8519 Views (as of 05/2023)
  1. Sarah Dunton
  2. ECEP Alliance Manager
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. University of Massachusetts Amherst
  1. Barbara Ericson
  2. http://barbara-ericson.strikingly.com
  3. Senior Research Scientist
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Georgia Tech CEISMC
  1. Mark Guzdial
  2. https://computinged.wordpress.com
  3. Lead PI
  4. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  5. Georgia Tech CEISMC
  1. Deanna Roux
  2. Communications Manager
  3. Presenter’s NSFRESOURCECENTERS
  4. University of Massachusetts Amherst

Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance

NSF Awards: 1228352, 1228355

2018 (see original presentation & discussion)

Grades K-6, Grades 6-8, Grades 9-12, Undergraduate, Adult learners

The Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance aims to broaden participation in computing education by working with leaders at the state level. The Alliance includes 17 states and US territories in a community that shares its practice and progress on making state-level systemic change that will result in more and more diverse students in the pathway to computing and computing-intensive degrees. ECEP also offers resources such as mini-grants, workshops, models for organizations, reports, and evaluation to its members.

Because every state’s education systems and policies are unique, ECEP suggests a four-step process toward state-level computer science education reform. Collaboration across sectors is central to this process.

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Discussion from the 2018 STEM for All Video Showcase (16 posts)
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 14, 2018 | 10:11 a.m.

    Thank you for visiting the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance project. ECEP is one of eight Broadening Participation in Computing (BPC) Alliances funded by the National Science Foundation. The BPC Alliances are collaborations of stakeholders from higher education, K-12, industry, community based organizations, and advocacy groups engaged in activities addressing the underrepresentation of women, African Americans, persons with disabilities, Hispanics, and indigenous peoples in computing.

    The 2018 Video Showcase theme, Transforming the Educational Landscape, is especially relevant to ECEP. State leadership teams, individually and collectively, are transforming computer science education through ECEP's 4-step model that includes finding leaders, understanding the CS education landscape at the state level, organizing allies, and securing funding.

    We look forward to answering your questions about working strategically to increase the number and diversity of students participating in K - 16 computer science education in your state. Please share innovative models that you are developing in your state, or at your institution, we would like to connect with you. 

    To learn more about ECEP you can follow us on Twitter @ECEP_CS, or visit our website https://ecepalliance.org/ 

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Pati Ruiz
  • Icon for: Sarah Wille

    Sarah Wille

    Facilitator
    Senior Research Scientist
    May 14, 2018 | 11:28 a.m.

    Great to learn more about this important project! I'm interested in hearing more about the first step of your model - finding leaders. What does that process look like for the team? What do those leaders need to commit to for work through ECEP to move forward? Are there plans to continue the work in some way, beyond the current funding period? Thanks for sharing your work via video!

     
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    Sarah Dunton
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 14, 2018 | 01:12 p.m.

    Thank you for your questions Sarah.

    Q: I'm interested in hearing more about the first step of your model - finding leaders. What does that process look like for the team?

    ECEP’s 4-step process, specifically the finding leaders stage, evolves differently in each ECEP Alliance state. For some states an initial core of leaders with an interest in advancing computer science education emerges. Sometimes stakeholders in states begin with the organizing allies step, usually a summit or other convening. Holding state gatherings focused on computer science education is one strategy that can lead to the identification of leaders. No matter how a state begins organizing around CS education, finding leaders is about finding people who will commit to maintaining a focus on equity and broadening participation in computing. We coach states on building broad based leadership teams that include diverse representatives from K-12, higher education, government, industry, community-based organizations, and the research community.   

    Q: What do those leaders need to commit to for work through ECEP to move forward?

    When states join ECEP we ask them to commit to NSF’s broadening participation in computing goals to develop strategies to engage the 70% of students who are missing in computing. In order to achieve NSF’s goals, we want state leadership teams to utilize ECEP’s services and resources, and actively participate with the community via monthly virtual calls and annual in-person meetings. ECEP members continuously report that advice from other state teams, as well as access to experts and organizations, allows them to develop strategic computer science education efforts.

    Q: Are there plans to continue the work in some way, beyond the current funding period?

    We are actively pursuing funding that will allow us to continue our work beyond the current funding period. We know that there are a lot of non-ECEP states actively seeking resources on how to build sustainable BPC strategies into their state plans. We are available for coaching and consultations.     

     
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    Maureen Biggers
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Richard Ladner

    Richard Ladner

    Researcher
    May 14, 2018 | 05:17 p.m.

    Nice video.  I especially like that ECEP, as a guiding principle, is supporting broadening participation, not just more computer science.   As a specific question, how does ECEP promote with its state partners the importance of broadening participation, and how do you track their activities and results in this space?

     
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    Sarah Dunton
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 16, 2018 | 10:48 a.m.

    Glad you liked the video Richard. Keeping broadening participation at the center of our work as an alliance involves the ECEP PIs, Co-PIs and state leaders constantly holding each other accountable. This high level of communication and accountability allows us to build strategies and policies that serve the missing 70%, the students who are underrepresented in computing. We rely on internal expertise and collaborations with projects like NCWIT, CSforAll Teachers, the CSforAll Consortium, CSTA, and your project, AccessComputing, to deepen our knowledge and infuse new resources. 

    We track activities through formal evaluations of state level work, and informally during our monthly calls. With our evaluation team, SageFox Consulting, ECEP designed a state survey and a community survey that allow us to track activities at the state level. Recently we expanded our data collection to hone in on BPC-specific activities. We asked states about the ease of BPC-data collection (how easy is it to collect K-12 data?) and the value of collecting the data (if you had access to this data, would it further your state BPC strategies?). Based on feedback from our state leaders, and our commitment to advancing BPC work, we are developing new support tools for the alliance that will help us to better track success and identify gaps in our work.  

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Pati Ruiz

    Pati Ruiz

    Facilitator
    Dean of Studies
    May 15, 2018 | 01:42 p.m.

    Your project seems to be connecting many people in computer science education across a range of levels. I am interested to learn more about how students are benefiting from these rich connections that their teachers are making programs like these. Also, is there any curriculum being developed by your group or are you you looking at any specific existing curriculum? At this point, do you have any initial findings?

    Also, how will you share your findings about what is working well, and what might not be helping? Should I just keep an eye on your website and twitter? Thanks!

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Sarah Dunton
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 15, 2018 | 02:51 p.m.

    Yes, ECEP does connect many people across a range of positions in computer science education policy reform efforts. As state leaders develop their broad-based teams, they do most of the connecting. Every ECEP state is unique, which means they are all at different stages in their state efforts, have distinct leadership team designs, and diverse strategies to address BPC. Students benefit from our work when states leadership teams advocate for policy changes that support equity in CS education, build teacher professional development opportunities, and adopt CS standards that address equity.

    We do not develop curriculum, and leave curriculum decisions up to state teams. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Education, in collaboration with the Education Development Center, Inc. and the Massachusetts Computing Attainment Network (MassCAN), developed a K-12 CS Curriculum Guide to help 'demystify the landscape of computer science (CS) curricula options and to provide a curated collection of high quality CS curricula for students in grades K-12'. This is one example of how a state addresses the issue of curriculum adoption considerations.    

    As for our findings, you can find us on Twitter at @ECEP_CS and on the web at https://ecepalliance.org. The publications page is where we post articles about our work. 

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Pati Ruiz
  • Icon for: Anne Leftwich

    Anne Leftwich

    Higher Ed Faculty
    May 16, 2018 | 09:32 p.m.

    One such example that we completed with the help of ECEP was our landscape report in Indiana. It allowed us to see what areas we were doing well in and what areas we needed to improve in: bit.ly/CSforINFinalReport 

     
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    Maureen Biggers
    Sarah Dunton
    Deanna Roux
  • Icon for: Maureen Biggers

    Maureen Biggers

    Higher Ed Administrator
    May 21, 2018 | 09:32 a.m.

    And the next step using the IN Landscape Report is a major Summit of stakeholders from the DOE, providers, districts, government, guidance counselors to help promote a high level understanding of both cs education at K-12 levels with the emphasis on broadening participation, and challenges to be tackled as next steps are being developed for systematic implementation. ECEP is making this June 1 Summit possible.

     
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    Anne Leftwich
    Maureen Biggers
  • Icon for: Christopher Atchison

    Christopher Atchison

    Facilitator
    Associate Professor
    May 15, 2018 | 04:43 p.m.

    Sarah and team, nice broad effort!  Have you tapped into any other programs and/or groups to support some of your goals (broadening participation for students with disabilities in particular)?  Are there any stakeholders you still need to bring to the table that would help promote your program objectives?

     
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    Sarah Dunton
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 16, 2018 | 11:24 a.m.

    Thank you for the feedback and your questions Christopher. Collaborating with other projects nationally and locally is instrumental in the success of ECEP. We rely on the resources and expertise of other NSF funded projects to expand our capacity to broaden participation for all students. We recently invited Richard Ladner, AccessComputing PI, to our annual meeting to discuss his research on broadening participation for students with disabilities. Richard helped us consider new data collection methods to assist our state teams in identifying gaps in K-12 computer science access for students with disabilities. Richard and the AccessComputing team are incredible allies in this work, and have worked with us since the launch of ECEP. 

    Across the ECEP Alliance we have a broad-base group of involved stakeholders and were intentional in making this a key aspect of our state change model. Because our state teams are all unique, it is hard to identify a missing group of stakeholders. Through our state leadership teams and national collaborations, we work to ensure that we are not missing anyone at the table. 

     
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    Maureen Biggers
    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Christopher Atchison

    Christopher Atchison

    Facilitator
    Associate Professor
    May 18, 2018 | 07:49 a.m.

    Fantastic, Sarah.  Nice work getting Richard and the AccessComputing network involved!  As you continue to build and work with your state-level stakeholders, what are your expectations for them?  Will your network begin to sustain with all stakeholders having specific tasks moving forward (marketing, mentoring, fundraising to keep the project going, etc)? 

     
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    Sarah Dunton
  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 18, 2018 | 04:48 p.m.

    We encourage our state leadership teams to develop strategic plans that include goals for a sustainable model. Currently all 16 states and the territory of Puerto Rico are working on tasks specific to their unique needs at this juncture in their state efforts. So yes, all states and stakeholders are working on building sustainable efforts but they all look a little different. Marketing, fundraising, awareness raising, and leadership team development, all play a role in state efforts.  

  • Icon for: Allison Theobold

    Allison Theobold

    Graduate Student
    May 17, 2018 | 10:57 a.m.

    What an exciting effort to broaden participation in computer science! Our team (Teaching Computer Science through Storytelling) is also making an effort to broaden participation in CS, specifically with rural and indigenous populations in the state of Montana. We are developing curricula to use in middle school classrooms, a population that your project also focuses on. 

    Your video references member states sharing classroom strategies to increase participation in CS. What are some examples of classroom or curriculum strategies you have found to broaden participation in CS? You also reference creating K-12 standards for CS that emphasize equity and diversity. How do you emphasize these aspects within the computer science framework?

  • Icon for: Sarah Dunton

    Sarah Dunton

    Lead Presenter
    ECEP Alliance Manager
    May 20, 2018 | 08:38 a.m.

    Allison, thanks for posting a link to your video. As educators and researchers continue to build the CS for All movement, it is important to have many pathways and on-roads for students, educators, and other stakeholders to engage in. Your work is a nice example of a unique pathway. As your middle school curricula develops, please send updates. 

    Here is a sampling of a few of the resources supporting broadening participation in computing that we point partners to: 

        NCWIT resources: These can be searched by goals and audience. There are a number of resources that address classroom strategies for increasing participation in K-12 classrooms.  

        K-12 Computer Science Framework: Equity is addressed in a number of sections of this document. There is a section on developing standards that 'allow for engagement by all students'. 

        CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards: Many states use these standards as a guide when developing their own state state specific standards. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are emphasized.    

     

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Icon for: Lamanda Davies

    Lamanda Davies

    K-12 Teacher
    May 21, 2018 | 11:55 a.m.

    Such a collaborative effort is worth every bit of the time and energy your team has placed into it. With such low numbers of students receiving computing experience before they graduate high school, your program is making a tremendous difference. I can't imagine how a student without computing experience could enter into college and have the same level of success as another who has full access to computers and technology throughout their lives. With the changes that you are making and the awareness that you bring to the country, I foresee a very positive change. Thank you for all you do.

     
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    Anne Leftwich
  • Further posting is closed as the event has ended.