A Partnership to Implement the Inclusive Computer Science Model of Professional Development and a Digital Platform for PK-6 Computer Science Teaching for Students with Disabilities

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。随着对所有年级计算机科学教育的日益关注，许多教学领导者正在努力确定如何将计算机科学标准和内容整合到现有课程中。然而，许多学区还没有系统地培养教师使用这些课程或设计自己的课程。此外，计算机科学课程的设计往往没有考虑到残疾学生的需求，也没有解决残疾学生在学习计算机科学时可能面临的特殊挑战。因此，通过与费尔法克斯县公立学校的研究-实践者伙伴关系，该项目将为教师做好准备，为所有学生，包括残疾高发学生，实施和设计包容性计算机科学课程。为此，研究人员将使用包容性计算机科学（ICS）专业发展（PD）模型和由研究人员创建的通用设计工具，称为包容性计算思维和计算机科学数字有效平台（DEPICT-CS）。就本项目而言，残疾高发学生包括学习障碍、情绪行为障碍、轻度智力残疾、高功能自闭症或注意力缺陷多动障碍的学生。以下问题将指导工作：什么条件是必要的PD的ICS模型在全区范围内有效实施，以增加和维持计算机科学教学和所有学生的兴趣，特别是那些在PK-6包容性教室高发残疾？这项工作将在大约60所学校的大约275名教师指导大约6，000名学生的情况下进行。研究人员的专业发展模型和数字工具DEPICT-CS是通过对自我调节学习策略，教学自我效能和通用学习设计（UDL）的研究而获得的。从理论上和概念上讲，拟议的研究将有助于教学策略和方法，使计算机科学的高发病率的残疾学生的访问和理解。通过这项为期三年的混合方法的研究，我们的目标是提高教师的自我效能和技能相关的开发和实施计算机科学教学，是有效的脚手架为学生高发残疾。此外，研究人员的目标是准备教师使用他们的数字学习平台与嵌入式自我调节的学习策略和UDL支持（称为DEPICT-CS），并确定它如何最好地解决不同的学习需求，计算思维和编码技能的学生有和没有残疾的包容性教室。研究人员还将探讨在这些条件下参与计算机科学如何提高小学生对计算机科学的兴趣，特别是那些残疾学生。最后，该项目将通过确定在任何规模上有效实施ICS专业发展模式所需的条件，为残疾学生持续融入CS做出贡献。该项目将通过学生，教师和管理人员的访谈，观察，教师和学生评估调查结果，教师教案，视频数据和学生工作样本在三个研究阶段收集数据。数据将在每个研究阶段后进行分析，定量分析将根据定性结果进行。每个阶段的数据也将为后续阶段所需的任何调整提供信息。该项目通过CS for All：Research and RPPs计划资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). With an increased focus on computer science education at all grade levels, many instructional leaders are working diligently to determine how to align and integrate computer science standards and content into existing curricula. However, many school districts have not yet systematically prepared teachers to use these curricula or design their own. Further, computer science curricula are often not designed with the needs of students with disabilities in mind and do not address the particular challenges that students with disabilities may face in learning computer science. Thus, through a Research-Practitioner Partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools, this project will prepare teachers to both implement and design inclusive computer science curricula for all students, including those with high-incidence disabilities. To do so, the investigators will use the Inclusive Computer Science (ICS) Model of professional development (PD) and a universally-designed tool, created by the researchers, called the Digital Effective Platform for Inclusive Computational Thinking and Computer Science (DEPICT-CS). For the purpose of this project, students with high-incidence disabilities include students with learning disabilities, emotional-behavioral disorders, mild intellectual disabilities, high-functioning autism, or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders. The following question will guide the work: What conditions are necessary for the ICS Model of PD to be effectively implemented on a district-wide scale to increase and sustain computer science instruction and interest for all students, particularly those with high-incidence disabilities in PK-6 inclusive classrooms? This work will be conducted with approximately 275 teachers who instruct about 6,000 students across approximately 60 schools.The investigators' professional development model and digital tool, DEPICT-CS, are informed by research on self-regulated learning strategies, teaching self-efficacy, and universal design for learning (UDL). Theoretically and conceptually, the proposed research will contribute to pedagogical strategies and approaches for making computer science accessible and understandable for students with high-incidence disabilities. Through this three-year mixed-methods study we aim to improve teachers’ self-efficacy and skill related to developing and implementing computer science instruction that is effectively scaffolded for students with high-incidence disabilities. Further, the investigators aim to prepare teachers to use their digital learning platform with embedded self-regulated learning strategies and UDL support (known as DEPICT-CS) and determine how it best addresses the diverse learning needs, computational thinking, and coding skills of students with and without disabilities in inclusive classrooms. The investigators will also explore how participation in computer science under these conditions enhances elementary grade students’ interest in computer science, especially those with disabilities. Finally, this project will contribute to the sustained integration of CS for students with disabilities by determining what conditions are necessary to effectively implement the ICS Model of professional development on any scale. The project will collect data via student, teacher and administrator interviews, field notes from observations, teacher and student assessment & survey results, teacher lesson plans, video data, and student work samples across three phases of research. Data will be analyzed after each phase of research and quantitative analysis will be informed by qualitative results. Data from each phase will also inform understanding of any adjustments that need to be made for subsequent phases.This project is funded through the CS for All: Research and RPPs program.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.