Girl Power by Design: Broadening Participation in Information and Communication Technology Pathways

University Enterprises, Incorporated, Sacramento CA

Investigators

Abstract

California State University Sacramento and Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD) will develop a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (RPP), called Girl Power, that aims to improve the representation of girls in rigorous, engaging, high school computer science (CS) courses. Most CS courses at the high school level in EGUSD are taught in "Information and Communication Technology" (ICT) career pathways. Career pathways are a rapidly growing reform movement in California, especially in high needs districts that enroll large numbers of low-income, diverse students. The Girl Power project aims to ultimately increase the number of girls who enroll in an ICT Pathway in EGUSD by 75%. To accomplish this, Girl Power will use developmental and adaptive teacher professional development in Culturally Responsive Computing (CRC) pedagogies and rigorous computer science content across multiple courses in the district, including the Exploring Computer Science curriculum. The use of CRC will align content with girls' interests and concerns. The Girl Power partnership will develop a highly functioning RPP that implements a design-based research (DBR) study that examines how EGUSD computer science teachers' instruction using CRC pedagogies affects the recruitment and success of girls. Specifically the research will focus on questions around (1) teacher's recruitment of girls into ICT career pathways 2) girls' success in and completion of the ICT pathways, and 3) the impact of teacher professional development in CRC and CS content on girls' recruitment and success in CS courses. 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.