California Educators Together
The California Department of Education's official repository of the high-quality instructional materials initiative, California Educators Together platform, as well as the legislation that authorized the initiative.During the pandemic, just like our students, educators were no longer able to collaborate in person with their peers. The California Department of Education (CDE) saw this as a challenge that needed to be solved. In January of 2021, the CDE, in collaboration with the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, launched California Educators Together (CaET)
, an online platform designed to streamline communication between educators and allow them to access and share a vast library of educational content, resources, strategies, and support.
Today, California Educators Together is a community of practice platform designed to provide educators, administrators, specialists, and state program leads a common space to communicate, share strategies, as well as share and access resources. Educators across the state use California Educators Together to access thousands of free, high-quality, lesson plans and classroom resources, while the CDE uses it to provide outreach and technical assistance on initiatives.
High Quality Instructional Materials Initiative
In 2021 the Legislation declared that educators and pupils need access to high-quality online instructional materials to help reduce costs, provide equitable opportunities for pupils, and provide opportunities for the sharing of best practices and collaboration among staff. The Statewide System of Support should include resources to help identify high-quality online instructional materials, such as free open-source materials and platforms, and provide a repository for local educational agencies (LEAs) and educators. The Legislation passed Assembly Bill 130
, Section 144 (Statutes of 2021) of the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill that authorized the CDE and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to designate a county office of education to curate high-quality instructional materials for use by LEAs and to be housed on California Educators Together.
The High-Quality Instructional Materials Initiative provides a transparent process for vetting materials to ensure quality and alignment with state academic standards, and the creation of standardized rubrics for review of materials. This initiative supports the curation of easy-to-use resources, the development and maintenance of a repository of identified materials on California Educators Together and provides guidance and resources for LEAs and educators regarding implementation and use of open educational resources, including professional learning opportunities and opportunities for collaboration among peers.