Abstract:

In the USA, research-practice partnerships (RPPs) have been building momentum as a powerful and mutually-beneficial way to combine the expertise of both researchers and educators for answering pressing problems of practice (Coburn, Penuel, & Geil, 2013). With funding from major organizations encouraging this new approach to improving teaching and learning, many projects have been exploring novel collaborative approaches to research, and particularly in computer science (CS) education.

Supporting Computing Access, Leadership, and Equity (SCALE) is one such RPP in California, between 17 local education agencies (LEAs; including public school districts and county offices of education) and researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and the American Institutes of Research (AIR). This paper describes our RPP approach, and how it supports leadership capacity to address educational inequity in computing education - with a particular focus on increasing meaningful learning opportunities for Black, Brown, Indigenous, low-income students, and girls underrepresented in the field of computer science.

In 2018, motivated by a broader education movement to bring “CS for All” students, RPP members defined “equity” and “equitable” CS education and co-created a vision for how to make it a reality. This helped guide the group’s focus via monthly online and in-person meetings, where education and research partners formed trusting relationships, challenged hierarchies of knowledge-building that historically prioritizes the ideas of academics over educators, shared decision-making power, offered input on common problems of practice, and engaged in ongoing learning and curricular pathway development that challenge the structures, systems, and policies that reproduce inequalities.

A prominent outcome of the RPP was the co-creation of the “Summer of CS,” a professional development week designed for teams of teachers, counselors, and school leaders (that has served over 800 educators this summer alone) to address the systemic inequities impacting CS education implementation. SCALE produced the CS Equity Workshop for School Leaders, equipping school decision makers with skills and strategies to develop equitable, scalable, and sustainable CS education opportunities. The foundation for this workshop is the CS Equity Implementation Guide, a 54-page guide written with SCALE administrators that offers guidance to school leaders such as choosing culturally responsive curricula, providing professional development for educators, supporting family engagement, funding, etc.). Our RPP has also created case studies highlighting best practices for successful and equitable CS implementation from various partners’ education contexts that others can use as models for their own practice.

The RPP’s success has led to UCLA being awarded a major grant from the California Department of Education, expanding SCALE’s work to build the capacity of “CS Champions,” across the 7 regions of the California Statewide System of Support. These CS Champions will provide ongoing support to schools and districts, especially those with limited capacity such as rural communities.

This presentation - featuring the voices of both researcher and educator partners - will offer the full story of SCALE, while highlighting RPP values and activities that attendees can use in their work to engage in robust research that has immediate and meaningful impacts on education practice.

Keywords:

Equity and Diversity, Research-Practice Partnerships, School Administrators and Leadership, Computer Science Education, Professional Development, K-12 Education.