The Exploring Computer Science (ECS) project, affiliated with UCLA Center X and the University of Oregon, has just announce it has been granted program status approval as a “G” elective with the University of California Office of the President.

The ECS course is an excellent choice for the “first” course on a career pathway because it introduces students to the breadth of subjects found in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector. The course was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation by UCLA researcher Dr. Jane Margolis, the ECS team and staff from the Los Angeles Unified School District. ECS was developed over many years with an equity perspective through a very collaborative effort involving curriculum developers and teachers in “real world” urban classroom settings.

Teachers have reported the excellent ECS professional development is like learning common core teaching methods “on steroids!”  With program status the ECS course can now easily be adopted by schools and districts across California through the high school articulation’s A-G Course Management Portal.   High schools can quickly add a program’s “a-g” course to their own school’s “a-g” course list without having to prepare a full course submission to UC for review.

ECS strongly recommends teachers participate in the full ECS professional development program.  Workshops will be available annually to teachers interested in adopting Exploring Computer Science. More information can be found at www.exploringcs.org. The ECS curriculum is constantly evolving and has just been updated to ECS version 6, available for free download at www.exploringcs.org/curriculum.

Special thanks to Heidi Espindola, Program Manager for the UC Davis Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education (C-STEM) project and Duane Crum, State Leader for Project Lead the Way, for providing advice and information to help ECS staff receive program status approval!

Together Everyone Accomplishes More