Arizona K-8 Consortium: Building Computer Science and Computational Thinking Capacity in Rural K-8 Education

This project will establish the Arizona K-8 Consortium Hub, a network of Researcher-Practitioner Partnerships (RPPs) that will work to integrate computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) into rural and tribal K-8 education. The Hub will work with practitioners and researchers to establish five regional RPPs across Arizona. The Hub’s primary role will be to support regional RPPs logistically (partnership building, grant writing) as well as by developing and implementing an integrated Professional Development (PD) and Professional Learning Community (PLC) platform that builds local capacity. During the 18-month development phase, RPPs will work with the Hub to:

1) Assess the current state of CS/CT education and PD in their K-8 schools, including CS/CT interventions and curriculum and K-8 student CS/CT assessment tools, and identify gaps and issues to be addressed.

2) Articulate what high-quality CS/CT looks like in rural schools serving underserved, underrepresented youth, and what PD/PLC supports and work are needed to support and sustain implementation.

3) Co-design and support integrated research/evaluation studies to address gaps and issues along with building capacity.

4) Build strong integrated PD/PLCs that support RPPs in designing and implementing CS and CT interventions in rural preK-8 classrooms and future proposal development to the NSF CS for All program’s PreK-8 Strand, among others.

The long-term goals of the AZ K-8 Consortium Hub include developing a) an integrated PD/PLC platform that builds local capacity, and b) an RPP model for transformational change in rural K-8 education. The Hub will support RPPs in exploring and implementing evidence-based K-8 CS/CT education interventions that help meet state and federal education standards and be shared widely with other rural and underserved regions.

Lessons learned from this work will inform future NSF CS for All medium-and large-scale PreK-8 proposals. Project outcomes include four rural RPPs, an overview of rural Arizona's current CS/CT interventions and self-efficacy in rural K-8 educators, and a roadmap for joint research around the integration of CS/CT education in rural K-8 schools. This project is funded by the CS for All: Research and RPPs program.

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.