A Coordinated, Cross-Institutional Career and Technical Education Cybersecurity Pathway

Etr Associates, Watsonville CA

Investigators

Abstract

Community colleges are an untapped resource for broadening participation in computing education and the tech workforce. They are the entry point for the majority of Latino/a college students in the United States, yet efforts to increase diversity in computing are focused on 4-year institutions, and assume students maintain a linear and forward-moving pathway, even though this is not typical for community college students. This project is a collaboration between Education, Training, Research, Pjaro Valley Unified School District, Digital NEST, and Cabrillo College; together they will build a cybersecurity-focused computer information systems pathway from high school to college in a majority-Latino district. Project activities center on: a) A Research-Practice Partnership that will design the pathway, build the capacity of educators to implement and support it, and create policies to institutionalize the pathway, b) high school activities designed to both engage student learning and serve as pathway on-ramps, c) high school/college dual enrollment classes, d) Services that support student pathway success and increase college readiness, and e) Data collection and analysis to: i) monitor student movement along the pathway and ii) guide continuous improvement. Data will be collected from 140 students who will be tracked over time, and from faculty, teachers, counselors, and parents. The results will contribute to knowledge of how to recruit HS students from underrepresented groups into a computer information systems pathway, and the preparation and supports they need to enroll, persist, and complete a computationally intense dual enrollment class. It will also contribute to knowledge about what it takes to have culturally responsive and computationally prepared teachers. The project will produce tested strategies for building on the interests and strengths of girls, Latino/as, and English language learners. It will identify how to get low income students into dual enrollment classes, and what it takes to help them enroll in college and earn college credits in a timely manner. It will also identify multiple entry and exit points in the pathway, in order to produce a model that is more accurate than existing descriptions of linear and always forward-moving pathways. An external evaluator will monitor whether the project is meeting key milestones necessary to test its theory of change. Findings will be shared with a range of stakeholders, including researchers, computer science education practitioners, and administrators, both regionally and nationally. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.