California Department of Education

California is the largest state in the country, serving over 5.8 million public school students and 300,000 teachers, in over 1,000 school districts and 10,000 schools.

The California Department of Education‘s mission is to “provide a world-class education for all students, from early childhood to adulthood. The Department of Education serves our state by innovating and collaborating with educators, schools, parents, and community partners. Together, as a team, we prepare students to live, work, and thrive in a multicultural, multilingual, and highly connected world.”

Our partnership with the California Department of Education is moving environment-based learning into the classroom and beyond. We are proud to work with CDE on two fronts: leading Superintendent Torlakson’s Environmental Literacy Steering Committee to implement California’s Blueprint for Environmental Literacy, and to ensure that California’s Environmental Principles and Concepts are integrated in K–12 education statewide.

We partner with the California Department of Education on the following work:

Climate Change and Environmental Justice Program

The State of California invested $6 million to create curricular resources to help teachers promote students’ understanding of climate change and environmental justice, leading to action in their communities. The units will…

California Environmental Literacy Initiative

The California Environmental Literacy Initiative (CAELI), led by Ten Strands, works statewide with guidance from a Leadership Council to create systems change in support of ensuring that all students have access to…

Environmental Principles and Concepts

California's Environmental Principles and Concepts (EP&Cs) have a timely and relevant place in our state frameworks. Background: In 2003, the California Education and the Environment Initiative, Assembly Bill 1548, was passed by California’s…