Day 1
01 Opener 02 Model 03 Break 04 Debugging 05 Equity 06 Lunch 07 Resources 08 Planning 09 Break 10 Barriers 11 End

Session 5: Focus on Equity

45 minutes

discussion-based

Purpose

The purpose of this session is to engage participants in identifying how approaches to implementing CS may challenge equity.

Objectives

  • Participants will use a shared definition for access, diversity, inclusion, and equity in the context of CS education.
  • Participants will identify implementation approaches that challenge equity in CS.

Supplies & Prep

Room Setup:

  • Poster: Shared Language and Definitions

Facilitator Supplies:

Teacher Materials:

Agenda

Shared Language and Definitions (14 minutes)

Scenarios (23 minutes)

Next Steps (8 minutes)

Facilitation Guide

Shared Language and Definitions (14 minutes)

Remarks

Code.org’s vision is “Every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education.” We recognize educators play a vital role in supporting equity in CS education . We also recognize that working towards equity in CS is a journey and that everyone is on their own unique path. This session is an opportunity to discuss how we reach that vision.

Bringing CS to all students involves overcoming barriers to implementing CS, as well as implementing CS equitably. The focus of this session is on implementing CS equitably. Later in the workshop, we address barriers to implementing CS. During this session, I will share language and definitions to anchor our discussions around equity. Then, we will use the shared language to discuss how some approaches to implementing CS challenge equity. We will also discuss recommendations that better support implementing CS equitably.

(6 minutes) Introducing Equity in CS

  • (6 minutes) Participants briefly share their responses to the prompt through a Think-Pair-Share activity.

    • Prompt:
      • When thinking about how to implement CS equitably, which of the following is important?
        • A. Ensuring the right and opportunity for all students to learn and experience computer science.
        • B. Ensuring the students who learn computer science reflect the demographics of the larger school or community population.
        • C. Creating learning environments that are accessible and welcoming of students’ identities, backgrounds, differences and perspectives without barriers or judgement.

  • (1 minute) Think: Participants individually reflect on the prompts.

  • (2 minutes) Pair: Participants turn to a partner and share their reflections to the prompts.

Discussion Goal

Note the three statements in the prompt refer to access, diversity, and inclusion. All three are needed in support of equity in CS and this is shared during the “Making Meaning of Equity in CS” section. The goal of the prompt is to provide an entry point for all participants into a dialogue about access, diversity, inclusion, equity, and CS.

(3 minutes) Share: Invite participants to share their “pair” discussions with the whole group.

(7 minutes) Equity-focused Language

(4 minutes) Invite participants to silently read the definitions for access, diversity, inclusion, and equity provided in the slide deck.

Discussion Goal

The purpose of the prompt is to capture what participants are thinking about and where they are coming from in terms of equity and CS. The goal is not to answer participants' questions at this time. Rather, participants will be invited to revisit their questions at the end of the workshop.

Example questions to anticipate include:

  • How do we do it? What is the first step?
  • What if my school’s focus is on testing?
  • What is the difference between inclusion and diversity?
  • What if my district’s focus is on core curriculum?

(3 minutes) Participants briefly respond to the prompt with the whole group.

  • Prompt:
    • What questions do these definitions raise for you?

(1 minute) Making Meaning of Equity in CS

Remarks

This session may raise many questions for us about equity in CS. The intent of the session is to begin to use a shared language and make sense of equity in CS as a community of educators. This session may result in answering some questions, asking more questions, and we may need to acknowledge our norm of “expecting and accepting non-closure” during this session.

Show the “Shared Language” poster and place it in a location where all participants can refer to it during the “Scenarios” activity.

Highlight the following about the image below (adapted from the Guide to inclusive computer science education, (2019)).

  • Equity in CS includes access, diversity, and inclusion.
  • Equitable participation in computing education happens when there is
    • Access - CS is available to all students.
    • Diversity - Students participating in CS reflect the school’s demographics.
    • Inclusion - All students are engaged and learning CS.

Scenarios (23 minutes)

Remarks

We are going to engage with three scenarios showing different approaches to implementing CS Fundamentals. We will apply an equity lens to each scenario to help us keep in mind equity as we consider how we will each implement CS Fundamentals in our classrooms and schools. We will also develop recommendations to take back with us that better support equitable implementation.

We will engage as a whole group for the first scenario and then you will discuss two scenarios in small groups.

(6 minutes) Whole Group: Applying an Equity Lens

(1 minute) Invite participants to read Scenario 1.

  • School Context: The school’s demographics include a majority of students who identify as Latinx/Hispanic, followed by students who identify as either White and Native American.The school is a charter school in an urban community.

  • Teacher A: What I’ve been doing already is letting students who finish their work early get on the computers and go through the CS curriculum on their own.

  • Teacher B: I can have three groups during reading intervention time. Group 1 is made up of students who don’t need interventions and can get on the computers and go through the CS curriculum on their own. Group 2 is made up of students I will work with for interventions. Group 3 is made up of students who need time to get caught up and finish their work on their own.

(5 minutes) Whole Group: Applying an Equity Lens

Share with participants Scenario 1 focuses on access in CS. Lead participants in a whole group discussion to model applying an equity lens to the scenario using the prompts as a guide. This is an opportunity

  • To model using the shared language by adding your own response to the prompts.

  • For participants to hear your personal example about supporting access in CS.

  • Prompts:

    • Who has access to CS in Scenario 1? Who does not?

      • Example response: Students with technology at home and who don’t need additional support in reading and math.

    • Who benefits from this implementation?

      • Example response: A teacher may benefit by not teaching CS and having students learn on their own. Students who do not need additional support in reading and math benefit from the opportunity to learn CS.

  • What are the impacts of this implementation for those who have access and those who do not?

    • Example response: An impact may be students who do not have access and are not included may adopt a mindset they should not learn CS nor belong in CS.

Facilitator Tip

Examples of recommendations to better support access:

  • More educators sharing the load of teaching a single course. For example, some general education teachers teach the unplugged/ introduction lessons for a concept chunk, while other educators (to include librarians/tech specialists) teach the skill-building lessons for a single grade.
  • Finding ways to make CS part of the core curriculum by using cross-curricular lesson extension activities included in each course.

What recommendations for Scenario 1 will better support access?

  • Example response: Identify how the curriculum and learning platform supports students who struggle in reading and math. For example Code Studio has features that read instructions to students and provides lots of visuals that support learning math.

(12 minutes) Small Group: Applying an Equity Lens

Transition participants to read and discuss Scenario 2 which focuses on inclusion.

(1 minute) Invite participants to read Scenario 2.

  • School Context: The school’s demographics include a majority of students who identify as White, followed by students who identify as African American/Black. The school is in a rural community.

  • Teacher A: Many students are struggling with basic skills and don’t have any computers at home. This is going to be difficult for them and I’m not sure many will be able to do it. They need to be working in reading and math, not in computer science.

  • Teacher B: I agree and I think we should offer CS to the kids we know can keep up and use the curriculum and technology with little help.

(5 minutes) Small Group Discussion: Scenario 2

Share with participants they will apply an equity lens to Scenario 2 which focuses on inclusion. Participants discuss their responses to the prompts with a small group of 3-4.

  • Prompts:

  • Who has access to CS in Scenario 2? Who does not?

    • Example response: Students who complete their work early have access to CS. Students who do not complete their work early do not have access to CS.

  • Who benefits from this implementation?

    • Example response: A teacher may benefit by not teaching CS, and having students learn on their own. Students who do not need additional support in reading benefit from the opportunity to learn CS.

  • What are the impacts of this implementation for those who have access and those who do not?

    • Example response: An impact may be students who are struggling with reading may adopt a mindset they should not learn nor belong in CS. Students engaging with CS may not get the full benefits of the curriculum if they are learning CS on their own.

Facilitator Tip

Examples of recommendations to better support inclusion:

  • CS as part of centers/stations that all students rotate through.
  • A built-in feature translates lessons into multiple languages in the learning platform. This feature is highlighted in the “Resource and Support” session.

What are recommendations for Scenario 2 to better support inclusion?

  • Example response: Try out a lesson! Teach a single lesson with all students to determine how long a lesson really takes and how to adapt it to meet time constrictions.

Transition participants to read and discuss Scenario 3 which focuses on diversity.

(1 minute) Invite participants to read Scenario 3.

  • School Context: The school’s demographics include a majority of students who identify as Black/African American, followed by students who identify as White and Latinx/Hispanic. The school is a public school in an urban community.

  • Teacher A: What if we offered CS to kids who are interested in joining a club? I have a group of boys who talk about gaming all the time and they would definitely join.

  • Teacher B: I do too! I also have a group of kids that really like math and science and this would be a good opportunity for them too.

(5 minutes) Small Group Discussion: Scenario 3

Participants apply an equity lens to Scenario 3 and discuss their responses to the prompts in a small group.

  • Prompts:

    • Who has access to CS in Scenario 3? Who does not?
      • Example response: Students who like gaming,math, and science have access to CS. Students who do not like gaming, math, or science do not have access to CS.

  • Who benefits from this implementation?

    • Example response: A teacher may benefit by not teaching CS and having students learn on their own. Students who like gaming, math, and science benefit from the opportunity to learn CS.

  • What are the impacts of this implementation for those who have access and those who do not?

    • Example response: An impact may be students who do not like gaming, math, or science may adopt a mindset they should not learn nor belong in CS. Students who have access to CS may not get the full benefits of the curriculum if they are learning CS on their own.

Facilitator Tip

Examples of recommendations to better support diversity:

  • The CS Fundamentals curriculum supports students in engaging and learning math and science because it focuses on problem solving, discovery, and inquiry.
  • The CS Fundamentals curriculum supports students creativity with lessons that include art and student choice.

What are recommendations for Scenario 3 to better support diversity?

  • Example response: Consider giving students and parents a presentation showing CS is not just about gaming or liking math and science as a way of introducing and inviting more students to join.

(5 minutes) Whole Group Share Out

Begin by sharing a personal example of supporting either inclusion or diversity in CS. Then, invite participants to share key takeaways from their small group discussions with the whole group.

Next Steps (8 minutes)

(5 minutes) Whole Group Discussion

Participants discuss the prompts with the whole group.

  • Prompts:
    • What is your role in implementing CS Fundamentals courses with access, diversity, and inclusion in mind?
    • How might keeping in mind access, diversity, and inclusion influence your implementation of CS Fundamentals?

Remarks

A first step in implementing CS equitably is recognizing we need access, diversity, and inclusion working together and identifying where gaps are in each. We each have unique situations in our schools when addressing these gaps. Let’s take a moment to write down what we currently can do, given our roles, to take a step closer towards equity in CS. Let’s also revisit questions that came to your mind at the start of the session.

(3 minutes) Whole Group Share Out

Invite a few participants to share their response to the prompts.

  • Prompts:
    • What next steps will you commit to in support of equity in CS?
    • What questions were answered for you about access, inclusion, and diversity in CS? What new questions came to your mind?