. Given one of the aims of the SIA is to meet students’ mental and behavioral health needs,
local optional metrics could include results from surveys such as the Student Health Survey,
Youth Truth, or the Student Educational Equity Development Survey (SEEDS).
At this time, ODE anticipates the Oregon Legislature will pass House Bill 2060A, which
strengthens the Student Success Act. Specifically, the new bill names that in addition to the
required LPGTs, LEAs may establish targets related to student mental and behavioral health
needs, as established by rule by the State Board of Education which again neatly aligns to the
aims in ARP ESSER requirements.
LEAs have significant annual reporting requirements as well as four-year performance review
requirements within SIA implementation. To support transparency and public accountability for
the spending of funds, these reports on progress must be posted to the LEAs’ website and
available in the main office; presented at a local public meeting with the opportunity for public
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comment; and approved by the governing board before being submitted to ODE. ODE will
receive the first annual reports from LEAs on August 30, 2021 unless the LEA requested a
summer extension to expend SIA funds through September 30, 2021. About 70% of LEAs
requested a summer extension, so the majority of annual reports are expected to be submitted
by November 30, 2021. LEAs will need to complete their first four-year performance review no
later than spring of 2024.
If approved, ODE would utilize the SIA monitoring processes - including approach to data,
progress markers, annual reports, and strenuous application review with attention to focal
student groups - provides the kind of rigor needed to attend to disproportionate impacts - as
the avenue to meet ARP-ESSER requirements while collecting additional, supplemental
information as needed and outlined.
vii. How the SEA will support and monitor its LEAs in using ARP
ESSER funds to identify, reengage, and support students most likely
to have experienced the impact of lost instructional time on student
learning, such as:
a. Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during
the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years;
b. Students who did not consistently participate in remote
instruction when offered during school building closures; and
c. Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
Additional Attention is Needed with ARP ESSER Monitoring
ODE would work to create supplemental information that needs to be submitted by LEAs to
address how ESSER funds are supporting:
• Students who have missed the most in-person instruction during the 2019-2020 and
2020-2021 school years;
• Students who did not consistently participate in remote instruction when offered during
school building closures; and
• Students most at-risk of dropping out of school.
ODE anticipates doing this with the same supplemental narrative process described above and
would also look to gather asset based information to learn more about what was gained and
where strength, resilience, or knowledge was leveraged or built in response to COVID-19
challenges.
The supplemental information could be submitted via the current SIA mechanisms in place.
LEAs submit an annual performance update which details learning and impacts of the
investment via Smartsheet. ODE could add additional items to support monitoring of how ARP
ESSER funds were utilized at this time in alignment with the supplemental information
described in this section.
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4. Describe the extent to which the SEA will support its LEAs in
implementing additional strategies for taking educational equity
into account in expending ARP ESSER funds
Including but not limited to:
viii. Allocating funding both to schools and for districtwide activities
based on student need, and
ix. Implementing an equitable and inclusive return to in-person
instruction. An inclusive return to in-person instruction includes, but
is not limited to, establishing policies and practices that avoid the
over-use of exclusionary discipline measures (including in- and out-
of-school suspensions) and creating a positive and supportive
learning environment for all students.
Oregon is Committed to Advancing Educational Equity
ODE’s commitment to equity is widespread throughout all agency initiatives, including state
and federal programs beyond the SIA. On May 12, 2021, ODE launched the Agency Equity
Strategic Plan that will guide the agency for the next five years. This plan emerges from the
work and desires of ODE staff, leadership and community partners. It is intentionally
constructed to increase internal cultural, and structural capacity, in the hopes of continual
movement toward transformational change. This change will allow ODE to more consistently
and effectively address historical and contemporary patterns of neglect and oppression, and
meaningfully contribute to success outcomes in Oregon’s school systems.
Another key benefit for integrating ARP ESSER planning and implementation with the Student
Investment Account in Oregon is the shared focus on advancing educational equity. Again, LEAs
- and therefore students, educators, and communities - can realize the benefit of a coordinated
planning process by building and strengthening system-wide work already underway while
benefiting from the additional resources put forward in ARP ESSER.
The following processes and commitments already exist:
• As mentioned above, meaningful and ongoing community engagement is at the center
of the SIA. Starting in the fall of 2019 and leading up to the initial development of the
SIA plan and submission of an application in spring of 2020, LEAs were required to
engage with their students, families, staff, tribal nations, and communities, with a focus
on student groups outlined in the Oregon statutes governing SIA.
• LEAs are applying an equity lens as they consider all of the input that comes from their
overall improvement planning, evidence-base review, data review, and community
engagement as they develop plans that meet their students’ mental and behavioral
health needs and increase academic achievement for students who have historically
experienced academic disparities. ODE provided a number of tools to LEAs, including the
Oregon Equity Lens as well as a suite of Decision Tools, which could be used to support
their decision-making process and focus on advancing education equity in their district
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or school. In reviewing SIA applications, ODE found that over 44% of applicants used the
Oregon Equity Lens, while another 20% of applicants used their own equity lens or tool
when processing input from the community to develop their SIA plans. ODE will
continue to support and coach LEAs in applying an equity lens and using the new
Community Engagement Toolkit, as mentioned above, to support robust and equity-
centered engagement efforts, decision-making, and plan development.
• The Student Success Act also establishes three technical assistance and coaching
elements that are directly connected with the Student Investment Account and which
could also support the ARP ESSER focus on meeting students’ social, emotional, and
mental health needs, while also focusing particularly on those students most
disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. ODE is naming these three
supports given the close connection of the SIA to the ARP ESSER plan, but this list of
supports is not inclusive of all of the coaching structures that exist across offices and
programs at ODE.
o Education Service Districts (ESDs): Section 25 of the Student Success Act
establishes that ESDs receive funding based on a formula to support LEAs in their
regions with SIA plan development, implementation, and evaluation. As part of
the ESD funds, each region has at least a 0.25 FTE SSA Liaison who supports their
LEAs and also connects with ODE staff on a biweekly basis.
o Intervention and Strengthening Program (ISP): In addition to the general
technical assistance ESDs and ODE provide, Section 17 of the Act also establishes
the ISP for grant recipients that do not meet Longitudinal Performance Growth
Targets (LPGTs). After taking information submitted by the LEA as to why LPGTs
were not met into consideration, ODE may require the LEA to enter into the ISP
for a minimum one-year commitment. Under the program, the department shall
advise and counsel grant recipients on how to meet performance growth targets
and shall assist grant recipients with ongoing professional development and peer
collaboration. As part of the ISP, ODE will be contracting with vendors to provide
coaching in different focal areas, one area being coaching that supports LEAs to
create equitable education systems, which aligns closely with goals of the ESSER
funding.
o Intensive Coaching Program (ICP): Section 18 of the statute establishes the ICP
which is at least a four year commitment for a handful of invited LEAs. The ICP
establishes Student Success Teams (SST), which are composed of LEA staff, ODE
staff, and community members and works to develop an SIA plan for the LEAs
regular SIA funds as well as the additional funds that are received by the LEA for
participating in the program.
The following ODE initiatives are also closely aligned and intersect with ARP ESSER
implementation goals:
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• Every Student Belongs: The Every Student Belongs rule prohibits hate symbols,
specifically three of the most recognizable symbols of hate in the U.S.—the swastika
(outside of a religious context), the Confederate flag, and the noose. The temporary rule
took effect on September 18, 2020. It requires LEAs to adopt and implement policies
and procedures that prohibit the use or display of the noose, swastika, or confederate
flag in any program or school-sponsored activity except where used in teaching curricula
that are aligned with the Oregon State Standards by January 1, 2021. HB 2697 was
introduced in the Oregon Legislature in the 2021 session. The bill codifies the
prohibition of hate symbols on school property or education programs. HB 2697 passed
and was signed into law by Governor Kate Brown on June 3, 2021. The bill is effective
January 1, 2022.
• Integrated Model of Mental Health: This model was created to assist school
communities in promoting the mental health and well-being of school communities.
Mental health promotion celebrates the unique qualities and ways of being and
knowing that each person, family, and group bring to the school community, and is
supported by four, equally necessary, interconnected pillars of practice: trauma-
informed care, social emotional learning, racial equity, and strengths-focused, multi-
tiered systems of support.
• Tribal History/Shared History: In 2017, the Oregon Legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB)
13, now known as Tribal History/Shared History. Through this law, the Office of Indian
Education is creating K-12 Native American Curriculum for inclusion in Oregon public
schools and provides professional development to educators. The law also directs the
ODE to provide funds to each of the nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to create
individual place-based curriculum.
• Emerging Bilingual and English Language Learner School and District Improvement:
House Bill (HB) 3499 directs the ODE to develop and implement a statewide education
plan for English Language Learners who are in our K-12 education system. The plan will
address disparities experienced by English Language Learners in every indicator of
academic success, from the historical practices leading to disproportionate outcomes
for the students to the educational needs of the students from K-12 education, by
examining and applying culturally appropriate best practices.
• Supporting Ethnic Studies Instruction: In 2017 the Oregon Legislative Assembly adopted
House Bill 2845 calling for the identification and creation of Ethnic Studies instruction
for students in kindergarten through grade 12 relating to social science standards.
• School Safety and Prevention System: Section 36 of the Student Success Act calls for the
development of a state-wide School Safety and Prevention System. The System is
designed to provide LEAs with a multi-tiered system of supports ranging from
curriculum-based universal prevention programs, to safety-based crisis interventions.
These offerings include suicide prevention services, behavioral safety assessments,
access to the SafeOregon Tip Line, and positive school culture and climate support that
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includes programs to prevent bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, and intimidation, and
to promote mental health and well-being in school districts statewide.
• Adi’s Act: Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Post-vention: Senate Bill 52, also known
as Adi’s Act, requires Oregon LEAs to develop comprehensive district Student Suicide
Prevention Plans. These Plans are to include procedural planning, equity and racial
equity-centered supports, and a staff training process that explicitly addresses when and
how students and families are referred to appropriate mental health and crisis services.
Adi’s Act operates in conjunction with the Student Success Act to ensure that
LGBTQ2SIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/non-binary, queer/questioning, two-
spirit, intersex, asexual, and the myriad other ways to describe gender identities) youth,
foster youth, youth with disabilities, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) and
tribal communities/members/students and historically and currently underserved youth
receive equitable access to services and support.
Equitable and inclusive return to in-person instruction
Oregon’s Governor through executive order on March 5, 2021 directed all LEAs to “return to
the learning environment we know serves [students] best: in-person instruction.” Since that
time all LEAs in Oregon that provided in person instruction prior to the pandemic have returned
to in-person instruction.
As discussed in section A1, Oregon issued Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance (see
Appendix E) to support LEAs and students during the pandemic. This guidance was updated
upon issuance of the Governor’s executive order to return in-person instruction and continued
to center equity as one of the guiding principles.
ODE has previously been working to establish policies and practices that avoid the over-use of
exclusionary discipline measures (EDM) (including in- and out-of-school suspensions) and
creating a positive and supportive learning environment for all students. ODE provides guidance
for LEA’s in addressing School Discipline, Bullying, Restraint and Seclusion.
Towards these aims, there are also several dedicated advisory groups that attend to focal
student groups and have developed robust plans for the state, each of which includes strategies
for addressing disproportionate discipline. Examples include the American Indian/Alaska Native
Student Success Plan, the African American/Black Student Success Plan, the Latino/a/x and
Indigenous Student Success Plan (adopted May 2021) and the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success
Plan.
In addition, ODE participates in the Equity in School Discipline Collaborative, which is a cross-
state collaborative that brings together SEAs, educational and community-based organizations,
and institutions of higher education in Oregon and Washington to address the issue of equity in
school climate and discipline. This group has recent publications that may further inform the
ARP ESSER plan. The collaborative has also been involved in designing professional
development tools to increase practitioners' knowledge in using data and evidence to improve
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school discipline policies and practices.
Data collections and Discipline: Discipline Incidents data collection is used to gather and
identify student level discipline throughout the LEAs and their schools. The data is primarily
used to satisfy federal reporting requirements under the ESSA, IDEA, and Gun Free Schools Act
(GSFA), to calculate significant disproportionality, to respond to data requests from
stakeholders, and to guide LEAs in their school improvement activities, including the Individual
with Disabilities Education Act’s SPP/APR Indicators B4a/B4b, B9/B10 and Significant
Disproportionality, as required by OSEP.
Data that is used statewide is linked below:
• Oregon Statewide Report Card
• Oregon IDEA Reports
• Discipline Media Files (2019-20 coming soon)
o 2018-2019 Discipline Data Media
o 2017-2018 Discipline Data Media
o 2016-2017 Discipline Data Media
o 2015-2016 Discipline Data Media
• At-A-Glance Special Education Profiles
ODE is also focused on several initiatives that are addressed throughout this overall plan that
are supporting LEAs in creating a positive school climate with a focus on student belonging.
F. Supporting the Educator Workforce
The Department recognizes the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the Nation’s
educators as well as students. In this section, SEAs will describe strategies for supporting and
stabilizing the educator workforce and for making staffing decisions that will support
students’ academic, social, emotional, and mental health needs.
1. Supporting and Stabilizing the Educator Workforce:
i. Describe the extent to which the State is facing shortages of
educators, education administration personnel, and other school
personnel involved in safely reopening schools, and the extent to
which they vary by region/type of school district and/or groups of
educators (e.g., special educators and related services personnel and
paraprofessionals; bilingual or English as a second language
educators; science, technology, engineering, and math (“STEM”)
educators; career and technical education (“CTE”) educators; early
childhood educators). Cite specific data on shortages and needs
where available.
Complete the table below, changing or adding additional rows as
needed, or provide a narrative description.
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Oregon currently lacks robust data to definitively understand shortages in educators, education
administration personnel, and other school personnel involved in safely reopening schools. A
review of teacher licensure data over the last three years shows a decline in emergency and
provisional licenses issued by Oregon’s licensing body - the Teacher Standards and Practices
Commission. This decline was generally present across emergency and provisional license types,
endorsement subject areas, and as a percentage of all teaching licenses issued. Emergency and
provisional licenses are issued when teachers without a specific content-area endorsement, or
a full Oregon teaching license, are hired by LEAs. LEAs apply for these types of licenses to fill
needed positions on a short-term basis, and often right before the start of the school year. The
declining three-year trend may be a result of a leveling off of increased emergency and
provisional licenses requested by LEAs in response to the Every Student Succeeds Act
requirement changes in the 2017-18 school year. This, and potentially other confounding
factors, contribute to the difficulty in relying on only the issuance of emergency and provisional
licenses as a data point to measure teacher shortages.
Staff at ODE reached out to partner organizations - specifically the Oregon School Personnel
Association (OSPA) and Oregon Education Association (OEA) - to coordinate data and analysis.
Both organizations lack the data collection systems necessary to understand the current
challenges, specifically in understanding regional and defined personnel shortages across the
state. OSPA surveyed a random sample of districts, both rural and urban, regarding their needs
relative to the educators listed in Table F1.LEAs surveyed rated their staffing needs using ratings
of “Extreme”, “High”, “Medium” and “Low.” 80% or more of the districts surveyed identified
special educators, bilingual educators and school psychologists as “high” or “extreme” needs.
The need for nurses and counselors were identified as “high” or “extreme” by at least 60% of
surveyed LEAs. We acknowledge that this data is limited in scope; however, it provides a
baseline we can build on.
One particular school personnel shortage is in the area of school nursing. As the impacts of the
pandemic unfold, it is evident that it has negatively affected all students in deep and long-
lasting ways— whether by illness, family unemployment, and/or stress, anxiety, and
depression. As experts in communicable disease prevention, population health, and school
health, nurses play an essential role in planning for and curbing these effects on students and
their families. The 2020 Nursing Services Report to the Oregon legislature describes a
significant shortage of nursing services for all students in Oregon. Only seventy-three LEAs
(<37%) reported at least one full-time school nurse serving both students with and without
health conditions. Although Oregon schools did report an increase of 15 FTE (5%) statewide, 61
LEAs (30%) still report no nurse access. Additionally, even among the LEAs who did report
having a school nurse available, more than a quarter (30%, 43) of those have a nurse available
less than half time. Despite 140 LEAs (71%) reporting enrolled students with health conditions,
more than a dozen of those LEAs lack access to any nurses at all.
Table F1.
Area Data on Shortages/Needs Narrative Description
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Special educators Minimal data available Among the three organizations
and related service that collect educator related
personnel and data - the Higher Education
paraprofessionals An audit of ODE Special Education Coordinating Commission,
Services conducted by the Oregon Teachers Standards and
Secretary of State reported in June Practices Commission, and
of 2020 that “Rural districts Oregon Department of
compete with larger, urban school Education - there is no current
districts for special education mechanism to collect LEA level
teachers and educational aides. staffing related to certain
Rural districts also have limited positions.
access to specialists and more
severe shortages of primary care
and child care providers, who assist
with the identification of children
experiencing disabilities” (pg 10)
A Needs Assessment and Staff
Shortage Survey was conducted in
April 2021 with EI/ECSE and
Regional Inclusive Service
providers. EI/ECSE providers
reported that Speech Language
Pathologists, EI Specialists, and
ECSE specialists were the most
difficult positions to fill. Regional
Inclusive Services reported
difficulty filling positions for
teachers of the visually impaired,
teachers of the deaf/hard of
hearing, and occupational
therapists. Additionally, Regional
Inclusive Services reported
challenges in hiring and retaining
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Specialists, Physical Therapists, and
American Sign Language
Interpreters.
Bilingual educators In the 2020-21 school year 9.2% of
Oregon teachers had a first
language other than English. This
does not include bilingual and
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multilingual educators whose first
language was English.
English as a second EL in-field and out-of-field teachers Counts of teachers reported as
language educators from Staff Assignment collection. teaching the NCES/SCED course
code 1008 - English as a Second
Language and disaggregated by
Across the state in 2019-20 a total in/out of field (or not/certified)
of 841 EL teachers were reported, status are collected in the Staff
743 were in-field (certified) and 98 Assignment data collection.
were out-of-field (not certified). These counts can be at the
school level.
STEM educators Not available Among the three organizations
that collect educator related
data - the Higher Education
Coordinating Commission,
Teachers Standards and
Practices Commission, and
Oregon Department of
Education - there is no current
mechanism to collect LEA level
staffing related to certain
positions.
CTE educators Not available Among the three organizations
that collect educator related
data - the Higher Education
Coordinating Commission,
Teachers Standards and
Practices Commission, and
Oregon Department of
Education - there is no current
mechanism to collect LEA level
staffing related to certain
positions.
Early childhood There is limited data available for
educators shortages but the following
description relates to retention:
Twenty-four percent of the 2018
workforce exited prior to 2019; that
is they were not employed in a
regulated facility in 2019 although
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they had been reported as
employed in 2018. Over time, 24%
of the 2017 workforce, 23% of the
2016 workforce, 29% of the 2015
workforce, 16% percent of the
2014 workforce, 24% of the 2013
workforce, and 20% of the 2012
workforce left the workforce by the
following year.
School counselors Oregon currently has a statewide The American School Counselor
student-to-counselor ratio for all Association recommends a 250-
students of approximately 400-to- to-1 ratio of students to school
1. High schools have a ratio about counselors. They report that the
280-to-1. These ratios are down national average for 2019-20
significantly from just a few years was actually 424-to-1 (though
ago. Oregon’s calculation seems
wrong on their site).
The number of counselors
employed by districts has been
steadily increasing, from 1,237 in
the 2016-17 school year to 1,567
in the 2020-21 school year. This
represents a 27% increase, but
we still remain well below the
recommended ratio.
Social workers National recommendation for SW The Social School Work
to student ratio is 1:250. We have Association of America
information on SpEd SW but don’t recommends a general student
have detailed data on other SW. to social worker ratio of 250-to-
1, depending upon the
characteristics and needs of the
students.
Nurses Oregon law (ORS 336.201)
recommends the presence of a
nurse in schools at a ratio of at
least 1 Registered Nurse to every
750 students who do not require
dedicated nurse staffing by 2020.
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19-20 analysis shows a ratio of
1:4,572
School psychologists Not available Among the three organizations
that collect educator related
data - the Higher Education
Coordinating Commission,
Teachers Standards and
Practices Commission, and
Oregon Department of
Education - there is no current
mechanism to collect district
level staffing related to certain
positions.
Ethnically and All teachers employed (2019-2020) There continues to be a
Linguistically 31,174 widening gap between current
Diverse Educators ethnically diverse students in
Oregon (38.5%) and educators
Ethnically diverse teachers (10.9%). Research has clearly
employed (2019-2020) 3,388 10.9% indicated that a diverse educator
workforce positively impacts
student outcomes (Clotfelter,
Ethnically and linguistically diverse Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007;
teachers employed (2019-2020) Gershenson, et al., 2017). The
3,647 11.7% SEA feels strongly that
diversifying the educator
workforce is also a key
Ethnically diverse administrators
component to the educator
employed (2019-2020) 281 11.9%
shortage discussion. Many
current initiatives within the SEA
Ethnically and linguistically diverse are aimed at both supporting
administrators (2019-2020) 296 and diversifying the educator
12.5% workforce.
Ethnically diverse guidance
counselors (2019-2020) 220 15.4%
Ethnically diverse educational
assistants (2019-2020) 3,149 20.3%
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Librarians In 1980 there were 547 students There has been a precipitous
for every librarian and in 2017 that drop in the number of librarians
number was 3,652 students for throughout the state of Oregon,
every librarian. This is equivalent most notably in rural and
to every school in Oregon having economically disenfranchised
.64 FTE in 1980 to only .13 FTE in areas.
2017.
ii. Describe how the SEA will assist its LEAs in identifying the most
urgent areas of shortages or potential shortages, with particular plans
for individual LEAs facing the most significant needs (e.g., by
avoiding layoffs, providing high-quality professional learning
opportunities, and addressing the impact of stress or trauma on
educators). Include a description of how other Federal COVID-19
funding (e.g., ESSER and GEER funds under the CARES Act and
CRRSA Act) have already been used to avoid layoffs during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
The cornerstone of Oregon’s Student Success Act (SSA) and a key requirement for accessing
Student Investment Account (SIA) funds is for LEAs and independent charter schools to
authentically engage communities in determining priorities for investment. This requirement
will be a crucial mechanism in assisting LEAs in identifying the most urgent areas of shortage or
potential shortage. A scan of budgets for SIA funds shows 82% of proposed expenditures that
would increase staffing of both licensed and classified personnel. The SIA funds must be
invested in specific allowable use categories that help focus areas of need. Those areas and the
percentages of overall investment across the state are as follows:
• Improving student health and safety - 45%
• Increased instructional time - 4%
• Improved access to well-rounded education opportunities - 22%
• Reducing class sizes - 22%
The categories and percentage of budgeted activities suggest LEAs, through their community
engagement and prioritization process, saw a significant need to invest in additional staff. This
same scan showed that before COVID and subsequent reductions in SIA funds, LEAs proposed
to add 2746 FTE. Revised plans after reductions to SIA funds showed 738 FTE removed from
planned budget and activities. It remains unclear if the reduction in proposed FTE were related
to shortages or reduced funding, but speaks to a level of need as a result of engagement
processes.
A review of ESSR I investments by LEAs indicates that 46% of all funds were spent on personnel
and benefits. Retention or addition of teaching staff to ensure meeting safety protocols for in-
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person instruction was the most common use of funds, followed closely by investments in
counselors and mental health providers and increased janitorial staff. Currently, ODE does not
have disaggregated data to better understand the specific staffing areas for these investments.
Understanding the Problem:
ODE will work with partner agencies, education service districts, LEAs, and other educational
entities to better understand educator shortages and address potential gaps. As mentioned,
current data is limited to current educator licensure status (emergency, provisional,
conditional, etc.) and in order to address the problem we need to first understand the problem.
In an effort to address this gap in understanding, ODE will consider the following actions:
1. Explore and design how to expand or focus current initiatives that are already creating a
through line for data collections alongside LEAs. The main lever for this data collection is
the Student Success Act which is supporting LEAs as they operationalize ongoing and
meaningful community engagement to inform their spending. We can leverage this
existing conduit to identify educator shortages. We can also lean into the Educator
Advancement Council (EAC) as an intermediary to support the organization, analysis,
and dissemination of educator workforce data.
2. Collaborate with the EAC, Oregon’s educator licensing agency the Teachers Standards
and Practices Commission (TSPC), and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission
(HECC) to identify what data should be collected and how it might be used.
3. Coordinate with the EAC to expand its capacity and current sightline. The Educator
Equity Report is an unfunded mandate within Oregon’s Educator Equity Act, which
tracks Oregon’s progress in increasing the number of teacher candidates prepared to
teach and ready for hire as well as the number of culturally and racially diverse teachers
and administrators hired in Oregon’s public schools. It is a powerful publication that
could be expanded to consider broader gaps in the educator workforce. The EAC is
currently working with the Oregon legislature to create a more meaningful and
impactful mandate, including policy recommendations. The infrastructure and focus of
this current initiative could be broadened to incorporate a deeper understanding of all
facets of the educator workforce.
Mental Health Supports
The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) hold joint
responsibility for promoting and serving the mental health and well-being of school
communities. In 2020 ODE was selected as one of nine states to participate in a CASEL/CCSSO
SEL-MTSS project, which served as the catalyst for the ODE/OHA Strengthening Mental Health
in Education Initiative (SMHiE). A major focus of this work was to assess the strengths, gaps and
opportunities of the Oregon’s school-based mental health systems, and begin to disseminate
ODE’s Integrated Model of Mental Health and Mental Health Toolkit to support LEAs in their
delivery of multi-tiered mental health prevention and intervention services and supports.
94
The SMHiE reinforced the need for a robust, culturally responsive mental health infrastructure
and workforce to equitably meet the mental health needs of Oregon school communities.
Oregon was recently selected as one of six states to participate in the National Governors
Association (NGA) Supporting Whole Child Initiatives project. This will allow ODE to build on the
work of the SMHiE, and identify the legislative and procedural steps necessary to build an
infrastructure and workforce to meet the mental health needs of Oregon school communities.
Many of the workforce needs identified in the SMHiE may be addressed by the implementation
of the Student Success Act. Passed during the 2019 legislative session, the Student Success Act
is expected to infuse approximately $1 billion in early learning and K-12 education each year. Of
those funds, roughly $500 million will be devoted to the Student Investment Account (SIA).
One of the two primary aims of the Student Investment Account (SIA) is to meet students’
mental health needs. In January 2020, ODE and OHA released the Centering Mental and
Behavioral Health resource to support districts and eligible charter schools in developing their
SIA plans. ODE will also be providing technical assistance and coaching programs to support SIA
grantees, which will include guidance regarding the implementation of the ODE Integrated
Model of Mental Health.
Working in tandem, the SMHiE and NGA projects and the investments from the SIA will increase
student access to mental health prevention, intervention and crisis services and supports, and
result in the development of a continuum of care that provides for the mental health needs of
school communities. Significantly more resources will be needed to create the scaffolding to
ensure that these systems provide equitable access to culturally responsive, sustainable
services for all students.
iii. Describe the actions the SEA will take to fill anticipated gaps in
certified teachers for the start of the 2021-2022 school year and to
what extent the SEA will further support its LEAs in expanding the
educator pipeline and educator diversity while addressing the
immediate needs of students disproportionately impacted by the
pandemic (e.g., recruiting teaching candidates to provide high-
dosage tutoring or implementing residencies for teacher candidates).
ODE has several current initiatives that will support LEAs during the 2021-2022 school year as
well as develop robust, sustainable systems to support and diversify the educator workforce
well beyond the coming year.
Snapshot: Current Initiatives to Recruit, Retain, and Support Educators
ODE is targeting state resources to respond to immediate educator shortages as well as
implement a long-term strategy towards supporting and diversifying the educator workforce.
ODE also has areas of growth related to better understanding educator workforce shortages
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and providing student access to key support staff. What follows is a snapshot of current
initiatives broadly impacting the educator workforce as well as areas ODE could explore
building out over the coming year to address educator shortages, disparities in teacher
diversity, preparing future educators, and supporting current educators.
ODE needs to continue to lean into these existing programs, especially those that center
community voice, work to create racially affirming school systems, and work from a continuous
improvement framework. Later in this document there will be a longer narrative related to
current initiatives, but this table will provide a quick glance of current ODE work:
Current Initiative Educator Career Funding Potential Growth
Continuum Focus Mechanism
Regional Educator Recruitment, Educator Regional Educator Networks
Networks retention, Advancement could expand capacity and
professional Fund provide more regionally specific
learning, supports to educators
leadership throughout Oregon.
development
Grow Your Own Pathways to SIA Funding 27 Grow Your Own Programs
Initiatives education, were funded this year and
recruitment, there is potential to provide
partnerships additional resources to deepen
current programs and fund new
programs.
American Support for SSA funding 9 grants were funded to LEAs
Indian/Alaska Native increasing AI/AN and other education partners.
Educator Success educators
Racial Justice Connect and SIA Funding The Racial Justice Institute is
Institute support current beginning to take shape and
educators of color could grow beyond its current
(retention) support of educators of color.
This might include anti-racist
communities of practice for
educational leaders.
Alternative Pathways Pathways to TBD: This is an exciting development
education and Legislation in in Oregon that could lead to
recruitment process apprenticeship programs and
other forms of alternative
pathways into education.
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Oregon Teacher Pathways, mitigate Educator Currently over 150 future
Scholarships Program barriers Advancement educators of color and over 100
and Oregon Fund and SIA future administrators of color
Administrative are being funded through this
Scholarships Program program. There is potential to
expand the number and
amount of scholarships.
Educator Advancement Council
Through the work of the Educator Advancement Council (EAC), which envisions a culturally-
sustained and revitalized workforce that mirrors the demographics of Oregon’s students,
Oregon is well positioned to support LEAs in expanding the educator pipeline and increasing
educator diversity. The following is a list of existing state programs, partnerships, and networks
coordinated and funded through the EAC.
• Recruitment, Retention, and Professional Learning: Regional Educator Networks
• Supporting Current Educators of Color: Racial Justice Institute, Phase 1:
o Create and Run a Black, Indigenous, Tribal, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and
educators of color Network for Oregon Educators:
o Create and Run a Racial Justice Fellowship: Pathways in Education: Grow Your
Own (GYO) Statewide Initiative
• Alternative Pathways: Creating More Pathways
• Mitigating Barriers: Working in Partnership with Teachers Standards and Practices
Commission (TSPC) and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC) to
Diversify the Educator Workforce
• Educator Preparation: Collaborating with Universities to Better Support Future
Educators of Color
2. Staffing to Support Student Needs: Describe the extent to which the SEA has
developed or will develop strategies and will support its LEAs in increasing
student access to key support staff within school buildings, including school
counselors, special education personnel, nurses, social workers, and psychologists
(e.g. hiring additional personnel or freeing up these staff to focus on providing
services to students).
Expanding Flexibility of LEA Staffing
Through the passage of HB 2876, LEAs have been afforded more flexibility in hiring key support
staff. Prior to the passage of HB2876, only a licensed school counselor could design and
implement the required Comprehensive School Counseling Plan (CSCP), but with the passage of
HB2876, schools can utilize a school social worker or a team approach to support the design
and implementation of the CSCP. In fall 2020, ODE wrote guidance for school districts, so that
they can broaden their hiring practices to meet the strengths and needs of their school
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community. Another initiative is the Student Success Act (SSA), which has impacted hiring key
support staff and providing expanded mental health supports for students and educators.
Impact of SSA Funding on Key Support Staff
As mentioned above, the Student Investment Account (SIA) has had a significant impact on
education in Oregon. One of the key components of the SIA funding is increasing LEAs capacity
both to reduce class size but also to provide more robust wraparound support for students. In
fact, almost 80% of SIA funding was directed towards increasing staffing. As mentioned, this
might also complicate Oregon’s understanding of educator shortage because any shortages
pre-pandemic and post-pandemic might be offset by this infusion of resources to districts from
SIA. That being said, there are a few metrics ODE can name that might connect with students’
access to key support staff.
A funding reduction due to the pandemic reduced the impact SIA had on LEAs hiring key
support staff, but considering that the SIA was a novel injection of resources, even the
reduction was a net increase in the current numbers. The following table outlines LEAs planned
usage for SIA funding to increase specifically counselors, nurses, and social workers:
Key Support Staff Original Budget FTEs Updated Budget FTEs
Counselors or Behavior Specialists 548 289
Nurses or Health Professionals 43 38
Social Workers 94 75
Total (INCLUDES estimated FTEs for 685 403
contracted services)
Even with the reduction in funding, LEAs are estimating they will still add an additional 403 key
support staff. These numbers are not exact and ODE will have more accurate accounting at the
end of June, but it is likely that the net number of key support staff increased as a result of SIA
funding. Additionally, 9-10% of SIA funding was directed towards classified staff salaries, which
could correlate to “freeing up these staff to focus on providing services to students.” What is
missing is a granular view of how these funds have been spent and how this compares with
potential shortages based on recommended ratios. What also should be considered is how ODE
coaches or supports LEAs to identify the needs of the community, families, and students
connected to key support staff. For example, one LEA has leveraged SIA funding to hire Bilingual
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Educators and Counselors specifically in schools that serve historically and currently
marginalized students.
G. Monitoring and Measuring Progress
The Department recognizes that transparency on how ARP ESSER funds are used and their
impact on the Nation’s education system is a fundamental responsibility of Federal, State,
and local government. In this section, SEAs will describe how they are building capacity at
the SEA and LEA levels to ensure high-quality data collection and reporting and to safeguard
funds for their intended purposes.
1. Capacity for Data Collection and Reporting: It is important for an SEA to
continuously monitor progress and make adjustments to its strategies, as well as
to support its LEAs in making adjustments to LEA strategies, based on impact.
Describe how the SEA will ensure its capacity and the capacity of its LEAs to
collect data on reporting requirements, including but not limited to the examples
of reporting requirements described in the SEA’s Grant Award Notification (listed
in Appendix B). Describe the SEA’s capacity and strategy to collect data from its
LEAs (disaggregated by student group, where applicable), to the greatest extent
practicable, including any steps the SEA will take to build its capacity in the
future (which may include the use of ARP ESSER and other Federal COVID-19
pandemic funds at the SEA and LEA levels), on issues that may include the
following:
i. Student learning, including the academic impact of lost instructional
time during the COVID-19 pandemic;
ii. Opportunity to learn measures (e.g., chronic absenteeism; student
engagement; use of exclusionary discipline; access to and
participation in advanced coursework; access to technology,
including educator access to professional development on the
effective use of technology; access to high-quality educators; access
to school counselors, social workers, nurses, and school
psychologists; and results from student, parent, and/or educator
surveys);
iii. Fiscal data that is comparable across the State (e.g., per-pupil
expenditures at the LEA and school levels);
iv. Jobs created and retained (by position type);
v. Participation in programs funded by ARP ESSER resources (e.g.,
summer and afterschool programs); and
vi. Other reporting requirements reasonably required by the Secretary
(please refer to Appendix B of this template; final requirements will
be issued separately).
Capacity in Meeting Federal Reporting Requirements (Appendix B)
ODE has a robust method for collecting data and reporting from LEAs and currently collects
data using 89 unique data collections; see Appendix I. Each fall ODE data owners and data
stewards review changes to state and federal law and regulations, as well as new state and
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federal initiatives, and use this information to propose adjustments to their collections to meet
those changing needs.
ODE provides training, resources, and processes to help ensure that data submitted to ODE by
LEAs is of the highest quality possible. Training is provided yearly on individual student-level,
staff-level, and institution-level collections. These trainings discuss collection business rules and
highlight any changes made, which are also documented in collection manuals. ODE’s
consolidated collection system also incorporates processes to help ensure accuracy and
consistency of submitted data. This includes validations and logic checks for data compliance
with business rules and audits performed by data stewards.
ODE also provides student-level and aggregate data back to LEAs through our secure district
website. Data available here includes a significant amount of data on student outcomes,
including graduation, attendance, statewide summative assessments, 9th grade on track,
discipline, Career and Technical Education, and staffing counts and qualifications. While these
data are also reported publicly, this system allows LEAs to access the unsuppressed and
student- or staff-level data that they will need and can use locally to support students. These
data are also used by ODE program staff to support LEAs.
In terms of meeting the data reporting requirements outlined in the Grant Award Notification
outlined in Appendix B, ODE currently has the capacity to fully or partially address these
requirements. ODE also recognizes there are limitations to our current data collections that will
require additional capacity. Using Federal ESSER resources, ODE has developed an initial
staffing plan to meet ongoing requirements, to the extent possible.
Currently, the Department is able to fully meet the following Appendix B requirements:
• For developing strategies and implementing public health protocols and creating
overall plans and policies to support in-person instruction and maximizing in-person
instruction time, ODE publicly reported its 2020-21 implementation guidance on the
Ready Schools, Safe Learners (RSSL) web page. In addition, LEAs were required to create
operational blueprints for the 2020-21 school year and post these on their websites. As
the state transitions into the 2021-22 school year, it will continue to update guidance to
ensure schools are implementing protocols in accordance with guidance and established
federal and state plans and policies. Section B.1provides more specific detail on current
and future RSSL guidance.
• The Department has a process in place to track data on each school’s mode of
instruction (fully in-person, hybrid, and fully remote). As described in Section A.5, ODE
collects weekly information on each school’s mode of instruction. The department will
continue to collect information on the instructional modes in which schools are
operating under. In addition, ODE collects enrollment data for school funding and other
purposes four times a year. This data will be overlaid with mode of instruction to meet
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the reporting requirement outlined in Appendix B and as prescribed in Appendix A.
While enrollment information may be used for the requirement, ODE does not currently
collect disaggregated attendance of the student population by instruction mode.
• In terms of Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency (FFATA) reporting
requirements, ODE uses an internal application to award and reimburse subgrants; this
system is called the Electronic Grant Management System (EGMS). EGMS processes
subgrant awards, electronic reimbursements, and interfaces with Oregon’s State
Financial Management System (SFMS), the state’s financial system of record. A query is
pulled on a monthly basis from SFMS for specified subgrant information for FFATA,
which is then batched and submitted to the Federal Subaward Reporting System (FSRS)
every month.
As mentioned, there are several requirements in which ODE collects parts of the information
and will increase capacity to help establish the necessary structures, processes, and/or data
collections to meet them. This includes data and/or information specific to the following
Appendix B requirements:
• SEA and LEA use of funds to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs,
including summer enrichment programming and other evidence-based interventions,
and how they advance equity for underserved students.
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to early childhood education
programs.
• Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup) through use of ARP ESSER
funding (e.g., quantitative and qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and district level).
• Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected instruction and learning.
To meet these requirements, ODE will review its current portfolio of data collections and work
to establish the appropriate processes necessary for complying and/or collecting the needed
information. In addition, ODE will be using ESSER funding to establish additional research and
data collection capacity needed for meeting the federal requirements, as well as building
sustainable future capacity in providing both data and information needed to help LEAs in
addressing student needs beyond the pandemic.
In order to accomplish this, ODE will rely on data and information collected from current
initiatives and programs of which many were outlined in both Section E and Section F. This data
and information is already available and helps support LEAs better utilize the data and
information they collect locally. Better use and analysis of this data will enable LEAs to more
effectively respond to student needs. Some of this data and information includes:
• Career and Technical Education (CTE): Oregon has special data collections and reports at
both secondary and postsecondary institutions on CTE programs. These data include
participation, concentration, completion, and other performance targets required for
Perkins V. These data are used not only for accountability, but are a central component
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of CTE program continuous improvement. As part of Oregon’s CTE State Plan, ODE will
be providing LEAs and regions with a CTE data dashboard that will make it easier to
disaggregate data by gender, race/ethnicity, Perkins V special populations, and CTE
program type. ODE, in partnership with the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory,
has started to provide training to regional and local CTE leaders on use of the dashboard
to identify inequities in CTE programs, conduct a root cause analysis, and create plans to
remove barriers to equitable participation and outcomes in CTE.
• High School Success: Recipients eligible for High School Success funds are provided
annual data sheets including ninth grade on-track, graduation, dropout, absenteeism,
and advanced course participation rates disaggregated by focal student populations.
Recipients are additionally encouraged to review local quantitative data, such as tenth
grade on-track rates, benchmark assessment results, and qualitative data gathered
through the use of surveys or empathy interviews. It is expected these data points will
inform the creation of High School Success goals and activities designed to aid recipients
in meeting their goals. Recipients include LEAs.
Beginning in the 2021-23 biennium, grant recipients are required to have specific
systems of support for students in place, including sufficient time for teacher and staff
collaboration to review data on student’s grades, absences, and discipline by student
and by course, and to develop strategies to ensure at-risk students stay on track to
graduate. To support this, recipients who did not already have a collaboration system in
place were encouraged to spend funds on data dashboards and/or professional
development for staff in data analysis. During the most recent biennium, 60% of
recipients (134) began work on establishing teacher teams and over 25% (62) spent
funds on data dashboards and related training.
The Center for High School Success, established in 2017 by STAND for Children, has
developed networks throughout Oregon to assist high schools in building capacity for
highly effective teacher teams through training in data analysis and providing peer
learning opportunities. Participation in the Center for High School Success network has
been supported through the use of High School Success funds.
• Student Investment Account: Recipients eligible for Student Investment Account funds
were provided data sheets containing five years of attendance, ninth grade on-track,
four-year graduation, five-year completers, and third grade reading proficiency rates
disaggregated by focal student populations. These data points were expected to be
utilized by LEA and school administration, with school and community input, to develop
goals and strategies for meeting those goals.
ODE has provided support for SIA grant recipients to develop longitudinal performance
growth targets for each of the five data points. These targets, reviewed annually, are
designed to focus on closing gaps for historically underserved or marginalized student
populations. Applicants are encouraged to set growth targets for local metrics, such as
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student survey results or benchmark assessment results, which may more accurately
align to specific activities contained in their Student Investment Account plans.
• Oregon Statewide Assessment System: Summative assessment data are available from
spring 2021 administrations in language arts, mathematics, and science from ODE’s
general and alternate assessments. Those data are not likely to yield actionable
information at the systems level due to historically low participation rates. However,
ODE invested in supporting classroom assessment practices, assessments for learning,
through investments in resources and training for implementation of a statewide English
language arts and mathematics interim assessment system, including formative
instructions resources called Tools for Teachers that can supplement and guide
instructional practices. A science interim assessment was available for LEA purchase and
ODE hopes to make it available statewide starting in the 2021-22 school year. These
resources found on the webpage linked above, are supported by a six-module training
series called the “Balanced Assessment Series”. This series helps ODE advance our goal
of supporting LEA assessment practices designed to provide coherent, continuous, and
comprehensive information for our education systems across the spectrum of important
assessment practices, from formative, to interim, and summative. Finally, we developed
a student survey to incorporate student voice as a valuable source of information
through the Student Educational Equity Development Survey Pilot, described below.
• Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey: As described in Section A4, in
2020-21 ODE is piloting a survey about the educational experiences of Oregon students,
with an operational survey starting in 2021-22. This survey will help ODE and LEAs
better interpret information we are already gathering through statewide testing. SEED
Survey information may also help LEAs develop a fuller picture of their local contexts
and make strategic modifications to curriculum, instruction, and related supports that
they offer students. ODE posted a communication toolkit for the survey pilot, which
includes development, design, training, and communication templates, in addition to
the publicly-available survey items themselves (English and Spanish). ODE is in the
process of designing the reporting of this data to LEAs when the survey is expected to
become operational, pending Oregon State Board of Education review and approval, in
the spring of 2022. Participation in this year’s pilot administration may not be sufficient
to yield generalizable results, however, this could result in an additional, optional, pilot
administration in spring 2022.
• Community and Partner Engagement: A key source of data for LEAs will be their
families, communities, and education partners. ODE has developed an Engagement
Toolkit that provides extensive resources for LEAs that they can use as they partner with
their communities and gather input on how best to address the impacts of the
pandemic and address unfinished learning.
• Early Indicator and Intervention Systems: ODE also provides guidance and technical
support for LEAs and ESDs as they develop and implement systems to support students
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to get, and stay on track, to graduate from high school. Several ESDs and LEAs have
already implemented these systems which provide real-time data to support students.
A core component of the EIIS is reliable, easily accessible data that identifies student
progress toward graduation in multiple dimensions. Student attendance, engagement in
learning, and learning outcomes (grades, standardized test scores) are common
indicators of progress towards graduation. Most electronic student information systems
offer standard and customizable reports on these data points. Schools and LEAs should
reflect on additional indicators and influencers of student success, including student
empathy interviews, social-emotional well-being surveys, health and mental health
supports, and opportunity for enrichment activities as additional sources of data for the
EIIS. Some LEAs may opt for a locally-produced data system rather than a commercially
available product, depending on district size and local factors.
Capacity in Meeting Other Reporting Needs
In addition to meeting federal requirements, there may also be data and information needed by
ODE or LEAs to help support or address various student and school issues and challenges
caused by COVID-19. While ODE and LEAs already collect, analyze, and report a large amount of
data that can be used to support students and families, more can be done. Here are some
strategies that ODE is exploring or working to implement to help the capacity for data use and
analysis in the future:
• Expand the creation and use of data dashboards, both internally for ODE staff, and
externally for LEAs and the public.
• Increase internal staffing and ODE capacity to analyze data and support data
interpretation by LEAs.
• Increase the information that ODE collects on expanded learning time or programs
designed to keep students engaged and on track to graduate. This would include before-
school, after-school and summer learning programs.
• Increase the collection and reporting of data on student credit attainment and access to
advanced coursework, including Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, and
dual credit.
• Provide more professional development to ODE staff so that they can in turn promote
better data utilization in school and LEA decision making.
• Partner with the State Longitudinal Data System to work toward providing LEAs
information on post-graduation success metrics such as employment and college
enrollment, persistence, and completion.
• Work with LEAs to improve the granularity of their reporting so that we can increase the
accuracy of the school-level per-pupil funding reported.
• Determine how current collection on staff employed by each LEA may be expanded to
include information on new jobs created and/or retained.
• Analyze methods for collecting disaggregated data on before and after school programs.
While ODE is currently planning on collecting aggregate data on summer learning
opportunities, it will take more research on how to effectively build into periodic grant
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reports.
Overall, while ODE has capacity to meet the federal reporting requirements, it will take
additional work to identify methods to compile and possibly collect more information related to
specific student impacts and outcomes. With these additional ESSER resources, funding will be
committed to help address these needs and provide LEAs with valuable information in
responding to student needs.
2. Monitoring and Internal Controls: Describe how the SEA will implement
appropriate fiscal monitoring of and internal controls for the ARP ESSER funds
(e.g., by updating the SEA’s plan for monitoring funds and internal controls under
the CARES and CRRSA Acts; addressing potential sources of waste, fraud, and
abuse; conducting random audits; or other tools). In this response, please describe
the SEA’s current capacity to monitor ARP ESSER; steps, if needed, to increase
capacity; and any foreseeable gaps in capacity, including how the SEA will
provide its LEAs with technical assistance in the anticipated areas of greatest
need.
ODE currently has a process in place to review annual LEA audits and provide follow up on areas
identified as concerns, as well as perform additional monitoring and follow up. In addition,
Under SSA, ODE is currently developing a system of deeper analysis on return on academic
investment.
Oregon has also implemented several fiscal monitoring protocols and internal controls for the
ARP ESSER funds, which include:
• All LEAs and sub recipients are subject to an annual municipal audit by either an
independent third-party auditor or the Secretary of State Audits Division.
• All accounting of ESSER funds are in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting
Principles.
• Where applicable, application and grant agreements were created with legal sufficiency
from Oregon’s Attorney General’s Office. These agreements were reviewed and
approved by ODE staff after they were submitted by LEAs or other eligible funding
recipients prior to the allocations and disbursement of funding.
• Applications and grant agreements have (or will have updated) assurances and
certifications in place for LEAs or other eligible funding recipients to attest compliance
with all ARP ESSER grant program requirements.
• Grant funds are distributed on a reimbursement basis, so LEAs must incur a General
Fund expense prior to submitting claims for payment.
• Payments are administered by ODE using its centralized Electronic Grant Management
System, which provides tracking and monitoring of grant funds and payment claims.
• A reimbursement template was developed that uses a state chart of accounts for K-12
education, whereby there is a standardized level of reporting, comparison, and review.
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• All reimbursement claims are reviewed by ODE staff for reasonableness prior to release
of payment. Multiple staff are involved with the review and eventual release of funding.
• All LEAs and other eligible funding recipients were instructed to maintain and track
revenues, expenses, and receipts in a special fund for each federal program and unique
CFDA.
• All LEAs and other eligible funding recipients are aware they are subject to either a desk-
audit, or an in-the-field audit at any time.
• Monitoring, best-practices, guidance, technical support, and review are ongoing with
regular communications, websites, and webinars.
To date, ODE has primarily managed these responsibilities within existing processes and staff.
However, in order to meet some of the new and additional reporting requirements, particularly
around specific fiscal and outcome reporting, ODE will use a combination of ESSER
administrative funds to increase staffing within its Office of Finance and Information
Technology (OFIT). OFIT currently oversees and monitors the 90% of the ESSER funding
required to go to LEAs. While ODE has the appropriate systems and internal controls to
effectively manage these funds, the volume of funding, technical assistance, and monitoring
will require additional staffing. With ESSER administrative funds, ODE will be able to continue
its effective oversight of the 90% funding, as well as provide support in standing up any
additional internal controls or oversight in other areas of ODE that will manage the set-aside
resources.
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Appendix A: School Operating Status and Instructional Mode Data Template
Indicate the date or time period represented by the following data.
These data reflect school operating status for the week of May 22 to May 29. The student
enrollment counts come from data collected on May 3rd, but ODE used the May 22 to May
29 operating status to report students in remote, hybrid, or in-person categories.
Table 1
In the most recent time period available, how many schools in your State offered each mode of
instruction or learning model described below? Each row should account for all schools in your
State, so that, for each row, the sum of the numbers in the “offered to all students,” “offered to
some students,” and “not offered” columns is equal to the number in the “all schools” column.
All Schools
Number of schools All Offered to Offered to Not
schools all some offered
students students
Remote or online only 1248 38 1210 0
School buildings open with both 1248 872 0 376
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 1248 338 0 910
person instruction
Elementary Schools
Number of schools All Offered to Offered to Not
schools all some offered
students students
Remote or online only 721 7 714 0
School buildings open with both 721 508 0 213
remote/online and in-person instruction
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in- 721 206 0 515
person instruction
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Middle Schools
Number of schools All Offered to Offered to Not
schools all some offered
students students
Remote or online only 193 2 191 0
School buildings open with both
remote/online and in-person instruction 193 151 0 42
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in-
193 40 0 153
person instruction
High Schools
Number of schools All Offered to Offered to Not
schools all some offered
students students
Remote or online only 334 29 305 0
School buildings open with both
remote/online and in-person instruction 334 213 0 121
(hybrid)
School buildings open with full-time in-
334 92 0 242
person instruction
To the extent data are available, please complete the above table for 1) all schools in the State,
and 2) separately for each instructional level (e.g., pre-kindergarten/elementary schools, middle
schools, high schools).
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Table 2
In the most recent time period available, what was the enrollment and mode of instruction for the
schools in your State?
Number of students Total Remote Both Full-time
enrollment or online remote/online in-person
only and in-person instruction
instruction
(hybrid)
Students from low-income 333,036 9,971 251,029 72,036
families
White, not Hispanic 325,396 19,508 229,899 75,989
Black or African American, 12,855 785 11,469 601
not Hispanic
Hispanic, of any race 135,384 5,025 105,875 24,484
Asian, not Hispanic 22,308 1,496 19,941 871
American Indian or Alaskan 6,339 279 3,637 2,423
Native, not Hispanic
Native Hawaiian or Pacific 4,359 200 3,843 316
Islander, not Hispanic
Two or more races, not 37,773 2,136 29,787 5,850
Hispanic
English learners 52,661 1,122 43,984 7,555
Children with disabilities 80,010 3,698 60,105 16,207
Students experiencing 15,715 798 11,163 3,754
homelessness*
Children and youth in foster 4,545 172 3,091 1,282
care*
Migratory students* 13,039 152 9,296 3,591
Race/Ethnicity information # # # #
not available
* Indicates that data for 2020-21 is not yet available, and membership in this group is based on
the student's membership during the 2019-20 school year.
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Appendix B: Reporting Language Included in the Grant Award Notification
(“GAN”)
As described in the Grant Award Notification (“GAN”), the SEA will comply with, and ensure
that its LEAs comply with, all reporting requirements at such time and in such manner and
containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including on matters such
as:
• How the State is developing strategies and implementing public health protocols
including, to the greatest extent practicable, policies and plans in line with the CDC
guidance related to mitigating COVID-19 in schools;
• Overall plans and policies related to State support for return to in-person instruction and
maximizing in-person instruction time, including how funds will support a return to and
maximize in-person instruction time, and advance equity and inclusivity in participation
in in-person instruction;
• Data on each school’s mode of instruction (fully in-person, hybrid, and fully remote) and
conditions;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to meet students’ social, emotional, and academic needs,
including through summer enrichment programming and other evidence-based
interventions, and how they advance equity for underserved students;
• SEA and LEA uses of funds to sustain and support access to early childhood education
programs;
• Impacts and outcomes (disaggregated by student subgroup) through use of ARP ESSER
funding (e.g., quantitative and qualitative results of ARP ESSER funding, including on
personnel, student learning, and budgeting at the school and district level);
• Student data (disaggregated by student subgroup) related to how the COVID-19
pandemic has affected instruction and learning;
• Requirements under the Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (“FFATA”);
and
• Additional reporting requirements as may be necessary to ensure accountability and
transparency of ARP ESSER funds.
Oregon responded to this appendix in section G.
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Appendix C: Assurances
By signing this document, the SEA assures all of the following:
• The SEA will conduct all its operations so that no person shall be excluded from
participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under the ARP
ESSER program or activity based on race, color, national origin, which includes a
person’s limited English proficiency or English learner status and a person’s actual or
perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics; sex; age; or disability. These non-
discrimination obligations arise under Federal civil rights laws, including but not limited
to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of
1972, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination Act of
1975. In addition, the SEA must comply with all regulations, guidelines, and standards
issued by the Department under any of these statutes;
• The SEA will comply with all ARP Act and other ARP ESSER requirements and all
requirements of its Grant Award Notification, including but not limited to:
o Complying with the maintenance of effort provision in section 2004(a)(1) of the
ARP Act, absent a waiver by the Secretary pursuant to section 2004(a)(2) of the
ARP Act; and
o Complying with the maintenance of equity provisions in section 2004(b) of the
ARP Act, and ensuring its LEAs comply with the maintenance of equity provision
in section 2004(c) of the ARP Act (please note that the Department will provide
additional guidance on maintenance of equity shortly);
• The SEA will allocate ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner
and, to the extent practicable, not later than 60 days after the SEA receives ARP ESSER
funds (i.e., 60 days from the date the SEA receives each portion of its ARP ESSER
funds). An SEA that is not able to allocate such funds within 60 days because it is not
practicable (e.g., because of pre-existing State board approval requirements) will provide
an explanation to the Department within 30 days of receiving each portion of its ARP
ESSER funds (submitted via email to your Program Officer at [State].OESE@ed.gov
(e.g., Alabama.OESE@ed.gov)), including a description of specific actions the SEA is
taking to provide ARP ESSER funds to LEAs in an expedited and timely manner and the
SEA’s expected timeline for doing so;
• The SEA will implement evidence-based interventions as required under section 2001(f)
of the ARP Act and ensure its LEAs implement evidence-based interventions, as required
by section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act;
• The SEA will address the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
underserved students (i.e., students from low-income families, students from racial or
ethnic groups (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved student groups by
race or ethnicity), gender (e.g., identifying disparities and focusing on underserved
student groups by gender), English learners, children with disabilities, students
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, and migratory students), as
required under section 2001(f) of the ARP Act, and ensure its LEAs address the
disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on underserved students (i.e.,
students from low-income families, students from racial or ethnic groups, gender, English
learners, children with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children and
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youth in foster care, and migratory students), as required by section 2001(e)(1) of the
ARP Act; and
• The SEA will provide to the Department: (1) the URL(s) where the public can readily
find data on school operating status and (2) the URL(s) for the SEA and/or LEA websites
where the public can find the LEA plans for a) the safe return to in-person instruction and
continuity of services required under section 2001(i) of the ARP Act, and b) use of ARP
ESSER funds. SEAs should consider ensuring a standardized URL format in all cases
(e.g., xxx.gov/COVID plan).
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Appendix D
OMB Control No. 1894-0005 (Exp. 06/30/2023)
NOTICE TO ALL APPLICANTS
The purpose of this enclosure is to inform you needs. This provision allows applicants
about a new provision in the Department of discretion in developing the required
Educations General Education Provisions description. The statute highlights six types
Act ("GEPA") that applies to applicants for of barriers that can impede equitable access
new grant awards under Department or participation: gender, race, national origin,
programs. This provision is Section 427 of color, disability, or age. Based on local
GEPA, enacted as part of the Improving circumstances, you should determinewhether
America's Schools Act of 1994 (Public Law these or other barriers may prevent your
(P.L.) 103-382). students, teachers, etc. from such accessto, or
participation in, the Federally-funded project
To Whom Does This Provision Apply? or activity. The description in your
application of steps to be taken to overcome
Section 427 of GEPA affects applicants for
these barriers need not be lengthy; you may
new grant awards under this program. ALL
provide a clear and succinct description of
APPLICANTS FOR NEW AWARDS
how you plan to address those barriers that
MUST INCLUDE INFORMATION IN
are applicable to your circumstances. In
THEIR APPLICATIONS TO ADDRESS
addition, the information may be provided in
THIS NEW PROVISION IN ORDER TO
a single narrative, or, if appropriate, may be
RECEIVE FUNDING UNDER THIS
discussed in connection with related topics in
PROGRAM.
the application.
(If this program is a State-formula grant
Section 427 is not intended to duplicate the
program, a State needs to provide this
requirements of civil rights statutes, but
description only for projects or activities that
rather to ensure that, in designing their
it carries out with funds reserved for State-
projects, applicants for Federal funds address
level uses. In addition, local school districts
equity concerns that may affect the ability of
or other eligible applicants that apply to the
certain potential beneficiaries to fully
State for funding need to provide this
participate in the project and to achieve high
description in their applications to the State
standards. Consistent with program
for funding. The State would be responsible
requirements and its approved application, an
for ensuring that the school district or other
applicant may use the Federal funds awarded
local entity has submitted a sufficient section
to it to eliminate barriers it identifies.
427 statement as described below.)
What are Examples of How an Applicant
What Does This Provision Require?
Might Satisfy the Requirement of This
Section 427 requires each applicant for funds Provision?
(other than an individual person) to include in
The following examples may help illustrate
its application a description of the steps the
how an applicant may comply with Section
applicant proposes to take to ensure equitable
427.
access to, and participation in, its Federally-
assisted program for students, teachers, and (1) An applicant that proposes to carry
other program beneficiaries with special out an adult literacy project serving,
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among others, adults with limited English In alignment with Oregon Department of
proficiency, might describe in its Education’s Education Equity Stance, ODE
application how it intends to distribute a has incorporated an equity informed, anti-
brochure about the proposed project to racist stance and anti-oppressive stance
such potential participants in their native throughout this application and intends to
language. continue this practice as we implement the
programs described in this application.
(2) An applicant that proposes to develop
instructional materials for classroom use
ODE recognizes the disproportionate
might describe how it will make the
impact of COVID-19 on Black, American
materials available on audio tape or in
braille for students who are blind. Indian/Alaska Native, and Latino/a/x, Pacific
Islander communities; students
(3) An applicant that proposes to carry experiencing disabilities; and students and
out a model science program for families navigating poverty. ODE will apply
secondary students and is concerned that an equity-informed, anti-racist, and anti-
girls may be less likely than boys to enroll oppressive stance to promote culturally
in the course, might indicate how it sustaining and revitalizing educational
intends to conduct "outreach" efforts to systems that support every child.
girls, to encourage their enrollment.
(4) An applicant that proposes a project to
increase school safety might describe the
special efforts it will take to address
concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and
transgender students, and efforts to reach
out to and involve the families of LGBT
students.
We recognize that many applicants may
already be implementing effective steps to
ensure equity of access and participation in
their grant programs, and we appreciate your
cooperation in responding to therequirements
of this provision.
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Estimated Burden Statement for GEPA Requirements
According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a
collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. Public
reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 3 hours per
response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources,
gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of
information. The obligation to respond to this collection is required to obtain or retain
benefit (Public Law 103-382). Send comments regarding the burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to the
U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20210-4537 or
email ICDocketMgr@ed.gov and reference the OMB Control Number 1894-0005.
Appendix E: Ready Schools, Safe Learners Guidance
Please see attachment titled “Appendix E: Ready Schools, Safe Learners.”
Appendix F: Table B.1.
Mitigation strategy SEA response to each mitigation strategy - within the
current RSSL Guidance
Universal and correct wearing of As of May 31, 2021 - Face coverings are required for all
masks students in grades kindergarten and up, along with all
staff. Student or family refusal to wear appropriate face
covering for a values-based reason then dictates that
educational needs be met through Comprehensive
Distance Learning. Staff refusal to wear appropriate face
coverings should be addressed according to established
school or district processes.
Physical distancing among As of May 31, 2021 -Elementary Level: Support physical
students and when students are distancing in all daily activities and instruction,
present in the building (e.g., maintaining at least 3 feet between students to the
including use of maximum extent possible.
cohorts/podding) Middle and High School Level:
• when at a county case rate of <200: Support
physical distancing in all daily activities and
instruction, maintaining at least 3 feet between
students to the maximum extent possible.
• when at a county case rate of ≥200 : Support
physical distancing in all daily activities and
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instruction, maintaining at least 6 feet between
students to the maximum extent possible.
All Levels/Staff: Support physical distancing in all daily
activities and instruction, maintaining 6 feet between staff
at all times and 6 feet between staff and students to the
maximum extent possible.
Handwashing and respiratory As of May 31, 2021
etiquette All people on campus shall be advised and encouraged to
frequently wash their hands or use hand sanitizer.
Cleaning and maintaining As of May 31, 2021
healthy facilities, including Facilities must be cleaned and disinfected at least daily to
improving ventilation prevent transmission of the virus from surfaces (see CDC’s
guidance on disinfecting public spaces).
Clean, sanitize, and disinfect frequently touched surfaces
(e.g. door handles, sink handles, drinking fountains,
transport vehicles) and shared objects (e.g., toys, games,
art supplies) between uses multiple times per day.
Maintain clean and disinfected (CDC guidance)
environments, including classrooms, cafeteria settings and
restrooms. Provide time and supplies for the cleaning and
disinfecting of high-touch surfaces between multiple
student uses, even in the same cohort.
Outdoor learning spaces must have at least 50% of the
square footage of its sides open for airflow such that open
sides are not adjacent to each other. Outdoor playground
structures require normal routine cleaning and do not
require disinfection. Shared equipment should be cleaned
and disinfected at least daily in accordance with CDC
guidance.
Apply disinfectants safely and correctly following labeling
directions as specified by the manufacturer. Keep these
products away from students. To reduce the risk of
asthma, choose disinfectant products on the EPA List N
with asthma-safer ingredients.
Schools with HVAC systems must evaluate the system to
minimize indoor air recirculation (thus maximizing fresh
outdoor air) to the extent possible. Schools that do not
have mechanical ventilation systems shall, to the extent
possible, increase natural ventilation by opening windows
and interior doors before students arrive and after
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students leave, and while students are present. Do not
prop open doors that can pose a safety or security risk to
students and staff (e.g., exterior doors and fire doors that
must remain closed.) ❏ Schools with HVAC systems
should ensure all filters are maintained and replaced as
necessary to ensure proper functioning of the system.
All intake ports that provide outside air to the HVAC
system should be cleaned, maintained, and cleared of any
debris that may affect the function and performance of
the ventilation system.
Consider running ventilation systems continuously and
changing the filters more frequently. Do not use fans if
they pose a safety or health risk, such as increasing
exposure to pollen/allergies or exacerbating asthma
symptoms. Consider using window fans or box fans
positioned in open windows to blow fresh outdoor air into
the classroom via one window, and indoor air out of the
classroom via another window. Fans must not be used in
rooms with closed windows and doors, as this does not
allow for fresh air to circulate.
Consider the need for increased ventilation in areas where
students with special health care needs receive
medication or treatments.
Contact tracing in combination As of May 31, 2021
with isolation and quarantine, in Create a system for maintaining daily logs for each
collaboration with the State, student/cohort for the purposes of contact tracing. This
local, territorial, or Tribal health system needs to be made in consultation with a
departments school/district nurse or an LPHA official. Sample logs are
available as a part of the Oregon School Nurses
Association COVID-19 Toolkit.
Protocol to record/keep daily logs to be used for contact
tracing for a minimum of four weeks to assist the LPHA as
needed.
State, local, and Tribal health departments collaborated to
develop the contract tracing system.
Diagnostic and screening testing As of May 31, 2021
If the public or private school is operating an On-Site or
Hybrid Instructional Model, but is located in a county that
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does not meet the advisory metrics; the school must offer
access to on-site testing for symptomatic students and
staff identified on campus as well as those with known
exposures to individuals with COVID. This resource is
available to all schools in Oregon. See guidance from the
Oregon Health Authority.
In April 2021, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) launched
a free COVID-19 testing program for K-12 teachers and
staff in order to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in
schools. This program offers free weekly screening testing
by mail to any unvaccinated public or private K-12 teacher
or staff member, including volunteers. Testing is not
recommended for vaccinated K-12 teachers and staff
because the risk of COVID-19 in vaccinated individuals is
very low.
Participation is voluntary, and participants can opt-out at
any time. If you register for this program, a COVID-19 test
kit will be mailed directly to your home each week. The at-
home COVID-19 test is performed by gently swabbing just
inside the nose. The swab is then returned to the
laboratory by mail and results are returned to participants
within days. Participation in the program and all results
are confidential, however, positive COVID-19 results must
be reported to the local public health authority for case
investigation and contact tracing. (More information Free
COVID-19 Screening Testing Program for All School Staff)
In addition, the CDC ELC Reopening Schools supplement
awarded Oregon $127 million to launch screening in K-12
settings through a phased approach, building on the
voluntary program launched in April 2021, and described
above. (more information is provided below)
Efforts to provide vaccinations Oregon prioritized educators/school staff for vaccinations.
to educators, other staff, and See this message encouraging vaccination opportunities
students, if eligible for students, with a focus on students and families who
are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19
pandemic.
Appropriate accommodations As of May 31, 2021
for children with disabilities If any student requires an accommodation to meet the
with respect to the health and requirement for face coverings, districts and schools must
safety policies limit the student’s proximity to students and staff to the
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extent possible to minimize the possibility of exposure.
Appropriate accommodations could include:
• Offering different types of face coverings and face
shields that may meet the needs of the student.
• Spaces away from peers while the face covering is
removed; students must not be left alone or
unsupervised.
For students with existing medical conditions and a
physician’s orders to not wear face coverings, or other
health related concerns, schools/districts must not deny
any in-person instruction.
ODE has also provided guidance to schools on Navigating
Adaptation, Accommodation, or Modification for Student
Face Covering Requirements.
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Appendix G: 2020-21 COVID-19 Targeted Community Engagement
C.1. SEA Consultation. Consistent with the ARP ESSER requirements, describe how the SEA engaged
in meaningful consultation with stakeholders, and incorporated input into its plan, including, but not
limited to:
i. Students;
ii. Families;
iii. Tribes (if applicable);
iv. Civil rights organizations (including disability rights organizations);
v. School and district administrators (including special education administrators);
vi. Superintendents;
vii. Charter school leaders (if applicable);
viii. Teachers, principals, school leaders, other educators, school staff, and their unions; and
ix.Stakeholders representing the interests of children with disabilities, English learners, children
experiencing homelessness, children and youth in foster care, migratory students, children
who are incarcerated, and other underserved students.
The Oregon Department of Education conducted robust community engagement throughout
the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to May 2021. This table describes how the groups of
students listed in the ARP ESSER III Application template were represented in the outreach
conducted by the Department. Over the coming year, each group will be invited to participate
in ongoing engagement sessions to further inform the development of the specific strategies
for Oregon’s state-level funds.
Stakeholder Group Artifacts/Staff
Students The Department conducted a state-wide survey between June 10,
2020 and July 27, 2020 to collect feedback from the public to improve
Families the RSSL guidance for the 2020-21 school year. The survey received
15,226 participants, a majority of whom (5,768) were family members
of students. Students, educators, administrators, and community
members made up the other groups. The input from this survey was
presented to the Governor’s Healthy Schools Reopening Council in
June, July, and August of 2020. ODE staff also used the information to
improve iterations of the RSSL guidance and provide support to
schools and districts.
The Department will consider the best ways to conduct targeted
engagement with students and families to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Many families are also represented within The Department’s various
advisory groups.
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Tribes Government to Government Education Cluster meets at least
quarterly to support government relationships between the state of
Oregon and the nine federally recognized Tribes in the state. The
Department of Education’s Indian Education Director has been
actively engaging with the Tribes throughout the pandemic. Other
staff representing American Indian and Alaska Native initiatives have
been involved in the Department’s guidance development processes
to ensure responsiveness.
The American Indian/Alaska Native Advisory Committee met 7 times
in 2020 (Jan, Mar, Apr x2, June, Sep, Nov) and has met 4 times in 2021
(Jan, Mar, May, June). This advisory group supported the development
of the American Indian/Alaska Native Plan which has been used to
inform the Department’s responsiveness to Native American and
Alaska Native students.
The Department will utilize existing ongoing engagement as well as
invitations to special input sessions with our Tribal education partners
to inform ESSER III state-level strategies.
Civil Rights The Department invites representatives from these organizations to
Organizations our community engagement meetings. Staff from these organizations
(including disability in Oregon serve as members on the 60+ education advisory
rights Organizations) committees that meet regularly to inform specific policies and
initiatives affecting the students they represent. In addition, the
Department invites Oregon’s civil rights organizations to send
representatives to participate in special engagement sessions.
The Department will continue to invite these groups to special input
sessions to inform ESSER III state-level strategies.
School and district The Department held meetings to inform and engage school and
administrators district leaders on a regular basis throughout the pandemic. Beginning
(including special September 2020, weekly office hours were offered to all education
education leaders in the state. The communications, slide decks, and recordings
administrators) are all available and archived on the Department's COVID-19 News
and Updates webpage.
The Department will continue to offer opportunities for school and
district leaders to participate in engagement sessions that will inform
ESSER III state-level strategies.
Superintendents The Department and COSA co-hosted and facilitated weekly meetings
for Superintendents in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to
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provide updates and solicit feedback on guidance. These meetings
continued throughout the 2020-21 school year at least monthly, often
every other week. In addition to these meetings, the Department
hosted weekly office hours for district leaders and targeted
engagement sessions to districts by size (small, medium, and large
districts).
The Department will continue to partner with COSA to facilitate
regular meetings with superintendents and host engagement sessions
with school and district leaders to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Charter school More than 45 charter school meetings were hosted between March
leaders 2020 and May 2021. Charter school leaders were also invited to
attend some of the critical Superintendent’s meetings with ODE and
COSA.
The Department will continue to invite public charter school leaders to
engagement sessions and provide office hours to school leaders as
needed.
Teachers, principals, Leaders from the Oregon Department of Education and Oregon Health
school leaders, Authority engaged teachers from across the state through a series of
other educators, six virtual meetings in December 2020. A total of 843 participants
school staff, and attended. The feedback from these sessions are included in the
their unions December 2020 Key Takeaways Report.
The Department will include teachers and staff in its engagement
sessions to inform ESSER III state-level strategies.
Stakeholders The Department engaged with multiple state advisory groups
representing representing children with disabilities since March 2020. For example,
children with the State Advisory Council for Special Education (SACSE) met 4 times
disabilities in 2020 (Jan, May, Sep, Nov) and has met 3 times in 2021 (Jan, Mar,
May). Other groups include the Regional Inclusive Services
Management Team, System of Care Advisory Council, Children’s
System Advisory Council, Dispute Resolution Committee, Early
Childhood Inclusion State Leadership Team, and the State Interagency
Coordinating Council.
The Department will continue to engage with these groups
individually and through targeted engagement sessions to inform
ESSER III state-level strategies.
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English learners, The Department has engaged with the English Learner/Emergent
emerging bilingual Bilingual Advisory Group since March 2020. The group met 4 times in
students 2020 (Jan, Apr, June, Sep) and will meet at least 4 times in 2021 (Jan,
Mar, Apr, July).
The Department will continue to engage with this group and through
targeted engagement sessions to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Children ODE staff serve on the Homeless Youth Advisory Committee that is
experiencing situated within the Oregon Department of Human Services. This
homelessness advisory committee advises on the coordination of statewide planning
for delivery of services to runaway and homeless youth and their
families. The committee met 6 times in 2020 (Feb, Apr, June, Aug, Oct,
Dec) and will meet 6 times in 2021 (Feb, Apr, June, Aug, Oct, Dec). The
Federal Systems Team (FST) regularly communicates with McKinney-
Vento (MV) liaisons through regular office hours, technical assistance,
and newsletters. The FST surveyed MV liaisons on their needs for the
year and how ODE can support their efforts.
The Department will continue to engage with this group and through
targeted engagement sessions to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Children and youth The Department has conducted ongoing engagement with
in foster care representatives of the Department of Human Services and student
advocacy groups. This is an opportunity for more targeted
engagement going forward. The Federal systems team also engaged
Foster Care Points of Contacts and liaisons on how to best support
students who are in the Foster care system. The FST surveyed Foster
Care Points of Contact on their needs for the year and how ODE can
support their efforts.
The Department will develop a system to specifically engage with this
group across multiple initiatives and to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Children who are The Department has conducted ongoing engagement with
incarcerated representatives of the Youth Development Division and student
advocacy groups. This is an opportunity for more targeted
engagement going forward.
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The Department will develop a system to specifically engage with this
group across multiple initiatives and to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Black and African The Department has engaged with the African American/Black
American Students Student Success Group multiple times since March 2020. The group
met 5 times in 2020 (Feb, Apr, June, Nov, Dec) and has already met 5
times in 2021 (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May) with ongoing monthly
meetings scheduled.
The group helped draft the African American/Black Student Success
Plan that was adopted by the State Board of Education.
The Department will continue to engage with this group and through
targeted engagement sessions to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Migratory Students The Department meets with our Migrant Education Community,
including the Oregon Migrant Education Service Center and
representatives from Oregon’s 19 regions multiple times a
month. The Department also meets with the state parent advisory
council on a monthly basis. Throughout these meetings we discuss
opportunities and strategies to support our migrant students and
families and how to address complications caused by the pandemic.
The Department will continue to support our migrant education
community throughout the next year. We are preparing to host a
series of listening sessions to gather input and feedback from our
regions, families and districts on how to strengthen existing supports
and meet the strengths and needs of our students.
LGBTQIA2S+ The Department has engaged with the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success
Students Group multiple times since March 2020.
The group helped draft the LGBTQ2SIA+ Student Success Plan that was
adopted by the State Board of Education.
The Department will continue to engage with this group and through
targeted engagement sessions to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Latinx Students The Department has engaged with the Latino/a/x & Indigenous
Student Success Advisory Group multiple times since March 2020. The
group met 8 times in 2020 (Feb, April x2, May, June, Aug, Oct, Dec)
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and has met 5 times in 2021 so far (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, June).
The group helped draft the Latino/a/x & Indigenous Student Success
Plan that was adopted by the State Board of Education.
The Department will continue to engage with this group and through
targeted engagement sessions to inform ESSER III state-level
strategies.
Additionally, the Department worked with Oregon’s Multi-Agency
COVID-19 Response Committee and key stakeholders to draft the
MAC Guidance for COVID-19 Impact on OR Latinx & Indigenous
Communities
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Appendix H: Student Investment Account Guidance
Please see attachment titled “Appendix H SIA Comprehensive Guidance.”
Appendix I: Data Collections Catalog
Please see attachment titled “Appendix I Data Collections Catalog.”
Appendix J. Oregon’s Kitchen Table Summary
Please see attachment titled “Appendix J Oregon’s Kitchen Table – ESSER III Set Aside Investments:
Refinement Roundtables.”
Appendix K: Oregon ESSER III Set Aside Investment Plan
Please see attachment titled “Appendix K Oregon ESSER III Set Aside Investment Plan.”
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