The Chicago Alliance For Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS) is a Researcher-Practitioner Partnership that places the accent on equity in computer science (CS) education in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). CAFÉCS aims to ensure that all CPS students have access to inclusive, high-quality, introductory computer science education in high school. CPS is the third largest school district in the nation and the first large district to institute a computer science requirement for high school graduation. The requirement of a year-long computer science course is effective for students starting high school in Fall 2017 or later. CAFÉCS seeks to ensure that CPS provides sufficient support to teachers and holds all schools accountable for offering high-quality CS across the entire district. This effort will annually empower at least 20,000 Chicago teens with the foundational practices of computer science.
The main computer science course experience being utilized in CPS to provide equitable access to meaningful and engaging computer science instruction is the extensively-tested Exploring Computer Science (ECS) curriculum and professional development program. With its guided-inquiry approach and a focus on engaging students through multiple modes of learning and culturally sensitive content, this program has reached a diverse population of approximately 34,000 CPS students through 2017. The student population reached by ECS in this time period spans the largest population categories long underrepresented in computing and has included 44% females, 38% African-American, and 47% Hispanic, which is similar to district-wide demographics. Building on this initial success, CPS must continue to develop mechanisms for providing professional development for teachers and principals at scale in order to ensure that all schools offer a high quality CS course to all CPS students. Over 200 teachers completed ECS professional development delivered by CAFÉCS through 2017.
CAFÉCS stems from a well-established partnership between university CS and educational research faculty, along with CPS teachers and administrators. The roots of this collaboration began forming in 2008, and CAFÉCS has grown to closely fit the definition of a research-practice partnership (RPP) as given by the William T. Grant Foundation (2018), consistent with notions offered by Coburn, Penuel, and Geil (2013):
... we define RPPs as long-term, mutually beneficial collaborations that promote the production and use of rigorous research about problems of practice. RPPs are intentionally organized, and hold promise for improving the relevance of the research produced, the use of research by organizations, and outcomes for youth.
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