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1. Does a Computer Science Graduation Requirement Contribute to Increased Enrollment in Advance Computer Science Coursework?

   McGee, Steven; McGee-Tekula, Randi; Duck, Jennifer; Dettori, Lucia; Greenberg, Ronald I.; Rasmussen, Andrew M.; Wheeler, Erica; Shelton, Adam (March 2020, 2020 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   Prior research has shown that students pursuing Exploring Computer Science (ECS) as their first elective course were more likely to pursue another computer science course in high school, as compared to students who took a traditional course as the first course. This study investigated whether the results are consistent when students are pursuing ECS to fulfill the Chicago Public Schools' graduation requirement. ECS is designed to foster deep engagement through equitable inquiry around computer science concepts. It is hypothesized that students who are fulfilling a graduation requirement will pursue additional computer science coursework at rates similar to students who were pursuing ECS as an elective course. 

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2. S-STEM First Year Progress: Baylor Engineering and Computer Science Scholar's Program

   Michael W. Thompson; Anne Marie Spence; Carolyn Skurla; Emily Sandvall; Andrea Pouso Morales (June 2022, 2022 ASEE Conference & Exposition)

   Abstract This S_STEM project is designed to support the retention and graduation of high-achieving, low income students with demonstrated financial need at Baylor University. Over its five-year duration, this project will fund four-year scholarships to 22 students who are pursuing Bachelor degrees in Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) Scholars will participate in activities which include an orientation, a monthly seminar series and required faculty mentoring. Support services and activities for ECS Scholars build upon existing activities at Baylor and feature peer mentoring, study abroad opportunities, alumni mentoring, support and training for undergraduate research, professional development workshops, and tutoring support from the ECS Learning Resource Center. A distinguishing feature of the project is the use of EAB’s Navigate, a web-based software platform for tracking student progress, coordinating student care and employing predictive analytics. The expertise generated using a student dashboard capable of predictive analytics will have the broad impact of informing the STEM community of best practices for timely interventions, and improving retention and graduation rates. The Navigate platform is used for predictive analytics and to track and document ECS Scholar progress toward achieving benchmark goals in the areas of retention, graduation rates, internships, undergraduate research experiences, and job placement. The use of predictive analytics has significant potential for helping students arrive at successful outcomes. However, it is an assumption of this project that the successful use of predictive analytics should take into consideration not simply the accuracy in identifying students who are struggling but in the social attributions of success and perceptions of a “big data” tool that might be received alternatively with enthusiasm or suspicion. The focus of this paper will be to give an overview of our first-year results from the project. We were successful in recruiting the full first cohort that began in the Fall of 2020. For the first year, many of the engagement sessions with the students pivoted to a virtual experience, however, we were able to manage several events that fostered a sense of community among the ECS scholars. Our research partners from the Baylor School of Education were successful in conducting baseline qualitative research using detailed interviews with an initial focus on community fit, academic fit and faculty relationships. The paper will also summarize our use of the Navigate platform and the lessons learned in the areas of data capture and interventions. 

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3. Student and Teacher Perspectives on Requiring a Computer Science Course in High School

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3641555.3705255  

   Smith, Julie M; McGill, Monica M; Koressel, Jacob; Twarek, Bryan (February 2025, ACM)

   In recent years, eight states have adopted a graduation requirement in computer science (CS), and other states are considering similar requirements. Due to the recency of these requirements, little is known about student and teacher perceptions of course(s) that fulfill the requirement and their content. This project seeks to answer the question, What are the perceptions of students who are studying CS beyond high school and CS teachers of a high school CS requirement and its content? We used a mixed methods approach that included interview transcripts from students who took CS coursework in high school and are currently studying it in college (n = 9). We also used quantitative data from a survey of CS teachers (n = 2, 238) that asked for their perceptions of a CS graduation requirement. Most of the students felt that CS should be required in high school, and there was a wide variety of sentiment regarding what content should be included in such a course. For the high school teachers, about 85% felt that CS should be required. It is perhaps not surprising that most students who studied CS in college valued it at the high school level and thus supported a graduation requirement. What is more interesting is the diversity of content that they felt should belong in such a course. These findings serve as an important consideration for those implementing a CS graduation requirement. 

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4. Evolution and Impact of Instructional Coaching for Exploring Computer Science Teachers in a Large Urban District

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT55273.2022.00023  

   Wachen, John; McGee, Steven; Yanek, Don; Curry, Valerie (May 2022, RESPECT 2022 proceedings)

   As states and districts adopt policies and programs to broaden participation in computer science, there is a growing need to effectively develop and support more computer science teachers. Instructional coaching is a form of professional development that districts can implement to provide ongoing support to teachers. In Chicago, a recent policy change made computer science a high school graduation requirement. The district adopted the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum and professional development program as the primary means for fulfilling the requirement. As part of the district’s effort to consistently offer equitable computer science experiences for all students, an emphasis was placed on supporting ECS teachers through coaching. Over the past five years, the district developed, implemented, and refined an instructional coaching model for ECS teachers. The coaching model continues to scale up across the district, with over 50 teachers participating in the 2019-2020 school year. The coaching team also adapted the model in response to the shift to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, the authors share details of the ECS coaching model in Chicago, its impact, and lessons learned from the past five years of implementation. 

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5. A State-Wide Effort to Provide Access to Authentic Computer Science Education to Underrepresented Populations

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366955  

   Qazi, Mohammed A.; Gray, Jeff; Shannon, David M.; Russell, Melody; Thomas, Misty (February 2020, SIGCSE '20: Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education)

   The Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum provides foundational knowledge of Computer Science (CS) to high school students as a stand-alone course. ECS began in the Los Angeles Unified School District in the late 2000s where it gained eminence for broadening participation in computing (BPC), with Latinx students representing over 70% of enrollment. This experience report describes a partnership that consists of three Universities, dozens of school districts, the ECS team, and other stakeholders to bring the ECS curriculum in mainly rural school districts in Alabama that have a majority African-American student population. Sixty in-service teachers (one teacher per school) have received professional learning opportunities to gain knowledge and skills to teach ECS. Signs of early broader impacts are emerging: 78% of our ECS enrollment are underrepresented minority (URM) students with nearly half of the cohort consisting of female students. Students reported they were engaged in working collaboratively and sharing responsibilities with others. Furthermore, students who reported being more involved in the ECS course had deeper confidence in their ability to succeed in CS, reported greater overall outcomes, had more confidence in development of 21st century skills, found the course more relevant, were more motivated to persist in CS, and exhibited increased interest in CS careers. We provide a comprehensive description of the partnership’s accomplishments and the evaluation findings on student CS experiences and on teacher self-efficacy in ECS preparation and instruction. Our findings contribute to the BPC literature, specifically for schools with predominantly African-American enrollment in rural communities. 

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