The National Computer Science Education Community Announces 434 Commitments from 119 Organizations and 288 Elementary Schools

CSforALL Announces New Commitments from Schools, Cities, Nonprofits, and Companies to Strengthen the Computer Science Education Movement through Equity Across the Nation

The National Computer Science for All Movement Announces Seventh Year of Commitments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Oakland, CA, Thursday, October 26, 2023 — As the CSforALL community advances equitable and sustainable K-12 computer science education, it is crucial that we focus on closing the education equity gaps by Strengthening the CS Movement through Equity, the theme of the 2023 CSforALL Summit. At this year’s conference, CSforALL announces 434 commitments from 119 organizations and 288 elementary schools made by our K-12 CSEd member community, consisting of nonprofits; universities and colleges; corporate partners, and more. In partnership with CSisElementary, CSforALL’s commitment call-to-action has opened the commitment process to school-based organizations this year, resulting in 288 school-based commitments.

Starting in 2017, CSforALL’s national call-to-action model encourages organizations to design a specific and measurable computer science education commitment that has the potential to unlock CSEd access and opportunities for all students. The public model allows emerging and current leaders to address unmet needs of CS education and build awareness of national CS and education challenges. This year’s commitment makers had the opportunity to make commitments in these four categories: increasing equity and access among underrepresented groups; building capacity; raising awareness; and fostering racial equity. Notably, 81 organizations are prior CSforALL commitment-makers, and 10 of those organizations have made annual commitments since the implementation of the CSforALL Commitments model.

As of date, an incredible 1,556 commitments between 2017 and 2023, have been announced, celebrated, and reported at the CSforALL Summit. This year’s national three-day conveying, hosted in Oakland with the local partner Kapor Center, brings together hundreds of thought leaders highlighting strategies for equity, removing barriers to access, building meaningful engagement for all students, and exploring ways to Strengthen the CS Movement through Equity.

The 2023 CSforALL Commitments detailed below, include initiatives in all 50 states and internationally.

Highlights of today’s announcement include:

• Two commitments from two Kapor Center locations in both Oakland and Detroit, launching CSforOakland and CSforDetroit; these city-wide initiatives will re-imagine computer science education and ensure computing is culturally responsive, culturally sustaining, and justice-oriented, while also amplifying community-centered efforts designed to expand equity in K-12 computer science education.
• An extraordinary total of over 2.5 million beneficiaries of these 434 commitments worldwide, including students, families, educators, and school districts.
• 74 commitments from 66 organizations, including Learning.com, Girls Who Code, and the Lifelong Kindergarten Group focus on increasing equitable access for computer science learners and educators.
• 43 commitments from 39 organizations, including Code.org, Wix Tomorrow, and the West Virginia Department of Education to build capacity for computer science educational opportunities in school-day and out-of-school settings.
• 41 commitments from 37 organizations and schools from the state of California, including Kapor Center, the California Department of Education, 8 universities, 3 school districts, and 8 individual schools.
• In addition to California’s participation through commitments, ten locally-operating California organizations are being showcased in the Tech Town at Summit. The Tech Town, powered by Kapor Foundation, will bring together a unique opportunity for individuals who are curious about how equitable technology approaches in K-12 education are making a long-term impact on students’ education and careers. The ten organizations in the Tech Town activation include Dev/Mission, Tech Exchange, Kai XR, Mission Bit, Hack the Hood, The Hidden Genius Project, TEAM, Inc., GHTech Inc., SMASH, and Career Catalyst.
• 20 college and university programs, including UCLA, UC Davis, UC Scout, and UC San Diego, and 12 school districts, including New York City School District #27 and Riverside Unified School District will focus on underrepresented minority groups, women and girls, students with disabilities, and students in rural communities to bolster opportunities for all computer science learners.
• 12 industry and corporate partners, including Google, the Microsoft TEALS Project, and Sphero, will work with schools and districts to develop computer science programs and professional development, impacting millions of students nationwide and globally.
• Girls Who Code commits to providing nationwide programs that center around the experiences of girls and non-binary students using the Kapor Center’s Culturally Responsive-Sustaining CS Education Framework, serving 90,000 students over the next year.
• The West Virginia Department of Education will support professional development to provide a minimum of one trained CS teacher in every high school & middle school, and at every grade level in every elementary school in West Virginia. These efforts will impact up to 2,500 educators that serve 100,000 students by Summer 2027.
• 288 commitments from 288 individual schools as a part of CSisElementary’s CS100 Award winners, offering recognition for elementary schools nationwide that have committed to teaching computer science to 100 percent of their K-5 students. View the entire list of CSisElementary award-winning schools and their 288 commitments below.

With CSforALL and local partner Kapor Center, the 2023 CSforALL Summit will convene hundreds of individuals and numerous remarkable speakers from around the country. Notable speakers include:

• Mayor Sheng Thao, Mayor of Oakland, California
• Carroll Fife, Oakland City Councilmember, D3s
• Dr. Freada Kapor Klein, Co-Chair, Kapor Center; Founding Partner, Kapor Capital; Founder, SMASH
• Mitch Kapor, Co-Chair, Kapor Center; Founding Partner, Kapor Capital
• Natasha Singer, Technology Reporter, New York Times
• Dr. Chad Womack, Vice President, National STEM Programs and Tech Initiatives, UNCF
• Nabiha Syed, CEO, The MarkUp
• Tawana Petty, Founding Director, Petty Propolis
• Dr. Khalia Braswell, CEO, Tech for Good, LLC

CSforALL is the national hub of the computer science for all movement with a mission to make high-quality computer science an integral part of K-12 education in the United States. We connect providers, schools and districts, funders, and researchers working toward the goal of providing quality CS education to every child in the United States, and engage with diverse stakeholders leading computer science initiatives across the nation to support and facilitate implementation of rigorous, inclusive and sustainable computer science.

For more information: www.csforall.org; Twitter: @CSforALL

The 2023 CSforALL Summit will be held October 25–27, 2023 in Oakland, CA. For more speaker and agenda information, please visit: https://www.summit.csforall.org.