Establishing a more just, accessible, & equitable computer science education for all students
The Equitable CS Curriculum Initiative is a multi-year endeavor designed to create engaging computer science education experiences for children and youth in grades K-12. We will achieve this through intentional and collaborative efforts that dismantle racism and bias (individual and institutional), center CS learning on student assets, culture, and experience, and elevate the value that families and communities bring to the learning process. Ultimately, we aim to ensure CS educators and education systems are equipped with resources needed to create and develop engagement, identity, and persistence in computing pathways for Black, Latinx, Native American and girls, and gender non-binary students, to ensure they have opportunities to pursue computing pathways in college and career.
Reimagining CS Education: A Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Framework
In June 2021, Kapor Center released the CRCS Framework, developed in partnership with a national collective of education advocates to create more pathways for Black, Latinx, Native American, and other marginalized students to computer science education, tech careers, and STEM-related fields. This work will continue to grow and take shape as the need for CS education becomes more prevalent in communities across the country and educators seek new opportunities to lead positive change.
As more projects in the CS education space become committed to addressing the systemic inequality and racism in which CS education is situated, there is a real gift in having a collective language and framework of best practices. This is the benefit of the Kapor Center Equitable CS Framework. In this framework the needs and perspectives of students from groups most marginalized by CS education are centered. Within this framework we are provided with shared definitions, core practices, principles, evaluation approaches and resources for our collective anti-racist education work. I truly believe that the collective deep study of this framework will impel our community’s work forward on behalf of our students.
Dr. Jane MargolisSenior Researcher UCLA CS Equity Project Author, Stuck in the Shallow End, Education, Race, and Computing (MIT, 2002, 2017) 
The Kapor Center’s commitment to creating access in CS education for underserved students and communities, aligns with my own goals of bringing computer science education to our Native Students. Most of our students do not have access to computer science classes or even know what computer science is. Giving them the chance to become familiar with CS will not only help them with college choices, but in their everyday life. It is our hope that Native students will enter the CS workforce and bring those skills home to our Native communities.
Ruth Blackhawk CameronSenior Programs Curriculum Officer American Indian Science & Engineering Society 
In many ways, the CRCS framework elevates the teaching profession allowing and encouraging educators to be reflective practitioners, providing opportunity to develop an inclusive mindset, and to deploy equitable pedagogy in computing classrooms. These are success indicators of teachers who truly believe in the potential of every single student in their care, regardless of race, gender, identity or socioeconomic status.
Lien DiazDirector, Educational Innovation and Leadership Constellations Center for Equity in Computing College of Computing, Georgia Tech 
The fifth of the six components in the CRCS framework, family and community involvement, excites me the most. It is so often said that it takes a village to raise one kid. In my own personal experience, the things I have excelled at were not the result of my sole hard work. Word of encouragement, love, and support from those I care about most and those I do not know that well pushed me beyond my own capabilities.
Olamiposi AjaoECS National Student Leader, Amherst, MA 
The most urgent change I want to see in schools is a transition from static to dynamic curriculum. When classrooms truly prioritize the relevance of their content to students, curriculum can change based on students’ cultures and interests.
Tayo SobomehinECS National Student Leader, East Palo Alto, CA 
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As more projects in the CS education space become committed to addressing the systemic inequality and racism in which CS education is situated, there is a real gift in having a collective language and framework of best practices. This is the benefit of the Kapor Center Equitable CS Framework. In this framework the needs and perspectives of students from groups most marginalized by CS education are centered. Within this framework we are provided with shared definitions, core practices, principles, evaluation approaches and resources for our collective anti-racist education work. I truly believe that the collective deep study of this framework will impel our community’s work forward on behalf of our students.
Dr. Jane MargolisSenior Researcher UCLA CS Equity Project Author, Stuck in the Shallow End, Education, Race, and Computing (MIT, 2002, 2017) 
The Kapor Center’s commitment to creating access in CS education for underserved students and communities, aligns with my own goals of bringing computer science education to our Native Students. Most of our students do not have access to computer science classes or even know what computer science is. Giving them the chance to become familiar with CS will not only help them with college choices, but in their everyday life. It is our hope that Native students will enter the CS workforce and bring those skills home to our Native communities.
Ruth Blackhawk CameronSenior Programs Curriculum Officer American Indian Science & Engineering Society 
In many ways, the CRCS framework elevates the teaching profession allowing and encouraging educators to be reflective practitioners, providing opportunity to develop an inclusive mindset, and to deploy equitable pedagogy in computing classrooms. These are success indicators of teachers who truly believe in the potential of every single student in their care, regardless of race, gender, identity or socioeconomic status.
Lien DiazDirector, Educational Innovation and Leadership Constellations Center for Equity in Computing College of Computing, Georgia Tech 
The fifth of the six components in the CRCS framework, family and community involvement, excites me the most. It is so often said that it takes a village to raise one kid. In my own personal experience, the things I have excelled at were not the result of my sole hard work. Word of encouragement, love, and support from those I care about most and those I do not know that well pushed me beyond my own capabilities.
Olamiposi AjaoECS National Student Leader, Amherst, MA 
The most urgent change I want to see in schools is a transition from static to dynamic curriculum. When classrooms truly prioritize the relevance of their content to students, curriculum can change based on students’ cultures and interests.
Tayo SobomehinECS National Student Leader, East Palo Alto, CA 
Previous
Next
Our Call to Action
Why Achieving Equity in K-12 CS Classrooms Matters
For too long, too many students in Black, Latinx, Native American, and other historically marginalized communities have been denied fair access to computer science education opportunities and practices that allow them to prepare for their future.Our Focus
Informed Educators = Liberated Students
The Equitable CS Curriculum Initiative aims to level the playing field and provide computer science educators and advocates with six actionable strategies that help eradicate barriers to learning in CS classrooms and center the focus on the most important stakeholders – students.
Our Progress
Collective Impact Driving the Work Forward
Since its launch in February 2020 the ECS Initiative has:- Identified key adult and youth thought leaders representing a variety of disciplines, perspectives, and communities across the country to guide this work
- Completed the first of its kind nation-wide landscape survey, engaging nearly 3,700 computer science educators in an examination of their experiences in classrooms to determine their needs particularly in the age of a global pandemic,
- Developed a virtual network of like-minded individuals committed to collective action
- Finalized the first iteration of a groundbreaking strategic framework that will offer teachers and school communities Core Components to help either deepen or align their work in ways that are culturally sustainable.
- This effort includes professional development opportunities (set to be piloted Fall 2021), resources, and tools that will offer educators and advocates synchronous and asynchronous opportunities to grow in their professional practice.
Our Commitment