In 2021, the passage of Assembly Bill 167 launched the High-Quality Online Instructional Materials (HQOIM) initiative with the aim of expanding equitable access to standards-aligned instructional resources, reducing costs and supporting instructional continuity across California.
The Legislature directed the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE), in consultation with the California Department of Education, to evaluate the initiative and provide feedback for its continuation. The analysis is detailed in a recent report.
The initiative focused on four core areas outlined in statute:
- Vetting and curating instructional resources: Creating transparent processes to define, review and publish high-quality, standards-aligned materials.
- Professional learning: Delivering institutes, workshops and communities of practice to strengthen teacher capacity to design and use high-quality lessons.
- Repository development: Leveraging the California Educators Together website as the central hub for instructional materials and professional learning resources.
- Equity and access: Ensuring educators throughout the state can access and contribute to the platform.
CCEE enlisted the Kern County Superintendent of Schools office to be the lead on professional learning, lesson development and statewide teacher engagement. Together, they worked with the technical partner, One Learning Community, to maintain and enhance the platform hosted on the California Educators Together website.
Over three years evaluated, the HQOIM initiative has delivered measurable progress, building systems that honor educator expertise, expanding access to resources and creating cost efficiencies for the state. More than 6,000 lesson plans have been vetted and posted, which cover 43 percent of California’s state standards, with resources designed for teachers and aligned with equity goals such as universal design for learning and supports for English learners.
Kern County designed and facilitated Lesson Design Institutes, building statewide teacher leadership and capacity in lesson development. It also designed specialized initiatives to reach rural districts, English learner educators and the California School for the Deaf. It also increased engagement through “strategic social media” and a focused podcast to feature teacher developed lessons, “increasing organic reach to the education community,” according to the analysis.
Significant cost savings were realized by using an already existing platform to house the initiative, while significant improvements were made to its search functions based on teacher feedback, according to the analysis. “Costs per vetted lesson plan decreased by 79 percent, while participation increased by 38 percent from platform enhancement and maintaining quality while scaling,” the analysis states.
Currently, more than 200,000 educators are registered for the site statewide. Engagement on the platform more than doubled between 2023 and 2025, surpassing 100,000 user interactions in early 2025 alone; as of June 2025, 156 districts had at least 20 classroom educators regularly engaged with California Educators Together, with some districts showing more than 100 users engaged, according to the analysis.
“Together, these outcomes illustrate the power of statewide collaboration. Teachers have created and shared lessons on an unprecedented scale, professional learning has reached every corner of the state, and the platform itself has become a trusted hub for instructional quality,” concludes the analysis.
