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Computer science (CS) teachers are still learning how to enact culturally-sustaining/revitalizing CS education for Indigenous students. In response, elementary teachers on the Wind River Reservation, a professional development provider, researchers, and the Wyoming Department of Education formed a researcher-practitioner collaborative to implement and study the implementation of culturally- sustaining/revitalizing CS lessons using design-based implementation research (DBIR) practices. Researchers collected data via interviews, reflection forms, and observations. Findings indicated that teachers used students’ funds of knowledge to support engagement and expanded lessons to reflect Indigenous priorities of language revitalization and Tribal sovereignty. Creating culturally-sustaining/revitalizing CS education was a collective activity, drawing on interdependence of teachers and students. 

The Wind River Elementary Computer Science (WRECS) Collaborative is a research-practice partnership (RPP) among three school districts serving Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho communities on the Wind River Reservation, the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), BootUp Professional Development (BootUp PD), and the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The purpose of the WRECS Collaborative is to develop culturally sustaining elementary computer science (CS) education through integration of CS and Indigenous studies. The Collaborative engaged three cohorts of elementary educators in cycles of professional development, classroom implementation, and group reflection over the 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 school years. In this experience report, we share a set of reflections and lessons learned as the RPP developed relationships and worked through intersecting priorities, instructional goals, and ways of knowing and learning present within the RPP. 

Teacher shortages in K–12 computer science (CS) education negatively impact students’ access to CS courses, exposure to CS concepts, and interest in CS-related careers. To address CS teacher shortages, this study seeks to understand factors related to expressing a preference to teach CS among prospective teachers. The study team analyzed data from 27,700 prospective teacher applications accepted into the 2016–2020 Teach For America (TFA) corps (cohorts). The TFA corps is an alternative teacher development program that recruits and prepares participants to obtain their teaching certification while they work for at least two years in underserved communities on a temporary teaching license. Study results show that earning at least one postsecondary CS credit and majoring in CS are positively associated with these prospective teachers’ preference to teach CS. Findings indicate that among these accepted TFA applicants, a larger proportion of male applicants and racially minoritized applicants earned a postsecondary CS credit, majored in CS, and preferred to teach CS compared with female applicants and racially non-minoritized applicants. This study lays the foundation for future explorations of whether early exposure to CS could increase prospective teachers’ interest in teaching CS and reduce CS teacher shortages in K-12 settings. Findings from this study can also serve as a precursor to developing policies that result in a CS teacher workforce that is more representative of students enrolled in K-12 public schools. 

This study took place in the context of a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) between a research organization, the Wyoming Department of Education, and three school districts serving primarily Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho students on the Wind River Reservation. The goal of the RPP is to integrate instruction on the Indian Education for All Wyoming social studies standards with the Wyoming computer science standards in elementary school in ways that are culturally responsive [1]. The project team provided 12 hours of professional development across three sessions, three professional learning community sessions, lesson plans, and model projects. Teachers were expected to implement three coding projects across the school year. The study team collected data via teacher interviews, surveys, and observations of professional development and professional learning community sessions [2]. Three problems of practice that emerged from our preliminary qualitative analysis [3] include: (a) how to support student interest and engagement in computer science especially upon first introduction of a coding platform, (b) how to find time in the school day for computer science and to develop methods for integrating computer science with other subjects, and (c) how to build collaboration across classrooms and districts. The poster will discuss the adaptations teachers made to address the first two problems of practice and the RPP's strategy for addressing the third problem of practice in our next year of implementation. These findings will be of interest to researchers and practitioners working to implement culturally responsive computer science instruction in elementary schools in Indigenous communities.