Building Student Retention through Individuated Guided Cohort Training in Computer Science Research-Practitioner Partnership

在计算机领域，黑人女性的比例严重偏低，这可以从黑人女孩在K-12教育系统中甚至在接受高等教育之前就面临的教育障碍来解释。对于学生来说，中年级是一个关键的转折点，随着时间的推移，成绩差距和对STEM-CS的兴趣会扩大。这个项目是一个研究人员-从业者伙伴关系(RPP)，是一个为期两年的项目，将邀请教师、学校领导、指导顾问和研究人员确定障碍和未来在中学结构、教学和课程改进方面的工作，以促进更多的黑人女孩对计算机科学感兴趣和获得经验。该团队的一些核心成员正在为中学黑人女孩开发一个名为Bright-CS的计算机科学学习生态系统，其中包括暑期编程和基于学校的编程。该项目是BREAT-CS项目的延伸，目的是让教师参与RPP，以创造一个包容各方的环境，促进学校黑人女孩对CS的兴趣和学习。虽然核心团队得到了社区学校的隐性支持，但迫切需要明确地让教师、指导顾问和学校领导人参与，以进一步支持一个包容的环境，使黑人女孩能够在学校茁壮成长。该项目的基础是，多样性和包容性问题，特别是扩大对计算机科学的参与，必须是教学界内系统、持久和持续的工作。此外，RPP解决了有关识别和纠正学校中的障碍的问题，这将促进一个包容的学校环境，使包括其他边缘化学生在内的所有学生受益。通过RPP，该项目将在三所中学建立专业学习社区(PLC)，其中包括研究人员、辅导顾问、教师和学校领导人。RPP将支持采取初步措施，解决为什么在中学年级对计算机科学感兴趣并攻读计算机科学的黑人女孩如此之少。RPP不会泛泛而谈，也不会着眼于全国趋势，而是专门关注三所学校和课堂数据，以对黑人女孩在学校面临的结构、教学和课程障碍进行公平审计。其结果将是一个PLC逻辑模型和未来RPP提案的研究议程。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is a severe underrepresentation of black women in computing, explained by educational barriers that black girls face in the K-12 education system even before reaching postsecondary education. Middle grades are a critical transition point for students, where achievement gaps and interest in STEM-CS widen over time. This project, a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership (RPP), is a two-year project that will engage teachers, school leaders, guidance counselors, and researchers to identify barriers and future work in the areas of structural, instructional, and curricular improvements in middle schools to promote more black girls to gain interest and experience in computer science. Some of the core members of the team are developing a computer science learning ecosystem for middle school black girls, called BRIGHT-CS, that includes summer and school based programming. This project is an extension of the BRIGHT-CS project to engage teachers in an RPP to create an inclusive environment to promote CS interest and learning among black girls in their schools. While the core team has had implicit support from schools in the community, there is an exigent need to explicitly engage teachers, guidance counselors, and school leaders to further support an inclusive environment where black girls can thrive at school. The project rests on the foundation that issues of diversity and inclusivity, and broadening participation in computer science specifically, must be systematic, persistent, and ongoing work within the teaching community. Further, the RPP addresses issues around identifying and rectifying barriers in the school that will promote an inclusive school environment that will benefit all students including other marginalized students.Through the RPP, the project will establish professional learning communities (PLCs) in three middle schools that includes researchers, guidance counselors, teachers and school leaders. The RPP will support the initial steps in addressing why there are so few black girls interested and pursuing computer science in the middle grades. Rather than speaking in general terms, or looking at national trends, the RPP will look specifically at the three schools and classroom data to conduct an equity audit on the structural, instructional, and curricular barriers that black girls face in their school. The result will be a PLC logic model and a research agenda for future RPP proposals.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.