| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 5, 2016 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 23, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1640217 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Jeffrey Forbes
jforbes@nsf.gov (703)292-5301 CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2016 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $999,943.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,015,943.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2018 = $16,000.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
313 N 13TH ST MILWAUKEE WI US 53233-2244 (414)288-7200 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
P.O. Box 1181 Milwaukee WI US 53201-1881 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
STEM + Computing (STEM+C) Part, Special Projects - CNS |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
Marquette University proposes a the PUMP-CS project, (Preparing Urban Milwaukee for Principles of Computer Science,) which will provide access to the AP CS Principles (CSP) course at all Milwaukee high schools by 2020. At a time of unprecedented interest in computer science (CS) in K-12, Wisconsin sees an increasing stratification of access to CS. High-resourced schools, with CS curricula in place, are rapidly expanding offerings to match enrollment. Under-resourced schools have zero CS, or are seeing meager access diminished as scarce, qualified CS teachers are drained away to the suburbs. Less than 7% of Wisconsin's 500+ public high schools offer AP CS courses, and none of the 30 high schools in their largest urban district have any AP CS courses. Only two of the state's twenty largest college campuses have a CS teacher education program. If this stratification continues in the coming decade, an unprecedented number of Wisconsin high school students -- a disproportionate number of them from underrepresented groups -- will have no access to CS.
In 2014, this team launched a three-year CS10K project that aimed to introduce Exploring Computer Science (ECS) in high schools across the state. To date, 26 school districts have added ECS, including 7 of the largest schools in Milwaukee. Over 1,300 students have had access to ECS in the last three terms, most having no prior CS options. The PUMP-CS Project aims to extend that work by creating a multi-track professional development (PD) sequence for endorsing teachers--regardless of prior CS-specific knowledge--to teach either ECS or AP CSP. The first track prepares in-service teachers to lead ECS, integrating an inquiry- and equity-based pedagogy to convey solid CS content while appealing to a more diverse student population than traditional CS offerings. The second track enables in-service teachers to add a CS-specific endorsement to their primary certification, while continuing to promote pedagogical reform. A third track provides supporting professional development for middle school teachers, elementary school teachers, and after school program facilitators.
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
This project aims to prime a new computer science (CS) education pipeline in Milwaukee by:
- Effectively preparing more CS teachers in urban Milwaukee;
- Supporting teacher learning of sound pedagogical strategies that empower teachers to make connections with a larger and more diverse student population, while still imparting the depth, beauty and power of computer science; and
- Building sustainable, institutional change in our classrooms, school district, and nearby schools of education that will scale, grow, and evolve once the funding period for this grant has concluded.
Over the course of our grant, this project provided in-depth, grade-appropriate CS professional learning for:
- 385 elementary school teachers in 50 schools with grades K-5;
- 118 middle school teachers in 48 schools with grades 6-8;
- 53 high school teachers in 23 schools with at least grade 12; and
- Nine high school CS teachers with Advanced Placement CS Principles course training.
In total, this investment in teacher development has brought computer science learning experiences to the classrooms of more than ten thousand students in Milwaukee Public Schools between 2017 and 2021, and promises to continue reaching tens of thousands more in the years to come.
This project has created a new CS Teacher Leader position in the school district Central Office, who now oversees recruitment for future professional learning and curricular support for existing CS teachers.
Beyond direct delivery of teacher professional development courses, this project trained more than two dozen undergraduate computing majors at Marquette University and University Wisconsin - Milwaukee to help as instructional aides in the classrooms of new K-12 CS teachers or to run after-school coding clubs at schools that do not yet have a CS teacher. A 1-credit service learning course at Marquette is now offered every semester, institutionalizing this innovation as a regular part of the curriculum.
A persistent problem in Wisconsin has been the absence of suitable pathways for in-service and pre-service teachers to earn the CS-specific license required to teach advanced CS at the high school level. Our program created a new alternative licensure pathway for in-service teachers, as well as more accessible versions of the required course content. New programs in both pre-service CS Education and in-service graduate degrees are also coming into existence as the result of this project. The number of "highly qualified" licensed CS teachers with students enrolled in a course has increased by more than 29% in Wisconsin over the past four years as a result of these efforts.
With the arrival of COVID-19, the PUMP-CS project succeeded in providing high-quality virtual versions of all of our existing teacher professional development tracks in 2020 (grades K-5: CS Fundamentals; grades 6-8: CS Discoveries and Project GUTS; grades 9-12: Exploring CS and CS Principles) and co-developed a new track in 2021 (grades 6-12: Expanded Learning Program) that allowed teachers to collaborate with CS teacher peers in three other upper midwestern states: Indiana, Iowa and Michigan.
As researchers, our project staff measured evidence that inquiry-led pedagogy in the introductory high school computer science classroom can result in student learning outcomes and attitudinal changes that are equitably distributed across gender and racial groups that are typically underrepresented in CS. Moreover, the introduction of an equity-focused course like Exploring Computer Science results in the largest increases in access to CS in schools that are in the bottom socio-economic quartile by census tract in Wisconsin.
Researchers also completed the first comprehensive analysis of four years of statewide data collection on CS enrollment, teacher licensure and College Board AP CS participation for the state of Wisconsin. Finally, our team helped complete the design of tools to support a new CS-focused summer bridge program for first-generation college students heading from Milwaukee Public Schools to university.
Last Modified: 12/07/2021
Modified by: Dennis Brylow
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