Stefanie L. Marshall, Ain A. Grooms, Joshua Childs
{"title":"Do we have the capacity? The policy imperative for equity‐focused K‐12 computer science education","authors":"Stefanie L. Marshall, Ain A. Grooms, Joshua Childs","doi":"10.1002/tea.21978","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Access to computer science education (CSEd) has greatly expanded in recent years. Starting with the Computer Science for All Initiative, launched in 2016 under President Obama, CSEd has expanded across the U.S. with over half of high schools offering at least one computer science course. Although there has been growth in computer science course offerings, disparities exist when it comes to ‘who’ enrolls in CSEd courses, and ‘where’ those courses are being offered. These disparities highlight that while funding and support for CSEd has increased, little is known about the capacity of states to operationalize (and implement) policies to achieve equitable CSEd. Furthermore, how recent changes at the federal and state level(s) are directly impacting minoritized populations' access, participation, and engagement in CSEd. This commentary focuses on the state‐level capacity to implement equity‐focused CSEd policies that can lead to improvements in student opportunities and outcomes. We argue that state CSEd leaders engage at the intersection of four areas: (1) growing state investment in CSEd, (2) increasingly polarizing political environments, (3) securing human and fiscal resources to implement CSEd policy with fidelity, and (4) supporting Culturally Responsive Computing that sustains equitable teaching and learning practices in schools and classrooms. This commentary also serves as a Call to Action for STEM education researchers to listen closely and carefully to the communities served by CSEd research, including students, families, and educators.","PeriodicalId":48369,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Science Teaching","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Research in Science Teaching","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21978","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Access to computer science education (CSEd) has greatly expanded in recent years. Starting with the Computer Science for All Initiative, launched in 2016 under President Obama, CSEd has expanded across the U.S. with over half of high schools offering at least one computer science course. Although there has been growth in computer science course offerings, disparities exist when it comes to ‘who’ enrolls in CSEd courses, and ‘where’ those courses are being offered. These disparities highlight that while funding and support for CSEd has increased, little is known about the capacity of states to operationalize (and implement) policies to achieve equitable CSEd. Furthermore, how recent changes at the federal and state level(s) are directly impacting minoritized populations' access, participation, and engagement in CSEd. This commentary focuses on the state‐level capacity to implement equity‐focused CSEd policies that can lead to improvements in student opportunities and outcomes. We argue that state CSEd leaders engage at the intersection of four areas: (1) growing state investment in CSEd, (2) increasingly polarizing political environments, (3) securing human and fiscal resources to implement CSEd policy with fidelity, and (4) supporting Culturally Responsive Computing that sustains equitable teaching and learning practices in schools and classrooms. This commentary also serves as a Call to Action for STEM education researchers to listen closely and carefully to the communities served by CSEd research, including students, families, and educators.
期刊介绍:
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, the official journal of NARST: A Worldwide Organization for Improving Science Teaching and Learning Through Research, publishes reports for science education researchers and practitioners on issues of science teaching and learning and science education policy. Scholarly manuscripts within the domain of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching include, but are not limited to, investigations employing qualitative, ethnographic, historical, survey, philosophical, case study research, quantitative, experimental, quasi-experimental, data mining, and data analytics approaches; position papers; policy perspectives; critical reviews of the literature; and comments and criticism.