National CS Ed Equity-Focused Consortia and Their Value to the Community

The Computer Science education community is supported by numerous national-focused consortia dedicated to addressing persistent inequalities in student pathways. This panel, comprised of leaders from four of those consortia (CAHSI, STARS, ECEP and RPPforCS) will use four key aspects of improvement communities as a framework for discussing the role, potential and impact of these consortia in supporting the equitable growth of computer science education. While not designed to be Network Improvement Communities per se, we draw upon those frameworks to focus on four specific aspects: 1) guided by shared goals with attention to equity; 2) engaging community in deep understanding of the problems and associated systems; 3) application of improvement science; and 4) coordinated efforts of shared learning and measurements. This will lead towards an open discussion with the audience focused on what has been empirically learned about the value these consortia have for their members and the broader CS Education community.