Step 1: Create the Sex Education Rollout Plan

Results

  • Sex education implementation goals and objectives defined
  • Sex education curriculum selected, procured, adapted and adopted

The sex education rollout plan sets the vision and provides the details for sex education implementation and sustainability.  The final plan may be a collection of documents including, but not limited to, sex education curriculum, policy, procedures, curriculum scope and sequence, implementation timeline, staff responsibilities, professional development requirements and annual budget.  The sex education rollout plan should be easily understood by school district stakeholders to ensure there is a shared understanding of sex education at the school district among current and future staff.  

Tips

  1. Get a grasp of current sex education implementation and determine the school district’s sex education goals and intentions.

    Work with your sex education team to envision and then define what sex education will look like in the school district as a result of your work together. This includes determining what grade levels will receive sex education, how sex education will be built into the school day (e.g., via a PE course? health course?) and who will be responsible for teaching sex education. 

     

    Be sure that your sex education team is set up for successful participation. Bolster your team’s ability to understand, participate in, and support CSE institutionalization planning. Consider offering training to school district administrators, and others involved, so that they can contribute to planning with a strong understanding of the value of sex education and how sex education ties into academic goals.

  2. Review applicable education standards; map and align potential curricula to standards.

    Involve an interdisciplinary team to choose potential sex education curricula and then conduct mapping and alignment of potential curricula to applicable standards and policies to identify the degree to which sex education curricula meet local, state, and federal guidance. Include a plan for the timing of sex education delivery and its placement within the school day and school year.

  3. Integrate sex education with educational standards.

    Educational standards are commonplace in public education. They provide clear expectations about what students should know and be able to do at the conclusion of specific grade levels. Consider using the Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool or the National Sexuality Education Standards mapping and alignment tool along with your individual state standards, if applicable.  

  4. Select, procure, adapt, and adopt curriculum.

    Based on the mapping and alignment exercise, select a curriculum that is appropriate for the student population and grade levels, and that meets the requirements and needs of the district. Be sure to consider the costs of the materials and any training requirements the curriculum provider has in place.  This curriculum assessment tool can help. 

     

    Make sure you engage the right stakeholders before you commit to curricula. Curriculum adoption is a significant decision point and it is worth engaging a larger group of stakeholders beyond the core sex education team to vet and approve curricula adoption. Having the support of teachers and parents for sex education curricula adoption will facilitate the use of these instructional materials in classrooms. Be aware of and responsive to any school district instructional materials adoption requirements such as board approval. Avoid selecting curricula that are not feasible to implement due to such factors as cost, training requirements and accessibility, number of lessons and program intensity.