Computer Science for All K-14 Pathways: Strengthening Elementary Pathways Curriculum in Rural School Districts with Local Industries

Rural communities have much potential to flourish in computing education and students in rural, low-income communities remain an untapped resource for expandingf the computing workforce. This Pathways strand research-practice partnership between American Institutes for Research®, BootUp Professional Development, the Idaho STEM Action Center, Oregon Department of Education, and Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction aims to address the challenges and opportunities related to supporting computing education in rural communities. This project will support districts serving rural communities in the Pacific Northwest to develop and implement plans for elementary Computer Science (CS) pathways. This project will support more Idaho districts to build out their elementary CS pathways, expand the work into Washington and Oregon, and promote knowledge-sharing across the three states to better leverage cultural and geographic similarities while better understanding the uniqueness of each state and rural district. The objectives of this pathways strand research-practice partnership are to: (a) further develop a four-phase theory of action for elementary CS pathway development in rural communities, (b) advance progress toward locally relevant elementary CS pathways in all three partnering states, and (c) expand and develop the partnership to include the voices of interest-holders across the states. To reach the objectives, the collaborative will conduct landscape surveys and 10 district interviews in Oregon and Washington and CS visioning workshops with five additional districts in Idaho. The project will support three districts in Idaho to work with a local industry partner to tailor an existing elementary CS curriculum to local interests and make the activities meaningful and relevant for students. 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.