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Leveraging Research-Practice Partnerships and a Whole-School Approach to Build Broad Capacity in K–5 Computer Science Education (Poster 5)

Sat, April 13, 11:25am to 12:55pm, Pennsylvania Convention Center, Floor: Level 100, Room 115B

Abstract

Objectives
Whole-school models that engage all educators within a school in intensive coaching and implementation of computing activities can respond to real-time needs, provide an onramp to computer science education (CSed), and support disciplinary priorities (Sherwood et al., 2021). Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) bring together diverse expertise and emphasize equitable collaboration to tackle problems of practice in schools (Author4 & colleagues, 2017). Our analysis seeks to understand how pairing these models can support simultaneous capacity building for teachers, administrators, professional development (PD) providers, and researchers to implement and sustain CSed in elementary schools.

Theoretical Framework and Significance
Reaching the “for all” in CSforAll requires building the capacity of the systems and organizations that drive CSed (Fletcher et al., 2021). Most capacity building research in CSed has focused on instructional strategies and teacher-related topics (e.g., confidence). However, capacity encompasses a range of levels (e.g., community, school) and is developed through the work of multiple stakeholders – including teachers, administrators, PD providers, and broader research and practice fields (McGill et al., 2023). Pairing whole-school models with RPPs that bring these stakeholders together may foster broad, simultaneous capacity building (Farrell et al., 2021) that supports long-term growth and sustainability of CS initiatives. This study seeks to identify dimensions of this combined model that may contribute to such capacity building, advancing the body of literature about RPPs and CSed.

Data and Methods
Our RPP brought two NYC public elementary schools together with PD providers, evaluators, and researchers to implement a whole-school CSed model that aimed to engage all students in computing, foster collaboration among teachers, and fortify CSed against educator turnover. This poster will showcase stakeholder reflections collected in surveys, focus groups, interviews, and field notes. Informed by expansive notions of capacity-building (McGill et al., 2023), our analysis sheds light on the dimensions of our model that enabled or inhibited RPP members to build capacity to respond to pressing problems of practice together.

Findings
Our analysis builds knowledge around how pairing whole-school models with RPPs can build capacity for CSed by facilitating collaboration, commitment, and problem-solving across multiple stakeholders. Teachers identified PD providers, other teachers, and administrators as crucial resources for implementation – collaborative relationships made possible by the whole school model. Administrators committed substantial resources to the partnership, in part because their entire school participated – even requesting monthly RPP meetings and committing to sustaining CSed beyond the grant period. RPP meetings helped build the team’s capacity for collaboration and data-informed problem-solving. These meetings prompted researchers to change study recruitment methodology and refine what researchers and PD providers attended to during observations (e.g., bilingualism). RPP meetings also provided opportunities for vision setting and partnership work aimed at building an enduring culture of CS in the schools. Some inhibitors of the model included its resource intensive nature: it takes capacity to build capacity. Educators had to grapple with lack of time and competing priorities. The model also required strategic planning to align the initiative to existing school culture, values, and curriculum.

Authors