skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


This content will become publicly available on March 17, 2026

Title: A Landscape Study: Computer Science (CS) Education State Supervisors and their Role in Developing Equitable CS Pathways
This landscape study explored structural barriers to diversity in computing education by focusing on Computer Science Education State Supervisors (CSEdSS) in state education agencies. Positioned in 41 states, CSEdSS play a crucial role in ensuring equitable access to K-12 CS learning pathways. Despite efforts to expand CS education policy, equity issues in access persist. Based on a survey of CSEdSS (n=32) with a 78% response rate, we applied the Capacity for, Access to, Participation in, and Experience of (CAPE) Framework to analyze CSEdSS survey responses to questions about how they enact their role and the ways in which equity in CS education impacts their work. Findings revealed that CSEdSS leveraged the opportunities available to them to build capacity and advance equitable access to CS education across diverse state contexts, even as they navigated systems that present challenges to equitable implementation. The results highlighted the importance of using a critical analysis approach to interrogate policy enactment through a sociocultural and systems-based lens, addressing the complexities of implementing CS education policies at macrosystem, mesosystem, and microsystem levels to support inclusive and equitable pathways in CS education.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2239481 2405128
PAR ID:
10581393
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Editor(s):
Hartshone, R
Publisher / Repository:
Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Journal of Technology and Teacher Education
Volume:
33
Issue:
1
ISSN:
1059-7069
Page Range / eLocation ID:
109 to 145
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, Constellations Professional Development Summit: CS for Social Good)
    null (Ed.)
    CS teachers must develop numerous skills and attributes that go beyond those of other K-12 teachers, given the unique nature of the CS education landscape. In fact, CS teachers are often called upon to serve as teacher leaders very early in their CS careers in order to build a CS program in their schools or districts and ensure equitable access to CS courses. So how can we best support CS teachers in growing that leadership knowledge and skills? The American Institutes for Research (AIR) and its CS for All Teachers community of practice recently developed a “stack” of asynchronous and interactive professional learning modules – or micro-credentials – on teacher leadership in CS. There are five micro-credentials included in the stack, which focus on the following topics: 1) Equity in CS, 2) Collaboration in CS, 3) Building a CS Program, 4) Advocacy for CS, and 5) CS Policy. Presenters will discuss the promise of teacher leadership to transform CS education. They will share how the micro-credentials were created and what the literature says about using this approach for professional learning. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; (, ACM)
    The demand to provide high-quality computer science (CS) education to K-12 students across the United States continues to grow due to societal transformations driven by AI and cybersecurity. However, the impact of state initiatives and mandates on district leaders’ decision making remains an under-explored area in the literature. In 2022, CSforALL began work in Tennessee, a state poised to enact CS education policy, as part of a Research Practice Partnership (RPP). This study investigates the first eight school districts who participated in the Strategic CSforALL Resource and Implementation Planning Tool (SCRIPT) workshops in 2022 and 2023, setting goals based on the SCRIPT rubric. The study takes a general qualitative approach underpinned by the Capacity, Access, Participation, and Experience (CAPE) Framework [14] to develop a coding scheme analyzing the districts’ related rubric scores and goals, and to investigate the impacts on equity indicators. The districts participated in three SCRIPT workshops held in 2022 and 2023, and this study dives deeply into the initial goals as well as analyzing the ways the SCRIPT rubric aligned to the CAPE Framework to investigate how district leaders make decisions which impact teacher and student outcomes which lead to equitable high-quality CS education. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; ; ; (, 2019 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing and Technology (RESPECT))
    null (Ed.)
    Equity is arguably an agreed upon value within the Computer Science education (CSed) community, and perhaps even more so within efforts to universalize access to CSed within K12 settings through emerging `CS for All' initiatives. However, stakeholders often mean different things when referring to equity, with important implications for what CS teaching and learning looks like in schools. In this paper, we explore the question of how K12 school district actors' conceptualizations of equity manifest within their planning and implementation of district-wide CSed initiatives. Based on a research-practice partnership aimed at supporting and researching district-wide CSed initiatives, data presented - interviews with district faculty, district planning documents, meeting transcripts and field observations - were drawn from five participating school districts as they made decisions and enacted activities over 11 months in areas including vision-setting, curriculum, professional development, leadership efforts and use of formative data about implementation. Analyzing these data through equity frameworks found in CSed literature, we highlight three distinct but interconnected ways that district actors conceptualized equity within their CSed initiatives: (1) equity in who Computer Science is for, (2) equity in how Computer Science is taught, and (3) equity in what Computer Science is taught. Data show that these varied conceptualizations resulted in different kinds of decisions about CSed in districts. We discuss the implications of these findings in terms of their relevance to equity-oriented CS education researchers, and what lessons they hold for policy-makers and education leaders engaged in their own efforts to support equitable computer science education. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; (, 2018 Research on Equity and Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT))
    Effective and equitable CS teaching in classrooms is contingent on teachers' high-levels of self-efficacy in CS as well as a robust understanding of equity issues in CS classrooms. To this end, our study examined the influence of a professional development (PD) course, Teaching Exploring Computer Science (TECS), on promoting teacher self-efficacy and equity awareness in CS education. This nine-week PD was offered in a hybrid format, delivering on-line and face-to-face classes to high school teachers across various disciplines who served under-represented students. The participants completed a selfefficacy survey focusing on their ability to teach ECS, both before and after the course. Results showed that teachers' selfefficacy in the content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge of ECS significantly increased as a result of taking the course. We also evaluated teacher's understanding of the equity issues by conducting a content analysis of their reflection essays written at the end of the course. Four major themes emerged from the content analysis, highlighting the impact of equitable practices on CS participation. This research demonstrates the role of a professional development course in promoting teachers' self-efficacy beliefs in teaching CS and their understanding of the equity issues and presents tools for assessing teachers' development in these areas. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; (, ACM)
    At a time when computing continues to gain importance in society, it is more crucial than ever to ensure that computer science education meets the needs of all students. To this end, the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is updating its K-12 computer science (CS) standards. As a prelude to the standards revision, CSTA – working with many partners – has launched a project, Reimagining CS Pathways: High School and Beyond, to articulate what CS content is essential for all high school graduates to know and to establish pathways for continued study of CS beyond that foundational content. The Reimagining project drew on the expertise and experiences of dozens of participants – including high school CS teachers, college CS faculty, state and local education leaders, CS education researchers, and those working for nonprofits and in the tech industry. These participants reflected diversity across many dimensions, including demographics, role, and expertise. They participated in focus groups, interviews, and in-person convenings, and they provided substantial asynchronous feedback. The result of these extensive efforts is contained in this report, which articulates the foundational CS content and resulting pathways. The foundational CS content is organized into Topic Areas, Pillars, and Dispositions. The Topic Areas, which reflect the content that is essential for all high school graduates, are 1) Algorithms, 2), Programming, 3) Data and Analysis, 4) Computing Systems and Security, and 5) Preparation for the Future. The Pillars, which reflect essential ideas and practices that cut across all of the Topic Areas, are 1) Impacts and Ethics, 2) Inclusive Collaboration, 3) Computational Thinking, and 4) Human-Centered Design. While they are not explicitly taught, the goal is to develop a set of specific dispositions in CS. These Dispositions are persistence, reflectiveness, creativity, curiosity, critical thinking, and sense of belonging in CS. There are many possible pathways stemming from this foundational content, ranging from Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence to X + CS (where another subject, such as Journalism or Biology, is integrated with the study of computing). Implementation of these pathways will vary significantly depending on community priorities and contexts. We recognize that schools will need to be selective in their implementation of CS pathways due to limited resources, and we make recommendations for how to select which options to implement. Woven throughout this work is a commitment to improving equity in CS education. This commitment to equity is embedded throughout both the process and the outcome of the Reimagining project. It manifests in an effort to reimagine CS to ensure opportunities for all students and to prepare them for a world increasingly powered by computing. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email