View the Standards for CS Teachers

Examine how systemic barriersSystemic barriers include the lack of CS offerings, scheduling conflicts, prerequisite courses, school funding and resources, lack of qualified and experienced teachers, inadequate access to technology, additional course requirements for English learners and students with disabilities, and students being pulled out from CS classes for additional services. and social and psychological factorsSocial and psychological factors include biased beliefs about who can and cannot succeed in CS, isolation of underrepresented students, stereotype threat, lack of diverse representation in curriculum, and lack of diverse STEM role models and peer support networks. These factors can impact students’ perceived ability, aspirations, and performance. {adapted from Kapor Center} contribute to inequitable access, engagement, and achievement in CS among marginalized groupsMarginalized groups traditionally underrepresented in computer science include women and non-binary people, Indigenous and Native peoples, Black people, Latinxs, English language learners, students with disabilities, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, students who live in urban and rural areas, migrant students, students who identify as LGBTQ+, and students who are/were incarcerated.. Reflect on how issues of equity manifest in their own CS teaching context.

Develop purposeful strategiesTo learn strategies to remove threats to inclusion, see Microsoft’s Guide to Inclusive CS Education. In secondary grade levels, this may take the form of active recruitment of students from underrepresented groups. See the CS is for Everyone Recruitment Toolkit and NCWIT’s Recruit and Retain Strategically resources for additional information. Learn more about combating bias and stereotype threat from CSteachingtips.org, EngageCSEdu engagement practices, Race Forward, Teaching Tolerance, NCWIT, Rethinking Schools, and Zinn Project. to proactively challenge unconscious biasUnconscious bias (or implicit bias): Prejudice or unsupported judgments in favor of or against one thing, person, or group as compared to another, in a way that is usually considered unfair. {adapted from Vanderbilt University} When the unconscious biases of well-intentioned teachers influence their judgment towards particular students (e.g., by race, ethnicity, gender, able-bodiedness), it can influence their instructional practices, the expectations they convey, and their recommendations for relevant outcomes like course placement, special education, and discipline. {Dee & Gershenson, 2017} See also tools for interrupting implicit bias.. and minimize stereotype threat in CS.

IncorporateTeachers should evaluate the extent that diverse perspectives are represented in existing curriculum and classroom materials, and they should identify or create additional resources as needed. diverse experiences and perspectivesDiverse perspectives should include Black, Indigenous, people of color, and other marginalized groups (see indicator 2a for a more complete list). Diverse experiences should include both those throughout history and in the present time. of individuals from marginalized groups in curricular materials and instructionTeachers should represent and respect the diverse identities of both the students who are in their CS classes and those that are not. Culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) “empowers students to maintain cultural integrity while succeeding academically" {Billings, 1995}. See indicator 4c for more information on how teachers plan instruction that uses CRP..

Create and implement a planFor example, a teacher may advocate that students are not pulled out for response to intervention (RTI) time during their CS instruction. Alternatively, a teacher may create an active recruitment plan to increase enrollment among underrepresented groups of students. (See CS is for Everyone Recruitment Toolkit for ideas.) to improve access, engagement, and full participation in CS using classroom dataTeachers should monitor and disaggregate classroom data to inform decision-making to improve student access, engagement, and achievement in their CS classroom. For example, examine enrollment, affective surveys (measuring self-efficacy), and formative and summative assessments. to inform decision-making.

Evaluate tools and curriculaFor example, are videos captioned? Are there options for text-to-speech? and leverage resourcesExample resources include assistive technology specialists at the school or district level and the National Center for Accessible Educational Materials. to improve accessibilityAccessibility: appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities access information and communications, on an equal basis with others, both in urban and in rural areas (adapted from United Nations, 2006). In CS education, we must consider how tools and technologies are developed to allow people with auditory, visual, cognitive, and physical disabilities to understand, navigate, and contribute. Accessibility standards include the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) standards. for all students.

Develop and implement a plan for targeted professional developmentTo develop a plan for targeted professional development, teachers must first identify strengths and areas of need. They then select specific priorities for growth and identify professional learning opportunities aligned to these priorities. There is a critical need for ongoing professional development to help teachers stay current with emerging technologies and the evolving discipline of CS, as well as developments in CS research and research-based practices. to continuously deepen their CS content and pedagogical knowledge and skills

Model willingness to learn from othersTeachers may act as the lead learner, demonstrating the importance of life-long learning and a positive attitude in the face of new material or new challenges. A lead learner verbalizes the processes used in problem-solving to allow others to become more adept at problem-solving for themselves. and to continuously developContinuous development is an integral skill for all CS learners, including teachers. Continuous growth of teachers models and normalizes this process for students. new skills. Demonstrate comfort in problem solving and perseverance when encountering new or challenging content.

Examine how their personal perspective, privilege, and powerPrivilege and power in computer science may include that of knowledge, experience, ability, age, education, race or ethnicity, positional authority, and social or economic advantage. People often do not recognize their own privilege and power. Teachers should recognize that they have the power to influence students’ CS identities and trajectories.  impact student success and classroom culture and continuously work to counteract biasesEven strong and well-intentioned teachers have biases that impact student success. Learn more about teacher bias in the classroom. Teachers should recognize that their own personal bias can impact student engagement and achievement..

DevelopTeachers continuously develop their teaching philosophy. As they refine their craft and better understanding their students and their own perspective, privilege, power, and biases, they also refine their beliefs about teaching. a personal teaching philosophy reflecting that all students can and should learn CSCS is important for all students to learn to prepare for college, career, and civic engagement. CS has meaningful connections to a wide variety of curricular subjects, careers, and areas of interest. When taught appropriately, all students are capable of learning and succeeding in CS. Sometimes, people perceive natural talent when this is actually “preparatory privilege” {Margolis et al., 2008}. There is no “geek gene” that causes some people to be better at CS; rather, success in CS requires access, experience, high expectations, and appropriate support. Standard 2 expands on how to build an inclusive computing classroom. .

Identify and connect resourcesResources include people, tools, and programs and can be in school, outside of school, and in the community. Other teachers, administrators, counselors, school staff, families, industry volunteers, librarians, and policymakers can all serve as resources. Example programs are after school programs, summer camps, clubs, competitions, internships, library programs, volunteer placement organizations, guest speakers, field trips, mentorships, family code nights, and engaging with the community as the customer/user for student-developed projects. Tools include sources of information such as websites and books, or hardware such as might be available at a library or makerspace. in the local community and broader CS ecosystem to support student learning in CS.

Participate in CS professional learning communities (PLCs)Belonging to PLCs is especially important for new CS teachers and those who are isolated from other CS teachers. These communities may be local, national, or global, and in-person, online, or blended. to collaborate with peers, celebrate successes, share lessons learned, and address challenges.

Use inquiry-based learningTeachers should guide student learning through asking key questions rather than offering solutions to technical challenges. For example, teachers can prompt students to make and discuss predictions about what will happen before testing by running code (e.g., see the PRIMM method). They can also use peer instruction or Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) to guide students in learning from one another while the teacher serves as a facilitator. See also the talk science project from TERC.. to enhance student understanding of CS content.

Cultivate a positive classroom climateClassroom climate: the prevailing mood, attitudes, standards, and tone that students and teachers feel when they are in the classroom. A positive classroom climate feels safe, respectful, welcoming, and supportive of student learning. {adapted from Kamb, 2012} that values and amplifiesStudents benefit from learning from diverse perspectives and approaches of both other students in their classes and those who are not represented in their classes. Teachers should highlight and promote multiple solutions and approaches to problems. When teachers create classroom environments that value community and students’ contributions, they also promote student self-identity and inclusivity (See Lewis et al., 2019). varied perspectives, abilities, approaches, and solutions.

Promote student self-efficacySelf-efficacy: an individual’s belief in his/her ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task, which strongly influences how he/she approaches goals, tasks, and challenges {adapted from Bandura, 1994; learn more here} by facilitating student creativity, choice in product and process, and self-directed learningTeachers should support self-directed learning by teaching students how to leverage a variety of resources and problem-solving techniques. Resources include both published materials (e.g., product documentation, webpages) and people (e.g., classmates, teachers, people outside of the classroom). Problem-solving techniques in CS include debugging, tracing code, and decomposition..

Provide structured opportunitiesEvidence-based practices include pair programming (or buddy programming) and structured team roles that provide scaffolding for participation by all. Other evidence-based practices include agile development and scrum, cooperative learning, and Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL). See also how to use collaborative learning and Gray et al., 2019 on infusing cooperative learning into AP CS Principles courses to promote engagement and diversity. for students to collaborate in CS. Develop students’ ability to provide, receive, and respond to constructive feedback in the design, implementation, and review of computational artifacts.

Create and scaffold meaningful opportunitiesTeachers should structure opportunities to provide peer feedback (e.g., code reviews, gallery walks). See this NSF project video about infusing cooperative learning in CS. for students to discuss, read, and writeSome ways to communicate about computing include commenting code, reading and writing documentation, reading and writing pseudocode, and discussing debugging strategies. about CS concepts and how they integrate CS practices.

Use formative assessments to provide timely, specific, and actionable feedback to students and to adjust instruction. Develop students’ ability to interpret and use feedback from computersTeachers should support students in using automated feedback from computers. For example, teachers teach students how to interpret error messages and use debugging tools to identify the source of errors., teachers, peers, and community.