Several ECEP members are presenting sessions at this week's 2016 CSTA conference in San Diego, California.  The conference runs July 10-12, 2016 at the Town and Country Resort & Convention Center.  Below, a preview of ECEP’s contributions to the event. Please see their websitefor more details.

Tuesday, July 11, 2016

10:00 am - 11:00 am
CS Matters in Maryland: A Collaborative CS Principles Course
Marie desJardins, Jan Plane, Megeab Garvin, Dianne O'Grady-Cunniff, Joe Greenwalt and Christina Morris

The NSF-funded "CS Matters in Maryland" project used a collaborative master teacher approach to develop a complete curriculum for AP™ CS Principles that emphasizes student collaboration, inquiry-directed learning, active student engagement, and differentiation to meet diverse students' needs. The theme of the course is data: how we collect, analyze, visualize, and use data in our networked world to solve problems and make informed decisions. In this session, we will describe the CS Principles framework, the CS Matters curriculum, our collaborative deelopment process, and our professional development approach for new teachers. The session will include a hands-on period to demonstrate a typical lesson in the course. We will also leave time for a question-and-answer session about our approach to CS Principles, how we have been working to deploy the curriculum to all high schools in Maryland, and our statewide efforts to improve K12 CS education.

1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Teachers' Voices In State-Level CS Education Reform
Renee Fall, Art Lopez, John Owen, Dianne O'Grady-Cunniff, David Petty, Chinma Uche, and Carol Yarbrough

Many states are now making educational policy decisions that will impact how CS is taught in the future. What standards are used? Which teachers are allowed to teach CS? What credentials must they have? How is professional development provided? Teachers must play a role in influencing state level CS education reform and making CS available to all students. But where are their voices heard? How do they get a seat at the table? This session brings together six teachers from different states involved in the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance (ECEP) to share stories fo their roles beyond their own classrooms and schools. Panelists will inspire educators to contribute their own voices to state-level reforms. Discussion will focus on lessons learned and tips for balancing advocacy with educators’ other roles.