October 1 marked one year since CUE became CALIE. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to helping educators lead from where they are, whether that’s a classroom or a district office. In CALIE’s first year, that support grew to include a formal leadership credential, a framework for evaluating the technology schools already use, and the first board to serve entirely under the new name.
The rename: from CUE to CALIE
When CUE was founded in 1978, its mission was to expand access to emerging technology and build a community of educators who support each other. For more than four decades, CUE members exchanged ideas at conferences, learned from each other’s experience, and leaned on one another through times of change. Many found their path to leadership there.
“I have been a CUE member for a very long time, and it is because of CUE that I am sitting in this seat today as the Chief Technology Officer for my school district.”
— Laurie Wong Roberts, West Contra Costa USD, CALIE board secretary
We knew the CUE name carried significant weight in the education community, and changing it would raise real concerns among members. When CUE started, schools were gaining access to new technology and needed the know-how to use it. Today the tools are already there, and the work has grown to include how schools adapt, how teachers lead, and how educators support each other. CALIE’s name reflects that wider work.
“A community for every educator, not just those that are interested in technology.”
— Christine Feenstra, CALIE Executive Director
Our new programs build on CUE’s history of supporting educators who lead. For the longer story behind the name change, read Our Name Changed, But Our Work Continues.
Leadership that reaches beyond the classroom
In March, CALIE’s first cohort of Certified Educators was recognized on stage at Spring CUE 2026, our annual conference. The credential is built for educators who already lead from where they are, and each participant builds a capstone project around a real challenge in their own school or district. Sixteen of the 17 capstone projects were designed to influence learning beyond a single classroom, reaching schools, districts, county offices, and families. One graduate identified an estimated $11,100 in annual support costs and designed a district process to prevent those costs before technology is purchased.
Frank Parker, an instructional technology TOSA at Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento, came to the cohort after more than 20 years as a classroom teacher. He had found a digital citizenship platform and was told to grow it teacher by teacher, but it never caught on. The program gave him the confidence to draft a policy to bring digital citizenship and media literacy lessons to students in his district. Joe Johnson, a technology and IT services staff member at Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District, initially hesitated to call himself a leader.
“I never thought of myself as a ‘Leader’ in my position, I am much more comfortable in a support role, helping the leader be successful. But I learned that advocating for something that you feel strongly about is also critical ‘leadership’.”
— Joe Johnson, Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District
Participants work through leadership and systems-change frameworks in expert-led sessions, with personalized coaching and a cohort of peers. Each capstone becomes an Innovation Leadership Plan, with a needs assessment, a clear vision, a roadmap, and metrics to measure progress, that graduates can put to work in their district, show their leaders, or bring to interviews and promotion conversations. Participants can also earn graduate-level extension credit through the University of San Diego at additional cost. Learn more about the CALIE Certified Educator program.
The credential formalizes the leadership CUE and CALIE members have shown for decades. The second cohort begins this month.
A new board, elected by members
One Certified Educator cohort graduate is now helping shape the future of CALIE itself. Rudy Escobar, STEM and Computer Science Coordinator at the Stanislaus County Office of Education, earned his credential with the first cohort and was elected to CALIE’s board by our members this spring. On July 1, he and four other newly elected directors from California classrooms, charter schools, districts, and county offices joined four continuing board members to form the first board to serve entirely under the CALIE name.
They succeed Neda Anasseri, Heidi Carr, Denise Douglas, Tisha Richmond, and Laura Spencer, who guided the organization through the move from CUE to CALIE. We’re grateful for their leadership. Spencer, a past board president, marked her 24th year with the organization at Spring CUE 2026.
“This year I actually am seeing new faces. The work we’ve done the past six years has opened the doors to a new group of teachers, to new people, new challenges, new futures for them.”
— Laura Spencer, Former CUE Board President
Year-round tools for leading change
Teachers work with a growing mix of platforms and products, often with no shared way to tell which ones actually help students learn. In February, CALIE published the Effective Technology Guidelines, a framework built by California educators and available for free on CALIE’s website. It helps school and district teams evaluate the technology they already own across five domains, from Learning Impact and Engagement to Data, Ethics & Sustainability, and decide what to keep, refine, or invest in. Educators and leaders from 42 schools, districts, county offices, and other education organizations have signed up for the first pilot cohort, and CALIE also directly supports districts in applying the framework.
“What California education needs now is discernment, not just adoption.”
— Christopher Hoang, CALIE Board President
In March, CALIE launched Live Labs, free monthly online workshops for members. From March through October, each month’s sessions have focused on one classroom challenge, from AI assistants for teachers to authentic assessment in the AI era. Each topic runs across two sessions. Educators learn a strategy in the first session, try it in their own classroom or school, and come back to the second session to share what they made.
For educators guiding AI decisions in their schools and districts, the AI Leadership Academy brings a cohort together with each participant building a strategic plan for AI in their own school or district. A cohort is underway now, and the next one begins in February.
Partners building with CALIE
The California Department of Education combined its 2026 California STEAM Symposium with Spring CUE 2026, bringing two education communities together for three days in Palm Springs. CAST, the nonprofit that developed the Universal Design for Learning framework, hosted UDL-Con, its gathering on Universal Design for Learning and accessible technology, inside the same conference. UDL-Con California returns inside Spring Forward 2027, with two dedicated UDL session rooms running all three conference days and two CAST workshops on March 17, the day before.
Looking ahead to Spring Forward 2027
In 2027, Spring CUE becomes Spring Forward, CALIE’s annual conference, March 18 to 20 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Every session is aligned to a domain from the Effective Technology Guideline, so teams go home with a shared way to evaluate the tools on their own campuses. If you stepped away during the change, the community you knew as CUE is still here, and more than 1,000 new members have joined it since CUE became CALIE.
“I’m speaking to the old-timers who came back, took a break… hearing them say, wow, I really feel seen. I feel welcome.”
— Traci Bonde, CALIE Board Treasurer
We’re looking forward to seeing you in Palm Springs. Early pricing ends November 1. Register for Spring Forward 2027.