Teacher and Administrator Perspectives on District-Wide K-12 Computational Thinking Pathways

• In Event: Bridging Institutions, Building Futures: School–University Partnerships for Sustainable K–12 CS Education

Abstract

Objectives
This proposed paper reports on a National Science Foundation Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP), (blinded name), which is a four-year, scale-up CSforALL grant focused on developing a peer network of school districts designing and implementing comprehensive K-12 pathways in computational thinking (CT). In particular, the paper focus on an initial landscape study of our six partnering school districts (across six different states) examining how district teachers and administrators take ownership of their respective state computer science (CS) standards and policies, translating state department expectations to the specific contexts and priorities of their own students, schools, and communities.

Theoretical Framework
Significant advocacy and research has gone into expanding K-12 CS and CT opportunities for students, yet the associated evaluation has largely focused on specific teacher professional development (PD) programs and examining classroom integration in a few, specific classes. As districts are tasked to interpret and implement statewide standards, there needs to be renewed focus on broader K-12 learning trajectories. A rich body of research in broadening participation in computing (BPC) has consistently pointed to the need to increase middle and elementary offerings in computing within a range of existing subject matters (Bers et al. 2014; Grover, 2024; Lee et al., 2020; Mouza et al., 2016). Considerably less attention however has been given to tracking how these introductory computing offerings can be fashioned and tracked to enact “cumulative build” for student progress and generate wider learning trajectories specific to schools and districts. Our proposed work here intends to be an important first step documenting K-12 trajectories in CT learning among school districts.

Methods and Data Sources
The landscape analysis of districts relied primarily off of a 52 item survey of district K-12 teachers and administrators based on Wheeler et al.’s (2019, 2020) past work on computing implementation . As noted, a total of six school districts participated in the landscape study, and these districts vary in size from large (over 250,000 students) to small (just over 1,000 students). Due to the significant differences in size, there was considerable variation in the sample sizes of districts completing the survey (from n=14 to n=252). In addition to the survey, we conducted follow-up focus groups in each of the six districts with both teachers and administrators, each held separately . Focus groups ranged from five to seven teachers and three to six administrators (total teachers = 37; total admin = 22). Focus group data was coded by two researcher following an inductive thematic analysis process (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006).

Results
Results from survey and focus group data indicate that teachers and administrators tend to define CT as problem-solving, generally enjoy implementing it and do so mainly through lessons with structured, specific tasks, with instructors most comfortable focusing on pattern recognition, algorithmic thinking, and decomposition. It is also clear however that districts face significant challenges with providing professional learning targeting CT integration within specific content area learning (especially on the K-8 levels), and this challenge stands as the primary barrier for their articulation of a cohesive K-12 trajectory.

Authors

• Quinn Burke, Digital Promise

• Kyle Dunbar, Michigan State University

• Merijke Coenraad, Digital Promise Global

• Alessandra Rangel, Digital Promise

• Sharin R. Jacob, Digital Promise Global

• Kelly Mills, Digital Promise Global