The Oregon Department of Education issued new guidance for distance learning for kindergarten through grade 8 students on Wednesday, April 22.
The K-8 rules are the most recent in a series of guidance documents issued by ODE with the authority granted by Gov. Kate Brown’s school closure executive order 20-08.
The guidance focuses on the mental, social and emotional needs of K-8 students, with an overt direction to prioritize family and community engagement and student well-being. Programmatically, the guidance is notable because it requires a pass or incomplete marking system (or the local equivalent) for report cards.
OSBA joined a number of education stakeholder groups to deliver an official response. The statement supports the ODE guidance, saying, “The use of a pass/incomplete system allows students to continue to move forward with their education while ensuring that students who are unable to thrive under the distance learning model due to their economic or technological barriers are not permanently penalized for circumstances beyond their control.”
Indeed, the guidance document states: “Students who have been pushed to the edge of our system carry the disproportionate weight of meeting graduation requirements. It is incumbent upon each of us as educators to acknowledge the predictable inequities in our system and be held accountable to collective action.”
ODE has posted a variety of resources, including the most current guidance for all grade levels, at its Distance Learning for All webpage.
