CS-CAVE: districts' roles in broadening CS access

Bits & Bytes CS-CAVE: DISTRICTS’ ROLES IN BROADENING CS ACCESS Susan Yonezawa, Nan Renner, Monica Sweet, Beth Simon and Diane Baxter This research investigates the spread and sustainability of university efforts to increase the number and types of computer science (CS) courses available in K-12. Two university/K-12 collaborative projects in the San Diego region provide insights into pathways for sustainability. Nearly 75 teachers were trained to teach CS Principles through professional development by university CS faculty and staff. Despite myriad challenges, one-third of the teachers implemented the course. Subsequent research explores three school districts as active players rather than passive recipients (or worse, resistors) of NSF-funded university-led efforts, revealing political and cultural challenges to implementation and sustainability of CS education reform. Computing pervades contemporary life. The US economy demands workers with computational competence. Yet, few K-12 students, particularly those from low-income and minority back- grounds, have access to formal learning opportunities in computer science (CS) [2]. To meet economic demands and give students access to opportunities, the US education system must expand CS offerings in K-12 education. Equally critical, this expansion must be equitable and accessible to diverse student populations, not limited just to the affluent and tech-endowed schools. Educational leaders call for expanding access to K-12 comput- ing education, with deliberate attention to broadening participation by students traditionally underrepresented in computer science, including female, African American, Latino, Native American, and students with disabilities/learning differences. Researchers have documented disparities in students’ K-12 access to computer science learning opportunities, but higher education’s investment to actively assist K-12 is more recent [1]. Higher education part- nerships with K-12 have increased the number and types of CS courses available for students. Our research expands the scope to investigate sustainability and spread of CS reforms. Two sequential CS education projects involving collaboration between California higher education (UC San Diego and San 80 acm Inroads 2015 December • Vol. 6 • No. 4 Working with district partners, ComPASS and CS-CaVE reveal that the technical as- pects of CS curriculum and teacher training present only one set of challenges. Diego State University) and K-12 education in the San Diego region highlight this recent progression from implementation to sustainability research in K-12 CS education, providing insight into pathways for sustainability. Two efforts to broaden participation in CS: From ComPASS to CS-CaVE In 2011, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded teams at University of California San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State University (SDSU) to conduct research on adapting a college- level course, CS Principles (CSP), for high schools in San Diego County, California. This CE21 project, “Computing Principles for All Students’ Success” (ComPASS), aimed to create a broader pool of CSP teachers, expand CSP class offerings, increase the number of schools offering CSP, and broaden teacher and student partici- pation. ComPASS project objectives were to: ■ develop and evaluate content and pedagogy training and support resources for teachers (with or without computing backgrounds) to teach CSP; ■ build a regional computing education community to provide sustainable peer support for new CSP teachers. ComPASS has trained approximately 75 teachers to teach CSP, through intensive CS workshops and professional development led by UCSD and SDSU Computer Science faculty and instructors from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). However,