As the number of secondary CS teachers increases to meet the burgeoning course offerings in the U.S., teachers new to the discipline need additional supports beyond one-time workshops focused on particular curricula. To address this need, we implemented a year-long, equity-focused peer mentoring program with twenty-six teachers across one state. Participants met twice monthly to identify and work towards three goals related to the CSTA Standards for CS Teachers. Pilot data suggest that mentees increased in their teaching confidence but needed additional support to apply their learnings in their classrooms. We also identified several ways that our application process hampered our broadening participation goals by making it difficult for teachers working with rural, minoritized or low-income students to participate. In this poster, we will share lessons learned from our pilot and emerging findings from our second year of implementation.

There is a burgeoning population of new CS teachers who are looking for additional support in their first few years of teaching, particularly around equitable and inclusive pedagogy. At the same time, there are a sizable number of teachers with multiple years of CS teaching experience who are looking for growth opportunities without taking on new courses. To address these needs, we are designing an innovative, equity-focused peer mentorship program for high school CS teachers. Mentors and mentees work together to support the mentee in identifying and achieving goals aligned to three of the CSTA Standards for CS Teachers: equity and inclusion, instructional design, and classroom practice. Mentors are provided with training and participate in a monthly community of practice focused on effective mentoring. The poster will share findings from our first year of implementation as well as examples of the materials we developed to support mentors and mentees.

While the Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement has led to valuable advancements in equity-oriented curricula and teacher professional development, critical questions remain about how to build the capacity of school and district leadership to implement equitable CS education. How can administrators be supported in decision-making practices so that their school policies facilitate rather than hinder CS for All efforts? Our statewide research-practice partnership (RPP)representing fourteen different urban, rural, and suburban local education agencies (LEAs) across the state sought to tackle this question by collaboratively developing, implementing, and iteratively improving upon a guide and workshop for administrators seeking to bring CS into their schools, as well as a multi-stakeholder PD for teachers, counselors, and principals. Both researcher and administrator panelists will share how we built an RPP, lessons learned in creating administrator resources, and details about effective multi-stakeholder PD. In line with SIGCSE's 2021 call, this panel will inform audience members about how RPPs and a focus on leadership can expand computing education opportunities for more students in K-12 public schools.

Professional development (PD) has long been recognized as one of the key ingredients in K-12 CS Education, particularly when addressing the problem of underserved communities. Over the last decade, significant work has been done to create professional development and curricular offerings that are research based, with a proven track record. Bootstrap, Exploring Computer Science and AP CS Principles represent these types of programs. Each of these programs has developed high-quality PD for educators and have been recognized by the White House as exemplar courses. However, economies of scale make it difficult to expand to the vast number of small school districts around the country, including some of the most isolated and underserved areas such as rural communities and Native American reservations. This panel will discuss an alternative model - "CSPdWeek" -- a national event aimed at providing best-in-class PD to teachers across the country. The inaugural CSPdWeek took place in July, 2016 at Colorado School of Mines, and provided a week-long residential experience for teachers attending one of three teacher-focused professional development programs. Over 240 classroom teachers attended CSPdWeek, making this professional development the single largest cross-curricular effort in preparing U.S. teachers to teach computing as part of the "CS for All" movement. This panel will focus on why this year's CSPdWeek was such a success and what was behind social media testimonies from teachers who talked about being part of an educational movement.