The ECEP leadership team sent the following letter on June 4th to our ECEP state leaders and supporters. We are posting our statement here to open dialogue and invite participation in our work to broaden participation in computing, which can only be done if we work collaboratively to dismantle systemic racism.

Stepping into year nine of the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance, the leadership team developed a new Theory of Change, and recently added a fifth stage to the ECEP How to Change at State model, originally developed by Mark Guzdial, Rick Adrion, Barbara Ericson and Renee Fall. Both of these models reflect past ECEP efforts and position ECEP to adapt to the evolving needs of state teams working to broaden participation in computing (BPC) through advocacy and policy reform efforts.

RESPECT 2020, the 5th international conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology was held virtually on Wednesday, March 11th. Making a quick transition from the planned in-person format to a virtual format, we applaud the leadership taken in these unprecedented times by the organizing committee, and especially the general chairs Christina Gardner-McCune (UF) and Nicki Washington (Winthrop). This year’s theme was “Learning from the past. Building for the future.” In retrospect, it was probably not intended to reference the massive effort that it would take to flip the entire conference in less than …

ECEP is proud to support the broadening participation in computing (BPC) community by releasing a new 5-stage model for state-level computer science education advocates to utilize as they scale their work.

This month, ECEP co-hosted CSEdCon, a 500-person event in which participants explored K-12 computer science pathways, developed implementation plans for their district or region, learned about CS curriculum offerings, and worked together towards advancing state-level policies. The event, spearheaded by Code.org and in partnership with ECEP and CSTA, was held on Wednesday, September 11, 2019 through Friday, September 13, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Code.org invited the ECEP Alliance and the CSTA to co-author the 2019 State of Computer Science Education Report, which focuses on state-level progress in broadening participation in computing. You can access the report here. ECEP state leadership teams are highlighted throughout.

In the fall of 2016 the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance principal investigators and co-principal investigators Rick Adiron, Mark Guzdial, Barbara Ericson, and Renee Fall put out a call to ECEP state teams with the aim of transitioning ECEP leadership. Prior to ECEP first receiving funding from the National Science Foundation, the PIs and Co-PIs worked on various broadening participation in computing efforts in Massachusetts and Georgia. Ready to pursue new research projects, they decided to seek new state leaders to continue and grow the ECEP Alliance. By late summer 2018, a new leadership team for ECEP 2.0 was …

Mark Guzdial, professor in the School of Interactive Computing in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology, will give two public talks at UMass Amherst April 25 and 26.

Ten ECEP states will host summits on computing education this spring and summer, six of which are funded by ECEP mini-grants. Alabama, Connecticut, Maryland, Nevada, North Carolina, and Utah will all host convenings of diverse stakeholders between March and June. For Connecticut, Nevada, and Utah, this will be their first ECEP-specific gathering focusing the agenda on broadening participation in computing. Maryland and North Carolina plan to reach new audiences with their next summits, as they continue to advance their strategic efforts. Specifically, North Carolina is hosting a summit in a rural part of the state to ensure the entire state …

ECEP co-principal investigator Barbara Ericson presented her paper, Helping Underrepresented Students Succeed in AP CSA and Beyond, along with Tom McKlin of The Findings Group, at the recent SIGCSE Technical Symposium. The paper showcases the results from an alumni study of Ericson’s Project Rise Up 4 CS program that helps underrepresented students succeed at Advanced Placement (AP) CSA.