Handbook of Research on Equity in Computer Science in P-16 Education

Book excerpt: The growing trend for high-quality computer science in school curricula has drawn recent attention in classrooms. With an increasingly information-based and global society, computer science education coupled with computational thinking has become an integral part of an experience for all students, given that these foundational concepts and skills intersect cross-disciplinarily with a set of mental competencies that are relevant in their daily lives and work. While many agree that these concepts should be taught in schools, there are systematic inequities that exist to prevent students from accessing related computer science skills. The Handbook of Research on Equity in Computer Science in P-16 Education is a comprehensive reference book that highlights relevant issues, perspectives, and challenges in P-16 environments that relate to the inequities that students face in accessing computer science or computational thinking and examines methods for challenging these inequities in hopes of allowing all students equal opportunities for learning these skills. Additionally, it explores the challenges and policies that are created to limit access and thus reinforce systems of power and privilege. The chapters highlight issues, perspectives, and challenges faced in P-16 environments that include gender and racial imbalances, population of growing computer science teachers who are predominantly white and male, teacher preparation or lack of faculty expertise, professional development programs, and more. It is intended for teacher educators, K-12 teachers, high school counselors, college faculty in the computer science department, school administrators, curriculum and instructional designers, directors of teaching and learning centers, policymakers, researchers, and students.