CS10K:CS1C@OC-Building a Local Area Network of Computer Science Teachers

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

The University of California Irvine (UCI) project, called CS1C@OC, will provide in-service teachers in Orange County (OC), California a program of study that will satisfy California's new teacher certification pathway in Computer Science. Despite the demonstrated need for students to learn foundational computer science skills, few K-12 students have access to rigorous CS courses. CS remains privileged knowledge, and improving access to this knowledge is one of the major economic security and social justice issues of the 21st century. The CS community has struggled to overcome issues of access and equity, although some enormous strides have come in teaching tools, pedagogies, and standards. But none of these accomplishments can be broadly implemented or sustainable without certification pathways for CS teachers and teacher preparation programs, especially for those teaching in underserved communities. CS1C@OC will develop such a CS teacher preparation program, specifically for California's new CS Supplementary Authorization. CS1C@0C aims to (1) increase in-service teachers' CS content knowledge and their competence and confidence in evidence-based pedagogical practices for teaching computer science to diverse learners; (2) increase diverse students' knowledge and skills in computational thinking and computer science principles as well as their interest in taking more CS courses; and (3) increase the capacity of Orange County schools to provide CS courses. CS1C@OC will recruit and train 100 secondary school teachers--our share of the CS10K project (OC has approximately 10% of the nation's population)--largely from low-income communities serving underrepresented populations, with preference given to teachers who, along with their school, make a commitment to teach Exploring Computer Science (ECS) and/or Computer Science Principles (CSP). UCI will provide summer courses in CS content and pedagogy that will satisfy the requirements for California's newly-approved Computer Science Supplementary Authorization (which PI Richardson proposed and developed along with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing) while emphasizing CS instructional approaches that have proven successful with females and students from low-income, underrepresented communities. The project will also develop a hybrid professional learning community (PLC) for participating teachers and including existing OC CS teachers, so they can share information and experiences, continue to learn from each other, and have further opportunities to develop themselves both personally and professionally throughout the school year. The project will evaluate impact on teacher learning and development as well as impact on student learning and attitude changes.