Researching Equity, Access, & Learning in Computer Science Education (REAL-CS)

This project supports the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program, an introductory high school course and teacher preparation program designed to support computer science for all students. The ECS program offers evidence-based curricular and professional development and employs high-quality and innovative instructional strategies for all computing students and teachers. The REAL-CS partnership model has established a wide, national reach that impacts thousands of computing students and their teachers each year. REAL-CS aims to work with school districts across the United States to create systemic change within high school computer science by iteratively designing, implementing, and studying generative efforts in computing in collaboration with teachers. Building on 15 years of development, research, and implementation in schools across the nation, this project focuses on the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) introductory course and associated curricular (co)-development and professional development. REAL-CS aims to make progress towards CS for All goals using four key strategies: 1. Leveraging national organizational partners to serve as hub in supporting ECS classes and teacher learning communities in school communities nationwide; 2. Developing innovative and inquiry-based high school ECS curriculum and supplementary curricular materials that incorporate a co-design process with a group of experienced ECS teachers; 3. Increasing CS educator knowledge, capacity, and preparation to integrate culturally responsive and sustaining CS teaching practices across different levels of teaching experiences; and 4. Conducting synergistic qualitative research across the US that investigates teacher support to practicecomputing teaching and to build a professional community around it. This project will continue to provide learning experiences to thousands of students each year, expand ECS course availability in schools across the nation, and prepare dozens of new ECS teachers, and support hundreds of experienced ECS teachers. The research that emerges from this project will advance the field in understanding effective practices for teaching high school CS. 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.