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The Washington State Legislature, through Senate Bill 5395, requires districts to use "speakers, curriculum and materials" that are medically and scientifically accurate and otherwise in compliance with the provisions of the law.
The AIDS Omnibus Act requires that HIV materials be medically accurate, as determined by the Office on AIDS, which is housed at the Washington Department of Health (DOH).
In partnership with DOH, OSPI conducts regular reviews of instructional materials to support districts in meeting state requirements for the delivery of sexual health education, including HIV prevention education.
Sexual Health Education Curriculum Reviews assess instructional materials for consistency with the Guidelines for Sexual Health Information and Disease Prevention and other provisions of Senate Bill 5395, as well as requirements in the AIDS Omnibus Act. The reports are meant to assist local school districts in considering the adequacy of curricula currently being used and those under consideration for use.
OSPI does not "approve" or recommend curricula or other instructional materials. Districts are encouraged to review all instructional materials before adoption/use to ensure their suitability for use in the district. OSPI is unable to provide access to copyrighted materials. Most publishers will provide districts with temporary access to materials for review purposes. Contact information for publishers is provided in each curriculum review.
Inclusion of a title in a review does not constitute "approval" for district use. Please see comments and scores to determine consistency. Exclusion of a title in a review does not constitute lack of consistency with state requirements, as we have limited resources for each review.
The following list includes titles reviewed in 2015, 2017, and 2019 – titles reviewed in 2009 and 2011 may have been revised since those reviews were conducted or may no longer be medically or scientifically accurate. Districts that are using or who want to use these titles (or titles that have not been reviewed) may use instructional materials review instruments to assess current suitability for use. Medical accuracy reviews should be conducted by the Washington Department of Health or a local health department content expert, in accordance with state law.
2015-19 Reviewed SHE Instructional Materials List
For general guidance on selecting instructional materials, please visit OSPI's Instructional Material Reviews and Supports page and our Sexual Health Education Resources page.
For information about why and how instructional materials reviews are conducted, see About the State-Level Sexual Health Education Curriculum Reviews.
Tools for district review of instructional materials:
Erin’s Law charged OSPI with reviewing curricula related to sexual abuse/sexual violence prevention. With the assistance of a panel of expert reviewers representing school districts and community-based sexual abuse prevention specialists, the Erin’s Law Curriculum Review was completed in 2018.