County Office of Education Innovation Hub

GOALS

• COE IH members will invest in our theory of change that COEs are an important part of the systemic integration process.
• Serve as a backbone for the broader ecosystem of environmental literacy in our regions.
• Produce high quality tools that can be used by schools, districts, and stakeholders to make progress toward environmental literacy.
• Support the hiring and work of a dedicated environmental literacy coordinator in each of the state’s 58 counties.

PROJECTS & WORKING GROUPS

This initiative includes the following key projects:

• COE Community of Practice: This community of practice (COP) brings together staff from a variety of roles representing County Offices of Education (COEs) across the state to engage in shared learning that surfaces and solves common issues related to expanding access to environmental literacy and sustainability education. Members meet every two months.
• COE Fellowship: The CAELI COE Fellowship is a nine month fellowship that supports County Office of Education (COE) employees to launch (or further develop) a robust Environmental Literacy and Sustainability Initiative that drives change across a school or district’s campuses, curriculum, community, and culture. Each fellow drafts a 3-5 year vision, plan, and budget for their initiative, and identify actionable next steps for their first year. Check out case studies from past cohorts here: 2022-23 and 2023-24.
• Conference Meet-Ups: This working group aims to maintain a CAELI presence at the February CISC conference, including a booth and structured networking events, and identify other opportunities for in-person meet-ups. Check out a recap of this meet-up at the 2024 conference here.
• AB285 Toolkit: This project is a completion of the introductory tool to support county offices of education, districts, and schools to understand the requirements of AB285 and begin taking next steps for implementing appropriate climate change curriculum.
• District Conversation Guide: This group aims to create a resource document for COE staff to discuss environmental literacy and sustainability initiatives with districts.

RESOURCES

• Educating Every California Student In, About, and For the Environment: A Call to Action for County, District, and Educational Leaders (2020) – This details how environmental literacy supports district and state goals around Local Control Accountability Plans and the California Multi-Tiered System of Support, including basic services, standards implementation, course access, universal design for learning, parent involvement, student engagement, school climate, culturally responsive teaching, student achievement, and social–emotional learning.
• Call to Action for Educators Webinar Series (2020) – This environmental literacy webinar series offers practical advice and effective strategies for education leaders to implement environmental literacy initiatives in their counties, districts, or schools.
• Tools for Environmental Literacy Webinar Series (2022) – CAELI invites you to a series of conversations with the authors of new resources to expand equitable access to environment-based learning experiences for students throughout California. Features the Teacher Call to Action Toolkit, State Seal of Civic Engagement Environmental Literacy Implementation Guide, and Community-Based Partner Network Toolkit.
• Community-Based Partner Network Toolkit (2021) – This toolkit has been designed to help county offices of education, school districts, and community-based partners establish and maintain networks to expand environmental literacy within California’s TK–12 educational landscape. The toolkit includes sections on types of community-based partners and networks, guidance for networks at different stages, self-assessment rubrics, and more.
• CAELI Partner Portal (2022) is supported by Green Guardians. The Portal promotes environmental literacy by building educator awareness of community-based partners (CBP) and their programs and resources and fosters educator-CBP relationships for increased student enrichment and engagement. The goals of the Hub are to increase the visibility and access to environmental education community-based partners and be a reliable central location for districts, schools, and teachers to identify programs that align with their local needs and meet educational standards.
• Teacher Call to Action Toolkit (2022) – A three-part publication developed for educators by educators. Part 1: The Imperatives for Environmental Literacy defines the field and recounts its development in California. Part 2: Voices from the Field presents case studies of effective instruction at every grade level. Part 3: Roadmap for Instruction describes steps to increase Environmental Literacy integration. Discussion and reflection questions in each section will help move along your practice, individually or with your colleagues.
• COE Leadership Case Studies (2022) – These Case Studies illustrate how the San Mateo County Office of Education and the Orange County Department of Education each took a unique systems approach to expanding access to environmental literacy and sustainability in their local contexts.
• The State Seal of Civic Engagement Environmental Literacy Implementation Guide (2022) is designed to support districts, schools, and teachers in using the lens of environmental literacy in implementing California’s State Seal of Civic Engagement. The guide includes sample student actions and resources for educators to use to support students in their efforts towards the Seal.