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The demand to enact state-level computer science (CS) policies rapidly increased across the United States in response to advances in emerging technologies (e.g. Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, etc). The authors of this paper present the implications of K-12 CS education policies in the state of Tennessee, and recommendations to move towards justice-centered approaches after districts received Strategic CSforALL Resource Implementation Planning Tool (SCRIPT) workshops to help set goals and prioritize CS implementation. Evidence connected to the CS education literature accompanied by the authors, who are partners supporting local education agencies (LEAs), and qualitative findings from workshops provided further reasoning for policy recommendations. 

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.