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The impact of exploring computer science in Wisconsin: where disadvantage is an advantage

Authors:

Dennis BrylowAuthors Info & Claims

ITiCSE 2018: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

Pages 57 - 62

https://doi.org/10.1145/3197091.3197140

Published: 02 July 2018 Publication History

Abstract

Assessing the impact of regional or statewide interventions in primary and secondary school (K-12) computer science (CS) education is difficult for a variety of reasons. Qualitative survey data provide only a limited view of impacts, but quantitative data can be notoriously difficult to acquire at scale from large numbers of classrooms, schools, or local educational authorities. In this paper, we use several publicly available data sources to glean insights into public high school CS enrollments across an entire U.S. state. Course enrollments with NCES course codes and local descriptors, school-level demographic data, and school geographic attendance boundaries can be combined to highlight where CS offerings persist and thrive, how CS enrollments change over time, and the ultimate quantitative impact of a statewide intervention. We propose a more appropriate level of data aggregation for these types of quantitative studies than has been undertaken in previous work while demonstrating the importance of a contextual aggregation process. The results of our disparate impact analysis for the first time quantify the impact of a statewide Exploring Computer Science (ECS) program rollout on economic groups across the region. Our blueprint for this analysis can serve as a template to guide and assess large-scale K-12 CS interventions wherever detailed project evaluation methods cannot scale to encompass the entire study area, especially in cases where attribute heterogeneity is a significant issue.

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Abstract 1 Introduction 2 Geography in CS Education Research 3 The Role of Place 4 Methodology and Analysis 5 ECS in Wisconsin 6 Conclusion 6.1 Acknowledgments References

Cited By

Bahar KKaya EZhang XMjavanadze E(2023) Quo Vadis Racial Disparities? Trend Analysis of the Participation and Top Achievement in Advanced Placement Computer Science Exams Journal of Advanced Academics10.1177/1932202X23121848734:3-4(240-270)Online publication date: 28-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X231218487
Simmonds JDiaz CEstay CLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)Introducing Computational Thinking at Vocational High SchoolsProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588818(68-74)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3587102.3588818
Parker M(2023)Barriers and Supports to Offering Computer Science in High Schools: A Case Study of Structures and AgentsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/357290023:2(1-27)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3572900
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

The impact of exploring computer science in Wisconsin: where disadvantage is an advantage
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. K-12 education

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cover image ACM Conferences

ITiCSE 2018: Proceedings of the 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 2018

394 pages

ISBN:9781450357074

DOI:10.1145/3197091

General Chairs:
Irene Polycarpou
UCLan Cyprus, Cyprus
,
Janet C. Read
UCLan, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Panayiotis Andreou
Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus
,
Michal Armoni
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Copyright © 2018 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGCSE: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Science Education

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 02 July 2018

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National Science Foundation

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ITiCSE '18

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SIGCSE

ITiCSE '18: 23rd Annual ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education

July 2 - 4, 2018

Larnaca, Cyprus

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Overall Acceptance Rate 552 of 1,613 submissions, 34%

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Cited By

Bahar KKaya EZhang XMjavanadze E(2023) Quo Vadis Racial Disparities? Trend Analysis of the Participation and Top Achievement in Advanced Placement Computer Science Exams Journal of Advanced Academics10.1177/1932202X23121848734:3-4(240-270)Online publication date: 28-Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X231218487
Simmonds JDiaz CEstay CLaakso MMonga MSimon Sheard J(2023)Introducing Computational Thinking at Vocational High SchoolsProceedings of the 2023 Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education V. 110.1145/3587102.3588818(68-74)Online publication date: 29-Jun-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3587102.3588818
Parker M(2023)Barriers and Supports to Offering Computer Science in High Schools: A Case Study of Structures and AgentsACM Transactions on Computing Education10.1145/357290023:2(1-27)Online publication date: 14-Mar-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3572900
Parker MHendrickson K(2022)Capacity-related factors associated with computer science access and participation in Georgia public high schoolsPolicy Futures in Education10.1177/14782103221081920Online publication date: 14-Apr-2022
https://doi.org/10.1177/14782103221081920
Simmonds JGutierrez FMeza FTorrent CVillalobos JSherriff MMerkle LCutter PMonge ASheard J(2021)Changing Teacher Perceptions about Computational Thinking in Grades 1-6, through a National Training ProgramProceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3408877.3432542(260-266)Online publication date: 3-Mar-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3408877.3432542
Killen HWeintrop DGarvin MHawthorne EPérez-Quiñones MHeckman SZhang J(2019)AP Computer Science Principles' Impact on the Landscape of High School Computer Science using Maryland as a ModelProceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education10.1145/3287324.3287356(1060-1066)Online publication date: 22-Feb-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3287324.3287356

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