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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. 

Three Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone–serving districts formed a researcher–practitioner partnership with the Wyoming Department of Education, the American Institutes for Research®, and BootUp Professional Development to advance the computer science (CS) education of their elementary students in ways that strengthen their Indigenous identities and knowledges. In this paper, we share experiences from 2019 to 2022 with our curriculum development, professional development (PD), and classroom implementation. The researcher–practitioner partnership developed student and teacher materials to support elementary CS lessons aligned to Wyoming’s CS standards and “Indian Education for All” social studies standards. Indigenous community members served as experts to codesign culturally relevant resources. Teachers explored the curriculum resources during three 4-hour virtual and in-person PD sessions. The sessions were designed to position the teachers as designers of CS projects they eventually implemented in their classrooms. Projects completed by students included simulated interviews with Indigenous heroes and animations of students introducing themselves in their Native languages. Teachers described several positive effects of the Scratch lessons on students, including high engagement, increased confidence, and successful application of several CS concepts. The teachers also provided enthusiastic positive reviews of the ways the CS lessons allowed students to explore their Indigenous identities while preparing to productively use technology in their futures. The Wind River Elementary CS Collaborative is one model for how a researcher–practitioner partnership can utilize diverse forms of expertise, ways of knowing, and Indigenous language to engage in curriculum design, PD, and classroom implementation that supports culturally sustaining CS pedagogies in Indigenous communities. 

In fall 2019, the National Science Foundation awarded Southern Oregon University a two-year Computer Science for All Researcher Practitioner Partnership grant focused on integrating computational thinking (CT) into the K'5 instruction of general elementary and elementary bilingual teachers. This experience report highlights the process of transitioning one essential component of the project an elementary teacher summer institute (SI) from in-person to online due to COVID-19. This report covers the approach the team took to designing the SI to work virtually, the challenges encountered, the experiences of the 15 teachers involved through observations and surveys, and the opportunities for refinement. This report will be of potential interest for other computer science (CS) education researchers who also may be working with elementary teachers to incorporate CS and CT activities into their instruction.