Lead Agencies and Special Initiatives make up the CA Statewide System of Support (SSOS) and represent the broad scope of activities and resources to support local educational agencies (LEAs). For a searchable directory of SSOS leads and initiatives, please visit the System of Support Resource Hub
.
Lead Agencies and Initiatives
Geographic Lead Agencies
The Geographic Lead Agencies are primarily responsible for building the capacity of county offices of education (COEs) to ensure that counties are equipped to build the capacity of their LEAs to support the continuous improvement of student performance within the state priorities.
21st Century California School Leadership Academy
The 21st Century California School Leadership Academy provides high-quality professional learning for administrators and other school leaders. Programs are no-cost to participants and include leadership coaching, as well as an emphasis on improving instruction and achievement outcomes for English Learners, students with disabilities, low-income students, and other historically marginalized students.
California Community Schools Partnership Program
The California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) supports schools' efforts to partner with community agencies and local government to align community resources to improve student outcomes. The CCSPP is supported by a system of support that includes a Lead Technical Assistance Center (TAC), eight Regional TACs, and multiple COEs.
California Dyslexia Initiative
The California Dyslexia Initiative (CDI) ended in June of 2024. CDI goals included building capacity in the SSOS to provide early intervention services for students with specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia; identifying effective models for identification and treatment of specific learning disabilities and delivering professional development on evidence-based instruction and strategies informed by research. Resources developed and identified by the CDI are still available at the CDI
web page and California Educators Together
.
California Early Math Initiative
The goal of the California Early Math Initiative is to continue to support a statewide early math initiative that includes the development, identification, and distribution of early math resources, professional learning and coaching for educators, and mathematical learning opportunities for children.
California Literacy
Reading by Third Grade and Beyond is a key part of State Superintendent Tony Thurmond’s Transforming School Initiatives. California Literacy offers guidance and resources for teachers and families in Preschool through twelfth (P–12) grade schools regarding California’s approach to literacy instruction which is grounded in the science of reading, learning, and development, including decades of research applicable to our diverse and multilingual learners. As a dynamic state with extraordinary global influence and unsurpassed cultural and linguistic resources, California is committed to ensuring that students are reading by third grade and are fully literate when they graduate from high school.
Community Engagement Initiative Lead Agencies
The Community Engagement Initiative
Lead Agency Lead Agency builds capacity in communities and LEAs and schools in order to expand successful community engagement practices statewide. More information can also be found on the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence
website.
Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant
As part of the federal 2019 Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant Program (CLSD), the seven grantees, known as the Literacy Lead Agencies (LLA), have worked to build expertise in the priorities identified in the State Literacy Plan (SLP)(PDF) through multi-year small-scale pilot projects with local districts. Each LLA is building professional learning networks and providing technical assistance to increase local capacity in implementing effective literacy instruction. The LLAs will sunset their grant work in September of 2025 after a no-cost time extension. California has recently been awarded a 2024 CLSD Grant, which will run from October 2024 through September 2029. During the new grant period, the SLP will be updated and revised, and a new grant competition will name LLAs in 2025.
Educator Workforce Investment Grant Program
The Educator Workforce Investment Grant program provides free professional learning opportunities for teachers and paraprofessionals across the state for implementation of the Effective Language Acquisition Programs and Special Education.
Equity Leads
The Equity Leads are primarily responsible for leading the identification of opportunities, actions, and services to meet the needs of all pupils in California. The Equity Leads will partner with state LEAs to identify and implement resources (including support for educator preparation, recruitment, retention, and professional development) and monitor the impact of the implementation of Local Control and Accountability Plan goals. Equity Leads will prioritize support to schools receiving Equity Multiplier funding.
Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists Educator Training Grant
As part of the Literacy Coaches and Reading Specialists (LCRS) grant program, the two lead county offices for the LCRS Educator Training (LCRSET) grant, Sacramento and Napa COE, provide professional learning opportunities for sites that received LCRS funds. These opportunities include developing site literacy plans, training for current and aspiring literacy coaches, administrators, and site literacy teams, and opportunities for educators to earn a specialist credential or added authorization, including bilingual authorizations. The LCRSET grant uses a hub structure to support over 800 school sites throughout the state. More information on the hubs as well as a project overview and timeline can be found on the CDE's LCRS web page.
Local Control and Accountability Plan
The Local Control and Accountabliy Plan (LCAP) is a three-year plan that describes the goals, actions, services, and expenditures to support positive student outcomes that address state and local priorities. The LCAP provides an opportunity for LEAs (COE, school districts, and charter schools) to share their stories of how, what, and why programs and services are selected to meet their local needs.
Local Control Funding Formula
The Local Control Funding Formula is hallmark legislation that fundamentally changed how all LEAs in the state are funded, how they are measured for results, and the services and supports they receive to allow all students to succeed to their greatest potential.
Mathematics, Science, Computer Science Professional Learning Grant
The California Mathematics, Science, Computer Science (CAL-MSCS) is a comprehensive, multi-agency system designed to provide a sustainable, impactful professional learning infrastructure for mathematics, science, and computer science educators from across the state. The CAL-MSCS vision is to ensure that each and every California educator experiences the professional learning and support they need to provide a high-quality mathematics, science, and computer science education for all California students. Please go to the CAL-MSC
website to find where you can access the professional learning opportunities offered by the CAL-MSCS.
Multi-Tiered System of Support
The Scaling Up Multi-Tiered System of Support Statewide Initiative
provides resources, professional learning opportunities, and funding for LEAs to align academic, behavioral, and social-emotional supports to serve the whole child.
Reading Instruction and Intervention Grant
Through the Reading Instruction and Intervention grant program, Project Accelerating Reading Intervention for Systemic Excellence (Project ARISE) provides both statewide and local professional learning opportunities for kindergarten through grade twelve educators in the areas of evidence-based literacy instruction and intensive literacy intervention, including support of pupils’ executive functioning skills.
Special Education Resource Leads
The Special Education Resource Leads consist of seven grantees chosen to provide specific expertise on special education issues within the statewide system of support. The Special Education Resources Leads were selected with the following focuses in mind: Universal Design for Learning, Capacity Builder, Individualized Education Programs Best Practices, Alternative Dispute Resolution, and English Learners.
Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning
The Statewide System of Support for Expanded Learning is the technical assistance network for supporting expanded learning programs funded by the After School Education and Safety Program, the 21st Century Community Learning Program, and the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program throughout California.
Title III COE Regional English Learner Specialists
The Title III COE Regional English Learner Specialists, provide technical assistance within assigned regions, equipping LEAs with resources and tools to support the development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies that ensure all typologies of English Learner (EL) students have the resources needed to succeed. The work of the Regional COE EL Specialists is informed by the California English Learner Roadmap Policy.
Universal PreKindergarten
Universal Prekindergarten is an early learning initiative with the goal of expanding access to prekindergarten programs across California through the mixed delivery system the year before Kindergarten.