CCSSO’s Digital Excellence Collaborative Community 

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is supporting state education agencies (SEAs) as they lead the transformation to digital teaching and learning. CCSSO assists states in working with critical partners to ensure access to broadband connectivity, resources, tools and high-quality digital instructional materials.

To maintain momentum and build on successes, CCSSO formed a Digital Excellence Collaborative Community (DECC) comprised of state leads in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming. It also includes representatives from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), Education Superhighway, the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Digital Promise, The Learning Accelerator, the Fresno Unified School District, Verizon, ATT, Learn Platform, Classlink and Resultant.

This community leverages existing resources and identifies gaps where new tools and resources are needed to effectively maintain momentum on digital initiatives. It works to leverage and create resources for states, districts and communities to inform policy, practice and progress.

The community’s strategic direction aligns seamlessly with the objectives of CCSSO’s Education Information Management Advisory Collaborative (EIMAC), a longstanding consortium comprising Chief Information Officers and their teams from state education agencies and influential entities in the education data technology domain.  EIMAC has worked for more than 30 years to advance education data, technology and digital learning excellence, and to securely modernize state’s education technology frameworks.

DECC Initiatives
The National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA) launched the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program in 2024. – In a continuing effort to address the digital divide, CCSSO partnered with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology, the American Library Association, Common Sense Media and other community partner organizations on a webinar series to help prepare the K-12 community for the grant program.  

The Community’s active members have access to a robust resource bank to facilitate shared learning. Explore some examples from the states below:

• California’s district readiness tool 
• Connecticut’s broadband mapping tool 
• Idaho’s digital access plan  
• Idaho’s digital learning resource 
  

DECC Mini Grant Program
In April of 2025, CCSSO awarded 10 states Digital Excellence Mini Grants that aim to increase digital access, enhance digital literacy, foster robust learning environments and contribute to sustainable digital learning.

These projects address systemic challenges, pilot impactful learning models and contribute to a central resource repository for digital excellence.  All artifacts of the projects will be available for other states to guide and advance their own digital excellence projects through the DECC.

For membership information, or questions about the DECC, please contact Glenn Meyer, CCSSO Senior Project Manager.