Collaborative Research: ECS Fellows 2.0: Broadening Participation of Teachers and Students in Computing

“为美国而教”（TFA）与俄勒冈大学的“探索计算机科学”（ECS）项目团队合作，提议在现有合作项目——ECS奖学金1.0——的基础上，为TFA网络中的在职教师提供培训，使他们既能倡导拓宽计算机科学（CS）学习的途径，又能在高需求的中学教授以探究为基础的计算机科学入门课程。迄今为止，ECS奖学金1.0项目已为来自11个城市和农村地区的46名TFA教师提供了讲授ECS课程的培训。该项目还确定了教师在倡导CS教学时面临的一些障碍和障碍，包括校长对CS的不优先考虑和辅导员偏见。通过ECS研究员2.0项目，该团队将把重点转移到了解如何最好地招募有色人种教师来教授计算机科学，支持他们克服在学校倡导计算机科学所遇到的障碍，并帮助他们创造公平的计算机科学学习环境。ECS研究员2.0将发展一个网络改进社区（NIC），该社区以有色人种教师及其学生的经验为中心，同时询问教师认为对扩大参与努力至关重要的问题。该项目的目标是：(1)建立一个由TFA员工、ECS员工和来自TFA网络的有色人种教师组成的NIC，该NIC不断发展，以解决与扩大教师和学生参与计算机相关的实践问题；(2)制定并分享策略，以增加TFA网络中自认为是有色人种的CS教师数量；(3)确定必要的支持，帮助CS教师向高需求学校中代表性不足的学生介绍和扩大CS学习机会；(4)确定计算机科学教师可以用来创造公平的计算机科学学习环境的策略。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Teach for America (TFA), in collaboration with the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) project team based at the University of Oregon, proposes to build on an existing collaboration -- the ECS Fellowship 1.0 -- that prepared in-service teachers from TFA's network to both advocate for broadened access to Computer Science (CS) learning, and to teach an inquiry-based introductory CS course at high-need secondary schools. To date, the ECS Fellowship 1.0 project has prepared 46 TFA teachers from 11 urban and rural regions to teach the ECS course. That project also identified a number of barriers and obstacles that teachers face in advocating for CS instruction including principal de-prioritization of CS, and counselor bias. With the ECS Fellows 2.0 project, the team will shift its focus to understanding how best to recruit teachers of color to teach CS, support them in navigating the identified obstacles associated with advocating for CS in their schools, and help them to create equitable CS learning environments. ECS Fellows 2.0 will develop a networked improvement community (NIC) that centers on the experiences of teachers of color and their students while interrogating issues teachers consider central to broadening participation efforts. The project's goals are to: (1) establish a NIC made up of TFA staff, ECS staff, and teachers of color from TFA's network that constantly evolves to address problems of practice related to broadening participation in computing for teachers and students; (2) develop and share strategies that lead to increases in the number of CS teachers that identify as people of color from TFA's network; (3) identify necessary supports that help CS teachers introduce and expand CS learning opportunities for underrepresented students in high-need schools; and (4) identify strategies that CS teachers can use to create equitable CS learning environments.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.