EAGER: An Accessible Coding Curriculum for Engaging Underserved Students with Special Needs in Afterschool Programs

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Many schools are trying to figure out how to comply with new computing directives, especially given there are a limited number of trained teachers that are comfortable with this new subject area. State and federal mandates, on the other hand, also require supporting the learning requirements of students with special needs. The scarcity of accessible interfaces for learning computing can lead to students with disabilities not having equal access in these new initiatives. In addition, most schools in low socioeconomic communities are often under-resourced, creating a further divide and challenge in bringing computer science training directly into the classroom environment. This work will investigate methods to positively impact underserved students with special needs by ensuring equal access to computer science curriculum, with a focus on 1) designing an accessible coding curriculum to engage underserved students with special needs in hands-on computing education in the afterschool space and 2) through pilot studies evaluate the learning outcomes for two ethnically diverse populations of middle school students with special needs.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.