Coaching for Equity in Computer Science

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The College of St. Scholastica will study coaching within the context of computer science (CS) education, supporting the development of two coaching programs that will serve up to 36 coaches and 72 teachers. Coaching is an existing and pervasive part of the K-12 education system, however, it has not been studied significantly within the context of computer science. Computer science is a critical area of study for K-12 students for civic engagement, developing collaboration, problem solving, and creativity among others. As in other areas of education, though, there are unequal rates of access, participation, and engagement in CS learning for those historically underrepresented in computing. In general, coaching has been shown to increase the adoption and improvement of equitable teaching practices, to increase student learning outcomes, and reduce achievement gaps. The project team will create a CS coaching professional development program and share tools with the CS education community. Establishing and supporting CS coaching programs has the potential to contribute lasting and substantive work towards advancing the sustainability and equity goals of CS for all K12 students.This project will create CS coaching professional development and study the implementation of coaching within two contexts. Code Savvy’s coaching program will support Minnesota coaches and teachers focused on teaching CS content at the high school level and will involve a mix of in-person and virtual coaching. The NCCSE coaching program will focus on a nationwide virtual coaching program for teachers of the Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles and Computer Science A courses. Using a mixed methods design, this project will study the impact of the coaching programs on improving teacher practice as defined by the CSTA Standards for CS Teachers. The project staff will address the following research questions: 1) how does teachers’ ability to apply CS practices and knowledge of CS concepts change as a result of the coaching process; 2) what impact does CS coaching have on teacher capacity to implement equitable teaching practices; 3) what, if any, changes to teacher practice are sustained during and after the CS coaching process; and 4) does CS coaching facilitate teacher professional growth and identity as a computer science teacher.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.