Individual teacher and school champions have enabled participation in K-12 computer science education to soar to new highs in recent years. However, true systemic change will occur when school districts across the nation create their own #CSforALL goals and implementation strategies. There is a need for districts across the nation to develop comprehensive and equity-minded plans to ensure that all students across all schools can access and achieve in computer science.
Creating these plans can be daunting, especially at early stages of implementation and when there are important competing priorities. It can be tempting to simply replicate plans that other districts have adopted, yet contexts may vary greatly from one district to another, making a single correct answer difficult. Districts should leverage local strengths and consider their unique contexts when developing their plans.
The CSforALL Consortium, a key partner of the CSTA, recently developed a tool to help with this challenge. The new tool is called the SCRIPT: School CSforALL Resource and Implementation Planning Tool. The SCRIPT engages school districts in reflection, review of examples, and goal setting related to six areas: (1) Leadership, (2) Technology Infrastructure, (3) Teacher Capacity, (4) Curriculum and Materials, Selection and Refinement, (5) Partners, and (6) Community.
The SCRIPT is still under development; however CSforALL has released rubrics for Leadership, Teacher Capacity, and Curriculum & Materials, Selection and Refinement. Recently, I helped facilitate a breakout session at a SCRIPT workshop held at the CSforALL Summit in St. Louis. Based on this experience, I believe the SCRIPT is useful for districts that are just getting started, as well as those that have already implemented their comprehensive plans, as there are many distinct elements and a wide continuum of success. The tools promote excellent reflection and conversation and help guide teams towards meaningful next steps.
Here is a suggestion for how to use the SCRIPT:
- Convene a leadership team from your local district to develop or update plans to support #CSforALL. Include teachers, principals, curriculum leaders, and district administration; where possible, include representatives from both early-adopting schools and schools that have yet to begin to implement.
- Together, focus on each of the six SCRIPT categories one at a time. Use the rubric to reflect on the current status, identify priority areas, and set goals. Consider setting three goals for each area of the rubric: one 3-month goal, one 6-month goal, and one long-term goal.
- Use the tools and examples in the SCRIPT, as well as other CSTA resources and CSforALL members, to help plan how you will meet these goals. Feel free to reach out to your local CSTA chapter to ask for advice and support.
- Reconvene periodically to monitor progress and update goals.
Creating meaningful and systemic change certainly does not come easily. Accordingly, you won’t find a list of answers within the SCRIPT. However, you will find many thought-provoking questions and topics for conversation. Use these to consider the big picture and develop plans for rigorous, inclusive, and sustainable K-12 computer science education in your local school district.
Bryan Twarek
School District Representative
