Trends in Computer Science Teacher Isolation in California

• In Event: Identifying and Meeting the Needs of the Expanding Computer Science Teaching Force

Abstract

In the United States, feelings of isolation among computer science (CS) teachers were identified as one of the five main challenges in K-12 CS, with 55% of CS teacher survey respondents reporting being the only CS teacher at their school (Century et al., 2013). In addition, research has shown that a teacher’s social network can have positive impacts on student performance with students benefiting from improved teaching practices and teacher self-efficacy (Sun et al. 2017; Spillane & Shirrell 2018). We focus on CS as it is a relatively new subject area and with teachers from diverse subject backgrounds teaching it, who might feel additional isolation. In California, CS Teacher isolation has been seen as a contributing factor to negative perceptions of teaching CS (Ni & Guzdial 2012). However, the impacts of CS teachers experiencing isolation are typically self-reported and cross-sectional, with a lack of research specifically analyzing trends in CS teacher isolation without selection bias possible in surveys.

The purpose of this study is to examine the prevalence in CS teacher isolation, which I define as the presence of only one teacher in a school or district. Focusing on California, I examine a panel of middle schools (MS) and high schools (HS) that offer CS courses, because despite MS making up almost a quarter of schools offering CS in California, they are often overlooked in analyses. I used publicly available data from the California Department of Education (CDE) for years 2003 through 2018 and this provides the near universe of CA teachers. Using publicly available CDE data on the courses offered at each school, which include a unique identifier for the teachers of that year, I compare isolation rates for teachers of different subjects.

Results show that teachers experience different rates of isolation based on subject and grade level. As can be seen in Figure 1, there has been a decline in HS CS teachers isolated at their school, going from 75% of HS CS teachers isolated in 2003 to 52% in 2018. In the same time frame, the share of CS teachers isolated in their district went from 42% to 30%. In contrast, MS CS teachers have not experienced a similar decline, as is shown in Figure 2, staying at around 80% alone in their school within the same 16-year period. In comparison, HS and MS math and English teachers are isolated at a much smaller rate, with less than 5% alone at their schools and less than 1% alone in their district.

These findings allow for researchers and policymakers to understand trends over time in teacher isolation, providing what is in some ways a more comprehensive view than surveys, and revealing differences between MS and HS teachers. Finally, these findings offer insight into the isolation that CS teachers often experience and can be used to encourage policymakers to support CS teachers, possibly through targeted professional development funding and support, when expanding the number of CS teachers in a school or district is not possible.

Author

• Mariam Camille Saffar Perez, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author