Educator Workforce Investment Grant Program

Section 84 of the Education Omnibus Trailer Bill (Senate Bill 75) for the 2019–20 California State Budget established the Educator Workforce Investment Grant (EWIG) program to support one or more competitive grants for professional learning opportunities for teachers and paraprofessionals across the state. The legislation directed the California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE) to establish a process to select one or more institutions of higher education or nonprofit organizations to conduct activities in the following areas:

• Professional learning activities to implement the California English Learner Roadmap Policy
  
• Special education-related professional learning
  
• Professional learning for teachers and paraprofessionals statewide in the following areas:
  
  • Practices and strategies to create a positive school climate, including social-emotional learning and restorative justice
    
  • Strategies for providing high-quality instruction and computer science (CS) learning experiences aligned to the 2018 California Computer Science Content Standards (CA CS Content Standards)
    
  • Practices to support the 2020 Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum
    

Regretfully, due to the COVID-19 response, the Department of Finance requested that the funds allocated in the 2019 California State Budget for the EWIG Program: CS, the EWIG Program: Positive School Climate, Social-Emotional Learning, and Restorative Justice, and the EWIG Program: Ethnic Studies be returned and reallocated as deemed appropriate through the budget process.

Additional appropriations in subsequent fiscal years have allowed for sustained and expanded programming, including the reallocation of funds for professional learning to support high-quality instruction in CS. Activities are conducted in a manner that aligns with the statewide system of support, and, to the extent practicable, grantees coordinate activities with the California Subject Matter Projects.

Below you will find links to grant web pages, Requests for Applications (RFAs) timelines, contacts, program authorization, and additional information. New information and guidance will be added as it becomes available.

2022 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Effective Language Acquisition Programs Update

Assembly Bill 185, Chapter 571, Statutes of 2022, Section 55 of the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill for the 2022–23 California State Budget provides $10 million for the EWIG: Effective Language Acquisition Programs (ELAP), expanding the work of the 2019 EWIG EL Roadmap Policy Implementation Grant. As part of the EWIG program, the CDE and the CCEE provided the ELAP Professional Learning Grant RFA. The selected grantees, acting as a consortium, have become important members of the Statewide System of Support, providing professional learning activities designed to implement effective language acquisition programs for English learners, which may include integrated language development within and across content areas, building and strengthening capacity to implement the California EL Roadmap adopted by the State Board of Education in July 2017, and bilingual and biliterate proficiency. This EWIG: ELAP Professional Learning Grant will fund successful applicants between August 1, 2023, through June 30, 2025.

For more information on the EWIG: ELAP, please see the EWIG: ELAP web page.

2022 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Special Education Professional Learning Update

Assembly Bill 185, Chapter 571, Statutes of 2022, Section 55 of the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill for the 2022–23 California State Budget provides $10 million through the EWIG program for conducting professional learning activities focused on Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to improve inclusive practices for all pupils, including pupils with disabilities, in general education settings. This additional appropriation expands the work of the 2019 EWIG: Special-Education Related Professional Learning grant. As a part of the EWIG program, the CDE provided the Special Education Educator Workforce Investment Grant (SE-EWIG) RFA. The Placer County Office of Education (PCOE) was selected as the grantee. The PCOE adds to the Statewide System of Supports and targets its focus on improving inclusive practices for all pupils, including pupils with disabilities, in general education settings. Participants deepen their understanding of UDL with a focus on implementation and application both in the classroom and at the systems level. The SE-EWIG will fund PCOE between June 1, 2023, and June 30, 2025.

2023 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Computer Science Update

Assembly Bill 185, Chapter 571, Statutes of 2022, Section 55 of the Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill for the 2022–23 California State Budget provides $15 million for the 2023 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Computer Science (EWIG: CS), expanding on the work of the 2021 EWIG: CS. As part of the EWIG Program, the CDE provided the 2023 EWIG: CS RFA. The Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) was selected as the grantee to become an important member of the Statewide System of Support, providing targeted support focused on strategies for providing high-quality CS instruction and CS learning experiences aligned to the CA CS Content Standards developed pursuant to Education Code Section 60605.4. This 2023 EWIG: CS will fund SCOE to conduct these activities between May 1, 2023, through June 30, 2026.

For more information on the Seasons of CS professional learning model currently funded by the 2023 EWIG: CS, including upcoming professional learning opportunities for educators, please see the Seasons of CS website .

External evaluations for this program are conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and are posted publicly to the Evaluation of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant in Computer Science web page .

2021 Educator Workforce Investment Grant: Computer Science Update

The Budget Act of 2021, Item 6100-195-0001, provided $5 million on a one-time basis to establish the EWIG: CS. As part of the EWIG Program, the CDE provided the 2021 EWIG: CS RFA. The selected grantee, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), became an important member of the Statewide System of Support, providing targeted support focused on strategies for providing high-quality CS instruction and CS learning experiences aligned to the CA CS Content Standards developed pursuant to Education Code Section 60605.4. This EWIG: CS Professional Learning Grant funded UCLA $5 million to conduct these activities between March 3, 2022, through March 29, 2024. Grant activities have concluded.

Grant Web Pages and Timelines

EWIG Legislative Reports (Statutes of 2019)

• EWIG 2020 Legislative Report
• EWIG 2021 Legislative Report
• EWIG 2022 Legislative Report
• EWIG 2023 Legislative Report
• EWIG 2024 Legislative Report

EWIG Legislative Reports (Statutes of 2022)

• EWIG 2023 Legislative Report: Special Education and Effective Language Acquisition Programs Professional Learning
• EWIG: CS 2024 Legislative Report

Contacts

Program Authorization

Assembly Bill 185 (Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill of 2022)
Section 55 of the Education Omnibus Trailer Bill for the 2022–23 California State Budget Authorized $15 million through the 2024–25 fiscal year for the 2023 EWIG: CS Professional Learning Grant program.

Assembly Bill 128 (Budget Act of 2021)

Senate Bill 75 (Education Omnibus Budget Trailer Bill of 2019)
Section 84 of the Education Omnibus Trailer Bill (Senate Bill 75) for the 2019–20 California State Budget authorized $37,100,000 through the 2022–23 fiscal year for the EWIG program.

CDE June 28, 2019 News Release

Stakeholder Engagement

Webinar

During the webinar, stakeholders were asked to provide input on "critical areas" for professional learning related to each topic. The intended audience included educators, school and district administrators at all levels, county office staff, statewide and local educational agencies and organizations, and other interested stakeholders.

• Webinar Recording (Video; 2:43:51)

Stakeholder Input Survey

Stakeholders provided input on "critical areas" for professional learning for teachers and paraprofessionals through the EWIG Development Input Survey. The survey closed on October 25, 2019.