Evaluation of the Educator Workforce Investment Grant in Computer Science
Inequitable access to computer science education often hinders students who have been historically excluded from the field. Through the Educator Workforce Investment Grant in Computer Science (EWIG: CS), the state of California has funded a statewide effort designed to increase educator capacity to deliver computer science education with an equity focus.
At the center of this effort is Seasons of CS, a year-round computer science professional learning program for California educators, as well as a network of advocates employed at the county-level called CS Champions.
AIR has partnered with the EWIG: CS lead agencies to serve as the external evaluator for the grant. To inform its evaluation approach, our team organized a set of research questions around the four components of the CAPE framework, which highlights:
- Capacity to deliver;
- Access to;
- Participation in; and
- Experiences with computer science education.
Through an ongoing series of research activities that includes surveys of workshop participants and CS Champions, focus groups of CS Champions, and district-level case studies that examine CS course availability and participation, AIR is helping leaders in California better understand the efforts to expand CS education equitably.
