Building Capacity to Support Elementary CS Pathways Tailored to Rural Needs in Idaho

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Elementary computer science education is crucial for initiating and maintaining students’ interest in and positive attitudes toward computing. Children as young as five can understand basic computer science and programming concepts, yet only a quarter of elementary schools across the nation offer computer science instruction. Rural communities often have specific needs around computing education related to smaller populations, depressed economies, and a high number of families living in poverty. This partnership between American Institutes for Research, Idaho STEM Action Center, and BootUp Professional Development will support rural districts in Idaho in the design of an inclusive, K-5 computer science course pathway. The project team will collaborate to deepen their partnership, while engaging with district- and school-level partners from rural communities to define future directions for supporting the pathway.This research-practitioner partnership between American Institutes for Research, Idaho STEM Action Center, and BootUp Professional Development will develop the Idaho Elementary CS Collaborative (IECC) to support the design of K–5 computer science pathways in Idaho school districts. The IECC will address challenges to CS pathway development particular to low-income, rural communities, such as resource scarcity and relatively low exposure to CS among students. Project activities include facilitated partnership meetings to build the RPP; a landscape review of elementary computer science in Idaho; and the development of a set of CS planning and learning opportunities for administrators, teachers, and families.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.