Teaching All Cs Through Inclusion and Collaboration with Special Education (TACTICS) (Collaborative Research: Mak)

A strong foundation in computer science (CS) will define success in the workforce of tomorrow. However, little attention has been paid to students with disabilities in K-12 CS education, who make up approximately 15% of all students in U.S. public schools. In many cases, limited opportunity, not disability, prevents students with disabilities from participating and succeeding in CS education. Thus, a critical step towards increasing meaningful access and participation of learners with disabilities in CS education is equipping teachers with effective instructional strategies to support these learners. This project will develop and study approaches to equip 4th and 5th grade general and special education teachers to teach CS to a broad range of learners with disabilities through professional development. This project will aim to improve accessibility, accommodations, and highlight the role of paraeducators to increase participation and learning in CS for students with disabilities. This project will investigate the impact of the professional development on teachers’ instruction and the influence of the professional development model on student learning, ability beliefs, and attitudes about CS.

This project includes cycles of learning and teaching with two partner school districts in Arizona. During these cycles, teacher teams will first learn about effective CS instructional practices and then implement these practices within classrooms. Teachers will engage in collaborative planning, lesson feedback cycles, and technical support during teaching. The study is guided by both development and impact research questions. Development questions include: How do 4th/5th grade and special education teachers adapt this professional development to their instructional practices to increase the participation of students with disabilities in CS education? Impact questions include: How does participation impact teachers’ competence in teaching CS to elementary students with disabilities? And how does implementation of the professional development impact students with disabilities’ CS access, understanding, and interest in CS? This project will contribute to the empirical literature on effective online, sustained professional learning to elementary and special education teachers and expand opportunities for students with disabilities to participate and succeed in CS education.