Computational thinking (CT) provides opportunities for students to build the skills they need for everyday life, future academic success, and careers. Increasingly, districts are integrating CT into K-12 disciplinary subjects and a growing number of teachers need the knowledge to lead CT learning opportunities. CT is still nascent in teacher education, however, and not all teachers are receiving professional learning on the job. Teachers need effective methods of support to ensure they are providing students with high quality CT learning opportunities. We present methods of support for integrating CT into schools. The poster highlights four methods to support teacher professional learning: allowing ample time for collaboration, a school-based advocate championing CT integration, posting and promoting curated resources, and a foundational person anchoring the work as the initiative expands. In doing so, this poster provides interrelated examples of teacher support and highlights methods of continuous support for teachers integrating CT across content areas.

As states move to adopt computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) standards to prepare students for an increasingly technological world, school districts are integrating curriculum with CT skills and practices, building the capacity of their teachers and administrators through professional development, and increasing the knowledge infrastructure to support CT opportunities for students. One challenge that districts face when scaling new initiatives occurs when the work becomes siloed to one ''champion'' teacher or a singular motivated department. This poster presents Broward County Public Schools' use of an interactive infographic to build awareness of their CT initiative, including considerations for utilizing an infographic tool and the design decisions made to engage various stakeholders. The poster provides examples of methods to build knowledge of an emerging initiative and adds to the growing body of work in supporting districts as they scale their CS/CT initiatives.

North Salem Central School District (North Salem) has worked with researchers as part of a larger Research Practice Partnership (RPP) to design and implement an inclusive PK-12 computing pathway in their district. This poster describes how teachers used Generative AI (GenAI) tools in three areas: (1) the development of sample computational thinking (CT) lesson plans; (2) initial brainstorming; and (3) professional learning.

To promote inclusion of students with marginalized identities, districts need to develop comprehensive inclusive computing pathways across grade levels. Working in a Research Practice Partnership (RPP), we have co-designed a district-facing toolkit to support the creation of these pathways. In this poster, we present both the CT Pathways Toolkit and results from four districts piloting it. We examine the experiences of the pilot districts and analyze trends in the toolkit's use. This work expands knowledge about building inclusive computing pathways and computational thinking (CT) integration within K-12 schools.

Talladega County Schools (Talladega) is working to design and implement an inclusive K-12 computing pathway in their district as part of a larger Research Practice Partnership (RPP). This poster describes the reflections of a district leader in Talladega who led an inclusivity in computing initiative related to the pathway. The Talladega committee reflected on their pathway within the context of their district equity goal and centered conversations around how to support young women and students from low socio-economic households to participate in computing. After reflecting and discussing, the group designed equity-centered formative assessment tools for the three overarching competencies: Algorithmic Thinking; Data Collection and Analysis; and Creating Models and Simulations. This work builds on literature about designing equitable computing learning environments for students.

This poster reports on year one of a three-year NSF-funded Research Practitioner Partnership (RPP) to develop a K-8 pipeline for computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) education within two rural school districts in Eastern Kentucky : Pikeville Independent School District and Floyd County Schools. Economically devastated by the departure of the coal industry, these communities are committed to developing high-quality computing curricula for all students, beginning in their earliest years. The poster has two components. First, through a mixture of qualitative measures, the poster reports on the genesis and development of the RPP. It focuses on the RPP's origin in leveraging the districts' existing relationship with Pennsylvania's South Fayette School District, which has developed one of the nation's leading programs for teacher professional development (PD) in K-12 computing. The second component of the poster focuses on the development of a series of summer workshops for Kentucky Appalachia K-8 instructors to learn the basics of CS and CT and how to integrate these skills and concepts into existing K-8 coursework. Of course, the RPP faced new challenges with COVID-19 most notably, the need to offer these summer workshops remotely, and adjusting the objectives and research questions accordingly. Through focus groups with the PD instructional team and survey responses from the KY teacher workshop participants, the poster will report on the pedagogical implications of offering teacher PD exclusively online and what the ramifications have been for Pikeville and Floyd County children with the return to school in the Fall of 2020.

Three districts representing unique contexts and challenges from across the United States have been iteratively designing and implementing inclusive computing pathways for K-12 students. In this paper, we identify barriers to inclusivity within each districts? K-12 computing pathway. Through a research practice partnership (RPP), we seek to develop a shared understanding of inclusiveness and apply that understanding to the development of targeted supports in the design and implementation of K-12 computing pathways. We analyze existing structures and systems for gaps in order to create new opportunities and resources for students, teachers, schools and districts.