New Reports on STEM Diversity Acknowledge ECEP

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    Two new reports on issues of diversity in STEM credit ECEP and co-PI Barbara Ericson with contributions.

    In February 2015, Advancing Equity through More and Better STEM Learning was released by The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. The 32-page report includes chapters on computer science education, women in STEM, and gaps in educational opportunities for students of color. The creators of the report interviewed Barbara Ericson, ECEP co-PI, and quote her in several places. Among its recommendations for national, state, and local policymakers, the report includes “States should also work collaboratively with each other and with postsecondary educators to create standards for high school computer science classes, to design trainings and a certification program for computer science teachers, and to ‘count’ computer science as a core academic subject” (p. 26).

    Level Playing Field Institute, an Oakland, CA nonprofit committed to eliminating the barriers faced by underrepresented people of color in STEM, issued a report in May 2015 that lists the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance as a “promising practice” in the area of policy. Path Not Found:  Disparities in Computer Science Course Access in California High Schools also acknowledges the work of the Alliance for California Computing Education for Students and Schools (ACESS), an ECEP-collaborating state organization, and includes California ECEP lead Debra Richardson and Julie Flapan, ACCESS executive director, as assisting in compiling the report.