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This paper describes a four-year research practice partnership (RPP) dedicated to building capacity to scale and sustain equitable computer science education across the state of California, USA. The acronym of the RPP–SCALE: Supporting Computing Access and Leadership Equity in California–is also the same acronym that describes the five elements of our healthy research practice partnership: Shared Leadership, Collaboration, Application to Practice, Learning is Ongoing, and Equity-Focused. In response to the lack of supports for school leaders to implement equity-centered computer science education, this partnership brings together 17 local education agencies (including public school districts and county offices of education) and educational researchers to understand how to increase leadership capacity that supports meaningful computing learning opportunities for individuals most underrepresented in the field (e.g., Black, Brown, Indigenous, low-income, and female students). Through mixed methods research methodologies, this paper surfaces details about best practices for creating and sustaining RPPs, as well as the positive impacts of the SCALE RPP’s activities on partners (e.g., the “CS Equity Guide” and associated professional development workshop for school leaders, Summer of CS initiative, etc.) that were created in response to the partnership’s shared goals and interests.
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Supporting Elementary Teacher's Reflections on Equity in CS Education: A Case Study Approach
The dearth of women and people of color in the field of computer science is a well-documented phenomenon. Following Obama's 2016 declaration of the need for a nationwide CS for All movement in the US, educators, school districts, states and the US-based National Science Foundation have responded with an explosion of activity directed at developing computer science learning opportunities in K-12 settings. A major component of this effort is the creation of equitable CS learning opportunities for underrepresented populations. As a result, there exists a strong need for educational research on the development of equity-based theory and practice in CS education. This poster session reports on a work-in-progress study that uses a case study approach to engage twenty in-service elementary school teachers in reflecting on issues of equity in CS education as part of a three-day CS professional development workshop. Our work is unfolding in the context of a four-year university/district research practice partnership in a mid-sized city in the Northeastern United States. Teachers in our project are working to co-design integrated CS curriculum units for K-5 classrooms. We developed four case studies, drawn from the first year of our project, that highlight equity challenges teachers faced in the classroom when implementing the CS lessons. The case studies follow the "Teacher Moments" template created by the Teaching Systems Lab in Open Learning at MIT. The case study activity is meant to deepen reflection and discussion on how to create equitable learning opportunities for elementary school students. We present preliminary findings.
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- PAR ID:
- 10109573
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 319 to 320
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3291279.3341208
