Policy Constellation

The AiiCE Policy Constellation is actively engaged in eliminating K-16 policies that negatively impact students and/or faculty from minoritized groups, such as:

• Lack of access to high-school computing courses, including Advanced Placement (AP)
• Inaccessible course materials
• Requiring self-funded laptops
• Entrance exams for computing majors
• Campus policing
• h-index measures
• Lack of what counts as research in computing
• Biased course evaluations
• Macroaggressions

K-12 Activities

CSTA’s teacher-led Policy Committee has developed the Teacher Advocacy Toolkit, an AiiCE resource, and trains teachers to effectively advocate for policies that support equitable CS implementation. The committee consists of 8–12 volunteers who meet regularly to develop and refine recommendations and resources. The committee’s purpose is to:

1. Vet, develop, and adopt a set of CSTA-endorsed policy recommendations
2. Develop a toolkit to support CSTA members and Chapter Leaders in effectively advocating for these policies at the state level. 

The committee focuses on policies to increase entry, retention, and course/degree completion of groups historically underrepresented in CS. They present recommendations and resources annually at the CSTA Chapter Leadership Summit, held in conjunction with the CSTA Annual Conference.

Postsecondary Activities

Duke and CSAB are developing supplemental resources for (non) ABET-accredited computing programs and ABET program evaluators to support ABET DEI-based criteria changes. These will help departments and program evaluators understand the changes, rationale, applications to real-world, identity-related computing issues, and suggested strategies to minimize (re)accreditation challenges. Duke is also leading studies on the experiences of departments preparing for, completing, and post-completion of (re)accreditation.