Collaborative Research: An Equitable, Justice-Focused Ecosystem for Pacific Northwest Secondary CS Teaching

Whitworth University, Spokane WA

Investigators

Abstract

The University of Washington, Central Washington University, Western Washington University, Whitworth University, and Washington State University will bring together leaders of pre-service programs, Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) chapters, Educational Service Districts (ESD), CTE directors, community organizations, and researchers to realize justice-focused secondary CS education in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. School districts across the country need more secondary computer science teachers, especially those who share the identities, values, and lived experiences of the students they teach. However, pathways for preparing and supporting computer science teachers are only just emerging, and many are struggling to recruit promising teachers into the profession and retain them long term. This project seeks to serve students and teachers who are women, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and/or disabled, specifically by creating pathways into computer science teaching for teachers with these identities. This project will create a consortium of emerging pre-service programs across the Pacific Northwest to address, strengthen, and mature computer science teaching pathways in four ways: 1) organizing and sharing information about teaching pathways, 2) identifying and resolving key barriers to pathways that aspiring teachers face, 3) supporting computers science teacher community building in partnership with new and existing computer science teachers association chapters, and 4) supporting administrative leaders who manage and grow these pathways. The CSforAll High School Strand project’s approach is to build an evidence-based networked improvement community, which deeply engages stakeholders across the region to identify opportunities for change, develop sustainable cross-institutional coordination practices, and use research as one tool of many to inform approaches to change. Research will particularly focus on answering 1) who is and isn’t informed about CS teaching pathways, and why; 2) what barriers aspiring teacher with identities marginalized in CS face in pursuing CS teaching careers; 3) how community gatherings amongst teachers with marginalized identities can support teacher retention; and 4) how solidarity amongst teacher education administrative leaders can support sustainability of pathways. These questions will be posed across urban and rural divides, helping to inform how values, communities, and state politics shape equitable access to computer science education in secondary schools across the Pacific Northwest. 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.