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1. Supporting Computing Access, Leadership, and Equity: 5 Elements of a Healthy Research-Practice Partnership

   Flapan, J; Ryoo, JJ; Hadad, R; Mendoza, S (November 2023, ICERI)

   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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2. Learning with Leadership: Perspectives from a Statewide Research-Practice Partnership Focused on Equity-Oriented Computing Professional Development for K-12 Administrators

   Ryoo, J.J.; Flapan, J.; Hadad, R.; Margolis, J.; Amalong, J.; Aranguren, L.; Campos, E.; Knudson, J.; Lee, M.; Zuchowicz, M. (January 2021, Proceedings of the Annual SIGCSE Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education)

   null (Ed.)

   While the Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement has led to valuable advancements in equity-oriented curricula and teacher professional development, critical questions remain about how to build the capacity of school and district leadership to implement equitable CS education. How can administrators be supported in decision-making practices so that their school policies facilitaterather than hinder CS for All efforts? Our statewide research-practice partnership (RPP)—representing fourteen different urban, rural, and suburban local education agencies (LEAs) across the state—sought to tackle this question by collaboratively developing, implementing, and iteratively improving upon a guide and workshop for administrators seeking to bring CS into their schools, as well as a multi-stakeholder PD for teachers, counselors, and principals. Both researcher and administrator panelists will share how we built an RPP, lessons learned in creating administrator resources, and details about effective multi-stakeholder PD. In line with SIGCSE’s 2021 call, this panel will inform audience members about how RPPs and a focus on leadership can expand computing education opportunities for more students in K-12 public schools. 

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3. Making Research Practice Partnerships Work: An Assessment of The Maker Partnership

   https://doi.org/10.1109/RESPECT51740.2021.9620713  

   Fancsali, Cheri; Klevan, Sarah; Mirakhur, Zitsi (April 2021, Annual Conference on Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   Strong, equitable research practice partnerships (RPPs) center both researcher and practitioner perspectives and priorities. These RPPs facilitate rigorous, relevant research that practitioners can use to improve program implementation. Our project, The Maker Partnership, is an RPP focused on building knowledge about how to help elementary level teachers integrate computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) into their regular science classes using maker pedagogy. In this experience report, we use the Henrich et al. framework to assess the Maker Partnership’s effectiveness along five dimensions and share practical advice and lessons learned. This paper contributes to the CS and RPP literature by providing insight into how an RPP can address critical problems of practice in computer science education. 

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4. Defining and delivering “equity” in an RPP

   Hadad, R.; Ryoo, J.J.; Flapan, J.; Kong, S. (January 2021, Research in Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))

   null (Ed.)

   Computer science (CS) has the potential to positively impact the economic well-being of those who pursue it, and the lives of those who benefit from its innovations. Yet, large CS learning opportunity gaps exist for students from historically underrepresented populations. The Computer Science for All (CS for All) movement has brought nationwide attention to these inequities in CS education. More recently, financial support for research-practice partnerships (RPPs) has increased to address these disparities because such collaborations can yield more relevant research for immediate educational/practical application. However, for initiatives to effectively engage in equity-focused initiatives toward making computing inclusive, partnership members need to begin with a shared definition of equity to which all are accountable. This poster takes a critical look at the development of a collaboratively developed definition of equity and its application in a CS for All RPP of university researchers and administrators from local education agencies across the state of California. Details are shared about how the RPP collectively defined equity and how that definition evolved and informed the larger project’s work with school administrators/educators. 

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5. Broadening Participation and Success in AP CSA: Predictive Modeling from Three Years of Data

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3408877.3432421  

   Boda, Phillip A.; McGee, Steven (March 2021, ACM Tech. Sym. Comp. Sci. Ed. (SIGCSE’21))

   null (Ed.)

   The AP Computer Science A course and exam continually exhibit inequity among over- and under-represented populations. This paper explored three years of AP CS A data in the Chicago Public School district (CPS) from 2016-2019 (N = 561). We analyzed the impact of teacher and student-level variables to determine the extent AP CS A course taking and exam passing differences existed between over- and under-represented populations. Our analyses suggest four prominent findings: (1) CPS, in collaboration with their Research-Practice Partnership (Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science; CAFÉCS), is broadening participation for students taking the AP CS A course; (2) Over- and under- represented students took the AP CS A exam at statistically comparable rates, suggesting differential encouragement to take or not take the AP CS A exam was not prevalent among these demographics; (3) After adjusting for teacher and student-level prior experience, there were no significant differences among over- and under-represented racial categorizations in their likelihoods to pass the AP CS A exam, albeit Female students were 3.3 times less likely to pass the exam than Males overall; (4) Taking the Exploring Computer Science course before AP CS A predicted students being 3.5 times more likely to pass the AP CS A exam than students that did not take ECS before AP CS A. Implications are discussed around secondary computer science course sequencing and lines of inquiry to encourage even greater broadening of participation in the AP CS A course and passing of the AP CS A exam. 

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