Computing has become an integral part of everyday practice within modern fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. As a result, the STEM+Computing Partnerships (STEM+C) program seeks to advance new multidisciplinary approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the integration of computing in STEM teaching and learning, and discipline-specific efforts in computing designed to build an evidence base for teaching and learning of computer science in K-12, including within diverse populations. This project addresses that mission by convening a leadership conference for representatives of large urban school districts associated with the Council of Great City Schools. Each two-person team will include the district's Chief Academic Officer and a lead STEM educator. The one-day conference will: a) focus on the importance of computer science education in urban contexts; b) familiarize participants with a variety of planning tools to design and implement computer science programs; c) provide examples of current computer science initiatives; and d) promote participant networks to enable ongoing collaboration after the conference. During the conference, attendees will hear from and interact with representatives of major computer science curriculum efforts, successful leaders of large-scale STEM education efforts, computer scientists and computer science teachers, and scholars with expertise in standards-based reform efforts in large urban schools. The intent of the conference is to promote increased, targeted attention to the quality and quantity of computer science education within large urban schools with highly diverse student populations.

The computer science leadership conference will be held in conjunction with the 60th Annual Council of Great City Schools Fall Conference. Participant teams will be recruited from the 67 school districts comprising the Council and serving over 7 million diverse learners. A pre-conference survey will solicit participant information regarding current school district computer science efforts and challenges, and a survey will be administered at the conclusion of the conference to gain feedback about the effectiveness of the conference in raising awareness of needs, issues, resources, and implementation strategies related to school computer science programs. The success of the conference will be evaluated on the basis of results from these surveys, observations during conference sessions, and a review of conference artifacts distributed during the event. The collected data will be used to assess the extent to which conference participants indicate: a) a greater awareness of the current state of computer science education programs in K-12 schools; b) an increased knowledge of computer science improvement strategies for school districts; and c) willingness to interact with each other and other stakeholders after the conference to facilitate the development of a wide-scale infrastructure supporting computer science education in schools.