Computing has been historically taught as neutral and devoid of any connection with societies. But more recently, technical tools are taking center stage at societal problem solving, influencing policies and practices around issues such as surveillance, privacy, and algorithmic bias. In this sociopolitical moment, people across different efforts within K-12 computing education are calling for integration of computing with social sciences to center implications of technologies on peoples, communities, and societies. There are multiple facets to these efforts: studying K-12 student engagement with critical content to preparing K-12 educators and ecosystems, developing pedagogical frameworks, and redesigning existing high school computing program to center justice. This panel will present a broad range of efforts towards critical introduction of computing within K-12 settings. While briefly introducing themselves and their work, each panelist will answer the questions: (a) How does your work and experiences address critical computing education? (b) What are some barriers that you have encountered? And (c) How have you addressed these concerns within your designs? Overall, the panel will open the space for discussing, highlighting, and learning from this set of diverse and synergetic critical computing efforts within K-12 computing education.

One of SIGCSE's missions is to provide occasion for K-12 teachers and college/university professors to network, developing understanding of each other's roles as educators and generating ideas for collaborations for the sake of broadening participation in computing. We aim to promote opportunities for researchers and K-12 practitioners to work together in a BoF in order to participate in discussion regarding a)K-12 members' interests regarding CS education research; b) strategies for increasing opportunities for K-12 membersc) researcher/K12 collaborations d) ideas for future grants and/or collaborations The expected audience are the college/university faculty interested in K-12 education, as well as K-12 teachers or administrators interested in college/university CS education research. Regarding K-12/University collaborations, one might only think of the benefits to students. Yet, opportunities for learning and growth on the part of teachers and university faculty as work partners fosters motivation on both sides. This unexpected, valuable outcome has been documented in the literature as well [1,2,3]. The organizers of this BoF each have valued the learning from such collaborations and represent various roles as collaborative researchers from both sides.

The session will present an overview of findings of a recently funded NSF workshop that set out to examine the pressing issues for computing education research for the next 15 years. Based on dialogs for scholars working in this area, the workshop participants developed a series of themes and topics that they felt should become the focus of computing education research efforts for the next 15 years. Main themes that emerged and will be discussed in this session include: diversity, equity, inclusion, ethics, broadening participation, teaching, learning, K-12, research to practice, computing's connection to other fields, and computing education research disciplinary issues. The session will focus on interesting research questions from each of these areas that are ripe to be explored as well as enablers and blockers to the progress of this work.

In K-12 education, nearly all efforts focused on expanding computer science education center on the induction of new computer science teachers, with very little attention given to support the ongoing needs of experienced computer science teachers. More seasoned teachers benefit from deepening their content knowledge, pedagogical practices, and knowledge and capacity to provide equitable and inclusive learning experiences that results in students feeling a sense of belonging in computer science. This panel will discuss the needs of experienced CS teachers from a variety of perspectives, including teacher education researchers, professional development leaders, and high school practitioners and teacher facilitators. The panel will collectively outline a research and practice agenda that focuses on supporting, retaining, and further developing experienced teachers through expanded professional development, leadership opportunities, and community for CS teachers.

The Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (APCSP) course was introduced in 2016 to address long-standing gender and racial/ethnic disparities in the United States among students taking Advanced Placement Computer Science (APCS) in high school, as well as among those who pursued computing majors in college. Although APCSP has drawn a more diverse population of course takers than the traditional Advanced Placement Computer Science A (APCSA) course, questions remain about whether the new course portends students’ longer-term interest in computing and technology. This study used data from more than 120,000 first-year college students in the United States to understand the relationship between taking APCSA, APCSP, or both APCS courses and students' aspirations to major in computing or to pursue a computing or technology career. Our results indicated that taking APCSA or taking both APCS courses positively predicted students’ major or career aspirations in computing and technology, but that taking only APCSP did not predict long-term computing interest (although positive associations were identified for women). The findings identify a possible tension in the function of APCSP, as it appears to broaden access to computing knowledge, but may not necessarily encourage longer-term computing aspirations for all groups of underrepresented students.

As computer science is moving into K-12 education, most efforts have focused on getting new teachers into computer science or integrating computing within STEM topics. But one aspect that has received less attention, if any, is the continued professional development of experienced CS teachers. We know little about the particular learning needs of experienced CS teachers, knowledge that will be critical as the CS teaching force expands significantly in coming years. In this panel, we address this knowledge gap from the perspective of teacher education research and professional development-what we need to know about deepening teachers' pedagogical practices and content knowledge-an understanding that will be instrumental for retaining and enriching teachers in CS education.

Diversity and inclusion are popular topics at SIGCSE. However, few researchers examine questions specifically focused on race. Such research is of great interest to the SIGCSE community, but is typically conducted by education faculty and published in education journals. This panel attempts to introduce attendees to relevant background and methods, such that attendees can more easily understand and contribute to computer science education research related to race. This panel attempts to bridge our two communities by inviting race scholars from education to share their expertise with computer science education researchers and practitioners.

A major attempt to broaden participation in computer science has centered on the design and development of a new high school Advanced Placement (AP) course, AP Computer Science Principles (CSP). This course was created to intentionally engage a wider and more diverse group of students in learning about computing than those who had historically enrolled in programming-focused AP Computer Science "A" (CSA). After several years in the pilot phase, the course was officially offered by the College Board in 2016-17. This paper uses nationwide Freshman Survey data to examine the demographics and characteristics of students who took either CSA, the new CSP course, or both courses by the time they entered college in Fall 2017. Using crosstabs, z-tests, and one-way ANOVA, this study uncovered the similarities and differences between students who had participated in one or both of these courses. Our findings suggest that while students who took only CSP were more diverse than those who took only CSA, they exhibited less computing confidence and less interest in computing majors and tech careers. This study suggests that while CSP may be recruiting more females and racially diverse students into the course, this course alone may not serve as a direct pipeline into computing majors and careers.

Many efforts of curricula design have concentrated on expanding participation in K-12 CS education by introducing innovative approaches but few have focused on addressing longstanding equity issues through their choices of culturally relevant materials and activities. In this paper, we describe our efforts in using electronic textiles which include Arduino-based microcontrollers that are sewn with conductive thread on fabrics to connect actuators and sensors and create interactive wearables. We report on the implementation of an electronic textiles curricular unit in the Exploring Computer Science introductory computing course in 13 high schools involving 272 high school students largely from underrepresented groups in a major metropolitan school district. We examined two issues relevant to broadening equitable participation in CS: (1) students' changed perceptions of computing, and (2) students' depth of learning of computing, circuitry and crafting in the final project. Pre/post surveys on students' perceptions of computing showed positive, significant gains in students' self-confidence in solving CS problems, fascination with computing and ability to be creative with computing. Teacher evaluations of students' final projects revealed robust learning in the areas of basic programming and computational circuitry as well as strong learning across more challenging computational concepts, with room for growth. We discuss factors that impacted student outcomes and outline steps for further analysis.

Efforts to broaden participation in computing address how systemic school structures, educator preparation, and curriculum can provide inclusive learning spaces for all students. The emerging multiplicity of scholarship in computer science (CS) education forwards diverse voices, perspectives, and positionalities, and together, provide a rich set of evidence-based narratives that can transform K-12 policies and practices. The four projects featured in this panel bring together CS education efforts with varying methodologies focused on equity-oriented pedagogies and learning for all youth across the US. This panel will focus not only on sharing the multi-pronged efforts of the featured projects, but also on developing a shared vision among participants and panelists for what equity" can and should be in the future of both SIGCSE and CS education as we celebrate SIGCSE's 50th anniversary. By highlighting the work of projects rather than individuals in this panel, audience members will have the opportunity to learn about how collaborative efforts create and examine contexts for equity in CS education across diverse stakeholders, while also providing a richer base for constructing visions of equity that go beyond mere platitudes, toward action items for broadening participation in computing.

Professional development (PD) has long been recognized as one of the key ingredients in K-12 CS Education, particularly when addressing the problem of underserved communities. Over the last decade, significant work has been done to create professional development and curricular offerings that are research based, with a proven track record. Bootstrap, Exploring Computer Science and AP CS Principles represent these types of programs. Each of these programs has developed high-quality PD for educators and have been recognized by the White House as exemplar courses. However, economies of scale make it difficult to expand to the vast number of small school districts around the country, including some of the most isolated and underserved areas such as rural communities and Native American reservations. This panel will discuss an alternative model - "CSPdWeek" -- a national event aimed at providing best-in-class PD to teachers across the country. The inaugural CSPdWeek took place in July, 2016 at Colorado School of Mines, and provided a week-long residential experience for teachers attending one of three teacher-focused professional development programs. Over 240 classroom teachers attended CSPdWeek, making this professional development the single largest cross-curricular effort in preparing U.S. teachers to teach computing as part of the "CS for All" movement. This panel will focus on why this year's CSPdWeek was such a success and what was behind social media testimonies from teachers who talked about being part of an educational movement.

This article describes the impact of in-classroom coaching for computer science (CS) educators. Coaching is a way to support teachers in their classroom while teachers master new curricula or educational approaches and is not evaluative in purpose. Using qualitative methods to analyze computer science classroom observations, teacher surveys, teacher interviews, coaching logs, and coach interviews, this research answers the following question: How does in-classroom coaching support inquiry and equity-based teaching practices? This study of Exploring Computer Science classrooms illustrates the importance of having in-classroom coaches who can collaborate and reflect with teachers about current practices and who can help support new inquiry and equity-based instructional skills. Teachers note that in-classroom coaching helped (1) positively impact changes in pedagogy, (2) enrich teachers’ CS content knowledge, and (3) break CS teacher isolation at schools. Three case studies from computer science classrooms served by different coaches are shared to illustrate the ways teacher instructional practice can be strengthened over time through coaching.

No abstract available.

The ECS program includes an inquiry-based college-preparatory curriculum that introduces students to the creative nature of computing, technology as a tool for solving problems, and the relevance and impact of CS. This workshop will provide participants the opportunity to engage in activities from the ECS curriculum that highlight the six computational practices common to ECS and CS Principles. We will explicitly model the inquiry-based design of the activities and facilitate discussions that highlight how inquiry manifests itself in the computational practices. This workshop is appropriate for K-12 educators and college/university faculty who are interested in deepening their understanding of how teacher pedagogy is critical to broadening participation in computing. Laptop Optional.

In recent years, the computer science education community has shown strong commitment to broadening participation in computing in K-12 classrooms. Educational research highlights the critical role of professional development in supporting teachers to attract and effectively teach underrepresented students in computing. In this paper we present the Exploring Computer Science (ECS) professional development model and the research on which it is based. We also present findings about the impact of ECS professional development on teachers' practice. As computing education initiatives become increasingly concerned with scaling up from a regional to a nationwide presence, it is important to consider how the essential components of effective professional development can drive this reform.

In 2006, computing education was suffering from a crisis - enrollments were dropping sharply at universities and colleges across the United States, and interest in computing from high school and middle school students was waning significantly. At the 2007 SIGCSE Symposium, the ACM Education Board organized a special session to explore the underlying causes. In his keynote at the same conference, Grady Booch exhorted us to share the "passion, beauty, joy and awe" (PBJA) of computing. This led to a series of room-packed sessions at the following four SIGCSE symposia to explore that idea from different angles. They have provided a forum for sharing: "What we've done: Highlighting successful PBJA initiatives the presenters have undertaken or seen and wish to celebrate. "What we should do (curriculum): Pointing out where our curriculum is lacking in PBJA, and how to fix it. "How we should do it (pedagogy): Sharing how a change in attitude / focus / etc. can make strides to improving PBJA.

This article will detail efforts to broaden participation in computing in urban schools through a comprehensive reform effort of curricular development, teacher professional development, and policy changes. Beginning with an account of the curricular development of Exploring Computer Science , we will describe the inquiry-based research that underlies these learning materials. Next, we argue that accompanying professional development that supports the curriculum is essential for supporting this inquiry-based approach to computer science instruction. We then explain the policy strategies used to designate this course as a college-preparatory elective and place it in 17 Los Angeles high schools. Finally, we share the initial results of how students experience this course and ongoing challenges encountered when working in the public school system. The article concludes with a discussion of how longitudinal reform effort requires a strong foundation and deep roots to successfully democratize computer science education.

In this paper, a K-16 computer science reform effort is described as an effort that depends on curriculum development, professional development, and collaborative policy strategies.

In this paper, I describe features of computer science programs which have successfully attracted underrepresented students to study CS. Drawing from my own teaching experiences, research, and teacher education work; I provide strategies which have diversified K-12 CS courses. The paper also points out how many of these features rely on committed partnerships between schools, school districts, universities, and the CS industry.

No abstract available.