Three states received funding from the Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance (ECEP) to work toward bringing computer science (CS) education to underrepresented students through statewide activities. Mini-grants are a benefit for ECEP member states and provide resources for leaders to work toward systemic reforms in CS education.

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 website for more details.

Since joining ECEP last year, Puerto Rico has made significant progress in expanding access to computer science education. With an ECEP mini-grant, Puerto Rico provided support for a group teachers and faculty to participate in Exploring CS professional development workshops in Chicago and is translating Exploring CS into Spanish; the curriculum is being introduced to high schools in Puerto Rico this year.

The 2016 Maryland Computing Education Summit, funded by an ECEP minigrant with additional support from the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE),  welcomed over 200 teachers, administrators, legislators, and higher education and industry leaders.  From the welcome address by Dr. Jack Smith, Interim State Superintendent of Schools, to the keynote address by Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) President, the summit was clearly focused on the importance of revising P-12 computer science (CS) education, preparing more teachers, and addressing gaps between K-12 and college.

ECEP will be represented through a number of panels and workshops during the 2016 SIGCSE conference.  The conference runs March 2-5, 2016 in Memphis, Tennessee. Please see their website for more details. Below, a preview of ECEP’s contributions to the event.

February 16, 2016 - Are you interested in K-12 computing education in Maryland?  Would you like to learn more about what's happening across the state to increase access to computing education for all students?  If so, please consider registering for the 2016 Maryland Computing Education Summit on April 12.  With funding from an ECEP minigrant and additional support from the Maryland State Department of Education, this event will be held at the UMBC campus in Baltimore, Maryland, and is co-hosted and co-organized by the CS Matters in Maryland project team and the Maryland State Department of Education.

The Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance is happy to announce that they have awarded "seed" funding for equipment to 9 institutions to help them start or expand computing summer camps for the summer of 2016.  The funding was provided by a generous grant from Oracle and from the National Science Foundation.  Each institution will offer at least 2 sessions of computing summer camps for elementary and/or middle school students.

On the heels of President Obama’s announcement of CS For All, an initiative to insure that all students have the opportunity to learn computer science in school,  state leaders convened in Washington DC on January 31st, 2016 for the Expanding Computing Science Education (ECEP) Alliance Annual Meeting.  The meeting brought together 25 state leaders, project evaluators, and principal investigators all dedicated to broadening participation in computing.

In support of this year's Computer Science Education Week (December 7-13), ECEP states organized various CS Ed Week activities to encourage participation in computing.

Four states received funding from ECEP to work toward bringing computer science education to underrepresented students through statewide activities.