Examining the Factors that Affect the Implementation and Sustainability of Exploring Computer Science (ECS) in Schools and Districts

Outlier Research and Evaluation at CEMSE (Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education) at the University of Chicago will support the CS 10K effort by contributing to a necessary knowledgebase for CS 10K success through the following project goals: (1) Informing CS 10K leaders and other CS educators about the supports and barriers to wide scale high school CS education implementation and providing strategies for addressing them; (2) Providing tools for measuring CS program implementation and the supports and barriers that affect implementation; and (3) Creating products from research findings and recommendations about implementing and growing CS education.

This study - called Barriers and Supports to Implementing Computer Science (The BASICS Study) - builds on Outlier's previous NSF work rigorously studying implementation of educational innovations (new practices and programs) and the factors that affect innovation implementation and sustainability.

The project will rigorously study ECS implementation in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC with a focus on the factors that currently affect ECS use, with particular attention to how and why these factors vary in the different contexts. The overarching goals of the BASICS Study is to support educators who are working to advance CS education by focusing on three research questions:

1) How did ECS (Exploring Computer Science) implementation begin and what does it look like now?

2) What supports and barriers affect ECS use and its potential endurance?; and

3) Do these supports and barriers differ by district and/or years of use?

Project Website: http://cemse.uchicago.edu/research-and-evaluation/research/CS10K/

Principal Investigator(s): Jeanne Century, University of Chicago and Sarah Wille, University of Chicago