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Teacher professional development (PD) is a key factor in enabling teachers to develop mindsets and skills that positively impact students. It is also a key step in building capacity for computer science (CS) education in K-12 schools. Successful CS PD meets primary learning goals and enable teachers to grow their self-efficacy, asset and equity mindset, and interest in teaching CS. As part of a larger study, we conducted a secondary analysis of CS PD evaluation instruments (). We found that instruments across providers were highly dissimilar with limited data collected for measures related to teacher learning, which has implications for future K-12 CS education. Likewise, the instruments were limited in being connected to student learning and academic growth. As a way to enable PD providers to construct measures that align with known impacting factors, we offer recommendations for collecting demographic data and measuring program satisfaction, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, growth and equity mindset, and self-efficacy. We also highlight questions for PD providers to consider when constructing their evaluation, including reflecting community values, the goals of the PD, and how the data collected will be used to continually improve CS programs.
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This content will become publicly available on March 17, 2026
Lessons in adaptation: A five-year design analysis of culturally responsive computer science PD for elementary teachers
This study examines the evolution of a professional development (PD) program over a 5-year period designed to enhance computer science (CS) education in elementary schools. Despite growing emphasis on CS in K-12 education, elementary teachers often lack resources and training. Our project addressed this gap by offering an annual summer PD Institute (2020 to 2024), aimed to equip K-5 teachers with content and pedagogical knowledge needed to integrate CS into their curriculum. The overarching intention of the program is to increase CS opportunities in elementary schools, with a focus on engaging female students and those from underrepresented backgrounds. Utilizing the framework of Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), the PD design was iteratively refined based on teacher feedback and artifact analysis. We conducted a retrospective, qualitative analysis to identify core PD characteristics and their evolution. Our findings reveal how PD content evolved across dimensions of the TPACK framework, with the fifth year achieving a balanced distribution of components. This study contributes to understanding effective design principles for elementary CS teacher PD and highlights the importance of researcher-teacher partnerships in building a community of elementary CS educators.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1923483
- PAR ID:
- 10657405
- Publisher / Repository:
- Society of Information Technology and Teacher Education
- Date Published:
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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