Integrating literacy and computational thinking (CT) can broaden computer science education participation, especially for multilingual learners. This study examined how the Computing and AI for All (CAIforALL) Act 1 Curriculum, an ELA-integrated Scratch-based CT curriculum, impacts coding attitudes among elementary students in predominantly Latine and multilingual districts. The curriculum integrates literacy strategies into CT instruction as proposed by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to support multilingual learners. We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial with 1,325 students in grades 3–5 across 23 schools in two suburban districts. The treatment group used an ELA-integrated CT curriculum for a school year while controls continued with business-as instruction. Pre- and post-surveys measured five coding attitude constructs: confidence, interest, utility, perceived coding values of social circles, and perceptions of young coders. We estimated treatment effects using a two-level hierarchical linear model, controlling for student and classroom characteristics. Findings show no statistically significant differences emerged in overall coding attitudes between groups. However, students exposed to a year of ELA-integrated CT curriculum showed significant increases in coding confidence. The curriculum did not significantly affect other attitude dimensions. Findings suggest that an ELA-integrated CT curriculum can enhance coding confidence among elementary students, demonstrating the value of early computing exposure and integrated approaches.

According to an ecological affordances perspective, any static curriculum has a set of affordances, and differences in teachers, students, and the teaching environment change how those affordances are viewed and used. Therefore, teaching is a relationship between the curriculum, the teacher, and the students. As such, it is not only possible but expected that a teacher will diverge from the details of a lesson plan to better accommodate the needs of themselves as a teacher and their students as learners.

The Latinx population is underrepresented in secondary computer science (CS) courses as well as in the STEM workforce. By exposing Latinx students to positive coding experiences and encouraging a growth mindset earlier in school, Latinx participation in CS may likely increase. This poster presents the results of examining the reflections upper-elementary students recorded in their journals after completing a structured Scratch coding project. Students were prompted to share problems they faced, how they responded to those problems, and what they were proud of in their project.

Researchers and practitioners have worked to bring computer science to all students. However, CS is still an inequitable field. When developing curricula, we must account for the importance of connecting the lives and identities of historically marginalized students with instructional materials. We examine the knowledge and experiences that elementary (age 9-10) students drew upon to implement an open-ended programming assignment about themselves. We coded the Scratch projects of 189 students to investigate what aspects of their lives students reference, and how they use various modalities in Scratch to create digital media products about themselves. In our data, we found that the most common spheres portrayed were identity, hobbies and leisure, and interests. When expressing their identities, students narrated their experiences, expressed consciousness about their skills, connected to the user via their interests, and sometimes discussed equity. Additionally, our findings add to previous literature on Scratch as an effective platform for digital media production. In particular, we found that students used dialogue, images, sound, and the title to represent their spheres of influence through programming multimedia and interactive projects. This work has implications for the development of curricula and teaching guides for upper elementary students courses on computational thinking. Spheres of influence could inform researchers on the most influential aspects of students life in a specific context, providing elements for creating culturally relevant and interest-based materials and lessons.

Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) is a pedagogical strategy that aims to engage culturally and linguistically diverse students in the classroom, to validate and to empower them (Scott, Sheridan, & Clark, 2014; Gay, 2010). Five commonly described aspects of culturally responsive instruction include: (1) helping students to value the perspectives of others, (2) affirming a sense of belonging, (3) validating students' cultural identities, (4) educating students about the diversity of the world around them, (5) supporting students to develop an awareness the impactful social structures. Research has shown repeatedly that CRT increases the academic success of ethnically diverse communities (Gay, 2018; Ladson-Billings, 1995). This talk will provide examples of how CRT has been incorporated into a Scratch-based, upper-elementary computational thinking curriculum that was developed specifically for English language learners. Learning activities include cultural content, diverse role models in the computer science field, and student reflection.

The demand for computational thinking (CT) problem solving abilities surge as every aspect of life becomes more dependent on complex digital technologies. Just as in math and language, a strong CT foundation needs to be established in early education in order for students to develop an instinctive CT perspective of the world. The urgent demand for CT instruction in elementary school quickly draws attention to the shortage of elementary school-level teachers qualified and interested in CT. Additionally, with a commitment to equity in the United States education system and knowledge of the high percentage of English language learning (ELL) students in schools, the obligation to create curricula that will provide access to CT knowledge, skills, and practices for elementary-level ELL students is loudly apparent. In response to these two needs, our team has adapted existing Scratch-based CT curriculum to support classroom teachers with minimal CT experience and to be more accessible to English language learners. The purpose of this paper is to share the framework that guided the curriculum adaptations, to describe the specific changes that were made, and to discuss discoveries made during the process. This journey may be helpful to anyone who is tasked with modifying a curriculum to meet the needs of novice content teachers and ELL students.

As reliance on technology increases in practically every aspect of life, all students deserve the opportunity to learn to think computationally from early in their educational experience. To support the kinds of computer science curriculum and instruction that makes this possible, there is an urgent need to develop and validate computational thinking (CT) assessments for elementary-aged students. We developed the Assessment of Computing for Elementary Students (ACES) to measure the CT concepts of loops and sequences for students in grades 3-5. The ACES includes block-based coding questions as well as non-programming, Bebras-style questions. We conducted cognitive interviews to understand student perspectives while taking the ACES. We piloted the assessment with 57 4th grade students who had completed a CT curriculum. Preliminary analyses indicate acceptable reliability and appropriate difficulty and discrimination among assessment items. The significance of this paper is to present a new CT measure for upper elementary students and to share its intentional development process.