CS4SA-HS: Developing a collaborative of secondary computer science teachers to increase Latinx participation in CS

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The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and teachers and administrators in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) -- a district with a majority Latinx student population -- propose a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP), CS4SA-HS. The project will design and implement a rigorous teacher professional development (PD) program to develop a qualified high school computer science (CS) teacher workforce in Texas. It will target non-CS high school teachers and prepare them to become highly qualified CS teachers of linguistically and culturally diverse learner populations. Overall, CS4SA-HS aims to increase Latinx participation in CS by building a collaborative of secondary teachers who are prepared to teach CS in their diverse classrooms, become advocates for and leaders of CS education in their districts, and contribute to broadening participation in CS and other STEM areas. Its specific aims are to: (1) Create and deliver a teacher PD program that emphasizes building foundational CS knowledge and skills and adopting culturally responsive approaches to CS teaching; (2) Increase CS learning opportunities in school communities of large Latinx populations; (3) Establish a CS Pathway curriculum that meets the needs of communities with large Latinx populations; (4) Create sustainable and scalable CS PD opportunities within and across schools through teacher leadership; and (5) Advance the knowledge and research in CS teacher education, culturally responsive CS education, and teacher professional development. There are two main research questions: (i) In what ways can PD prepare secondary teachers from non-CS backgrounds to successfully teach CS in their culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms? (ii) Does culturally responsive CS teaching lead to increasing participation of Latinx students in CS? The project will increase our understanding of effective high school CS education for minority learner populations, providing best practices with respect to high school CS teacher PD and its impact on increasing Latinx participation in CS.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.