CCSSO Partnership Overview

The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO or the Council) is a nationwide, nonpartisan, nonprofit membership organization representing the public officials who head state departments of elementary and secondary education across the nation, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. In addition to chief state school officers, CCSSO works with state education agency (SEA) staff, including deputy superintendents of education, federal liaisons, communications directors and various programmatic personnel.

The Council works tirelessly to ensure every child receives the opportunity to excel before and after graduation. The Council is guided by an overarching aspiration which is to ensure that all students—regardless of background—are prepared for success in college, careers, and life. To realize this, we bring together dedicated leaders and exceptional ideas to achieve measurable progress for every student. Our work includes supporting states as they implement new standards, reinvent systems that develop effective teachers, explore and adopt new technologies, and navigate political turmoil—all in the pursuit of helping students succeed. We offer a trusted forum for members to collaborate, share, and demonstrate best practices while providing continuity and support to key SEA staff. At the national level, CCSSO forges state consensus on pressing education issues, advocating for policies and practices that represent states’ interests. For almost 90 years, CCSSO has been bringing together the top education leaders, including state policy leaders, education experts, and others, to create solutions on shared issues.

Our focus for 2017-2018 includes working with states and SEAs on implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as well as engaging in partnership with our members to advance specific strategies that ensure all students have meaningful pathways for success.

Our Partners
The Council's Business Partners comprise a select group of institutions and organizations that align and further the advancement of CCSSO’s mission and goals. CCSSO taps its partners’ expertise in areas such as education technology, assessment, research and analytics, curriculum development, and support for educators and leaders to help build the capacity of its membership. In turn, partners support professional development opportunities for Chiefs and SEAs by leveraging their human capital to better inform state policy decision making. Partners may have opportunities to network with chiefs and their key staff members through member meetings, participation in CCSSO initiatives, executive briefings, webinars, and other customized networking and programmatic efforts. Through this interaction and exchange of ideas, Council partners gain an understanding of key issues facing state education leaders while our SEA members benefit from exposure to new ideas, different perspectives, and innovative solutions.

	LEVEL 1	LEVEL 2
COST	$88,000	$68,000
Alternative Option	If agreeing to a two-year commitment, the fee is reduced to $166,000	If agreeing to a two-year commitment, the fee is reduced to $126,000

Collaborating to Build Capacity for What’s Next
CCSSO facilitates a community of peers and experts providing state education chiefs with guidance as they navigate their biggest challenges. As part of this work, CCSSO creates opportunities for states and partners to collaborate and focus on specific topic areas. These efforts ensure that the collective wisdom of states leads to more measurable progress for every student. In addition to the member meetings, partners may join the following consortia (for an additional fee). These consortia provide opportunities for states and partners to share and collect best practices, lessons learned, and strategies on specific issue areas. For 2017-2018, these collaboratives include:

• Education Information Management Advisory Consortium (EIMAC): EIMAC supports SEA leadership as they develop and deliver solutions that leverage data and technology to inform decision making around teaching and learning at all levels. Through EIMAC, SEA staff leverage collective state action to design robust and comprehensive state information systems; develop state capacity and practical resources for accessing, analyzing, and using timely information effectively; and lead collaborative state, national, and international efforts to examine trends and patterns in education to support the chief’s policy priorities and reform strategies.

• State Collaboratives on Assessment and Student Standards (SCASS): CCSSO supports 11 topically-focused SCASS networks based on member needs at the state level, relating to academic standards, assessment, and accountability structures—three of the most powerful drivers of student success.

• Teaching, Leading, & Learning Collaborative (TLLC): CCSSO’s new TLLC collaborative will focus on teacher and leader development, and college and career-ready standards. The Implementing College and Career Ready Standards (ICCS) and National and State Consortium on Educator Effectiveness (NSCEE) will no longer exist independently. Instead, we are merging the two networks in order to make stronger connections across standards and talent management departments. The intent of the Teaching, Leading, & Learning Collaborative is to emphasize the connectivity between standards implementation and the teacher and leader talent pipeline required to provide high quality instruction to each student. The TLLC will support states as they identify and take action on policies aimed at comprehensive approaches to improving teachers and leaders’ instructional practices.

Partnership Status	Price per Collaborative
Level 1 CCSSO Business Partner	$11,500
Level 2 CCSSO Business Partner	$13,000
Non-CCSSO Business Partner	$16,000

For more information please contact Jacob Bruno, Director of Partner Relations, at jacob.bruno@ccsso.org.