CS4All Springfield is focused on developing integrated computer science and computational thinking curricula for Kindergarten through 5th grade that will be implemented across K-5 classrooms in 32 elementary schools serving 12,000 students. Springfield Public Schools (SPS) serves 89.8% students of color; 76.7% economically disadvantaged students; 17.3% English Learners; and 23.5% students with disabilities. Our goals are to:
Pilot equity-based CS/CT lessons relying on dyads of teachers working as design teams in grade-level PLCs in two grades each year.
Leverage design team teachers to serve as CS/CT instructional coaches and support their colleagues in a diffusion of curricula across all Springfield elementary schools, supported by tightly-coupled research and evaluation.
By the end of four years, all 600+ SPS K-5 teachers enact design-based, integrated CS/CT lessons in their classrooms.
During years one and two of four:
Integrated CS/CT lessons werer piloted and refined for 16 K and 3rd grade classrooms and lessons are under development in 16 1st and 4th grade classrooms.
More than fifty K and 3rd teachers received professional development on delivering CS lessons with a strong focus on issues of equity and began to deliver the curricula in 28 schools.
Researchers and practitioners collaborated in design and delivery of the curricula and researchers are providing evidence of teacher and student learning of CS/CT, increased collaboration and leadership skills among the PLCs, and characteristics of schools, communities, and teacher/school incentives and disincentives for wide-scale implementation of CS/CT lessons.
Computer Science, Integrating STEM and CS, Broadening Participation
Springfield MA Pub Schls, SageFox Consulting
STEM + Computing Partnerships (STEM+C)
Related Content for CS4All Springfield: An integrated CS/CT K-5 curricula
Discussion from the 2020 STEM For All Video Showcase (49 posts)
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 4, 2020 | 02:18 p.m.
Welcome:
Thank you for visiting and viewing the CSforAll Springfield (MA) RPP video. Our Research Practice-Partnership project formed following an NSF CSforAll EAGER grant and is in the second year of a 4-year NSF CSforAll RPP grant. Our video provides a brief overview of the project, but focuses on the participating teachers and students in this highly diverse school district that serves 12,000 K-5 students. We are especially interested in discussion regarding our strategy of teacher-developed, integrated K-5 CS/CT curricula with tight collaboration between teachers and administrators in the District and researchers. Please feel free to comment on or ask questions about any aspect of our project.
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Jeremy Pina
Katie Bevan
Jacqueline Genovesi
Facilitator Vice President
May 4, 2020 | 03:40 p.m.
Thank you for your summary. I would love some more information on the professional development piece of the project. I'm wondering how many hours of professional development did each teacher receive before starting to implement the new curriculum? Did you provide in-class modeling/mentoring?
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 4, 2020 | 04:08 p.m.
In year one, we had the 16 K and 3rd grade design teachers, their advisors, and the 5 coordinator/teachers take the online LaunchCS PD. That's supposed to be 24 hours, but it took longer. We decided that it overly influenced their curricula design and most importantly did not cover equity and inclusion. For year two we ran separate PD for the 60 K & 3 "early adopters" and the 20 1st and 4th grade design teachers and their advisors (advisors are SPED, ELL and instructional coaches). We had 3 days in the summer and bimonthly 2-4 PD for the K & 3 teachers and 1 day in the summer and monthly PD for the 1st and 4th. There were also weekend PD on Scratch, CodeSpark, Makey-Makey, MicroBIT and other technologies. One of our coordinators is a certified code.org trainer. Curricula (4 grading period modules of 5-10 lessons) were developed by teachers in 3 iterations with substantial feedback from the researchers, district curriculum coordinators, and each other. The goal was to develop expertise on CS/CT teaching and learning among the design team teachers and that they would serve as mentors for the early adopters. The early adopters are in 28 of the 32 schools and will in turn serves as mentors in their buildings. Sorry to go on so long, it is a complicated process with quite good results so far.
Jacqueline Genovesi
Facilitator Vice President
May 5, 2020 | 08:10 a.m.
I appreciate your detailed response. It helps me understand the project in more depth.
We provide incentives for teachers to write lesson plans (mostly in the biological ecological area; also water) as part of the follow up after a professional development experience, but we get fewer than we expected. We interpet this as "too busy" to do it, but I'm wondering what types of incentives you use to get teachers to participate.
Jacqueline Genovesi
Facilitator Vice President
May 5, 2020 | 08:14 a.m.
It's an interesting assumption that the teachers are "too busy". It might be the case, but I have found when working with teachers if the project is something that helps them or the students it often becomes doable. We try to make sure anytime we are doing a pilot project that it lessens the work load. I know that sounds counter intuitive but if the project is cross curricular or helps them work smarter it is often easier to implement. Did you try just asking the teachers about their lack of participation?
Scott Wohlers
Co-Presenter Instructional Leadership Specialist
May 5, 2020 | 08:18 a.m.
The design teams and the coordinators are all educators at Springfield Public Schools. Many of the educators are motivated by the opportunity to impact students and educators throughout our city. The design team teachers are highly supported throughout the entire process, and a sense community is developed through regular interactions, group PD, and celebration of their work. Design team teachers also hand off iterations of their modules to other design team teachers to pilot and provide feedback, so they know that others are relying on them to have their modules completed. Educators apply for the position and are interviewed, and the positions are paid positions. Educators are financially compensated for the work they do and for attending most of the PD.
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Delighted to see another project happening in SPS, and especially excited to see Melissa Zeitz involved! What the teacher said about how taking CS beyond just technology made it more approachable resonated with our experience too. A good reminder that great STEM curricula make these subjects engaging for both educators and students!
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Melissa Zeitz
Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
Florence Sullivan
Co-Presenter Professor & Chair
May 5, 2020 | 03:39 p.m.
Yes, good curricula is key. Another important component of our work related to teacher learning has been highlighting the ubiquity of many concepts embedded in the computational thinking construct. For example, many of the early elementary teachers have been able to strongly connect with algorithms, debugging, classifying, and other CS ideas as parts of everyday activity. This has then been translated into disciplinary approaches - like retelling a story in ELA (first, then, next, last) an ELA sequence that is comparable to a basic algorithm. These connections have really supported integration.
Love this video! Exciting to see teachers talking about their students using the language of CS, especially at such young ages. This project is doing great work!
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Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
Florence Sullivan
Co-Presenter Professor & Chair
May 5, 2020 | 03:41 p.m.
Thanks, Becky. Yes, things are going well, both the teachers and the students are inspired by CS and the fun and interesting ways CT connects to the elementary curriculum.
Abigail Levy
Facilitator Distinguished Scholar
May 5, 2020 | 03:49 p.m.
In your description of this project, you mentioned it was a, "tight collaboration between teachers and administrators in the District and researchers." It's so important to engage administrators early and often in development work - I'm curious about the role they played in this project. Could describe the role you had in mind for them, and the ways that might be evolving as the project matures?
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 5, 2020 | 06:55 p.m.
In the 2-year planning project that preceded the RPP, most of the SPS "academic team" (chief academic officer, most of the district curriculum coordinators) were involved. SPS is starting to use new ELA and Math curricula and having them involved with the CS/CT effort has made that integration go more smoothly (although with a few bumps). We are also working with principals, but reaching all 33 is a challenges. The scale of this project (33 schools, 600 teachers, 12,000 students) is a challenge, but a year and a half into the project, we are in 60 K & 3 classrooms in 28 schools and 14 1 & 4 classrooms for the pilots. The administrators are helping design a rollout to all students in all K & 3 classrooms.
Great video! We should connect at some point to discuss successes and challenges with implementation in SPS and with PD. Also curious as to how you're assessing outcomes and if you have assessment results to share at this point?
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Michael I. Swart
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 5, 2020 | 06:57 p.m.
Again the scale has been a challenge, we have been developing a variety of assessments but can only use them in a small percentage of classrooms and students. Florence Sullivan is leading that effort.
It is great to see all the district leaders, teachers, and students in this video. Because of its depth and scale, the project has the potential to transform CS education for the district, which may have positive ripple effects for the workforce and economy of the region. What are you learning so far about the impact of the PD and experience on teachers, their impressions of CS and their students' interest and potential in technology? Do you have any idea how parents are responding to their young ones learning CT? Any longer term plans for studying how this early exposure to CS may impact students' interest and learning in SPS in middle and high school?
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Melissa Zeitz
Florence Sullivan
Paul Foster
Co-Presenter Chief Information and Accountability Officer
May 8, 2020 | 01:25 p.m.
Hi Renee, nice to see you virtually here! I think the feedback from teachers thus far is that both they and their students enjoy learning CS and the activities as part of the lessons. Teachers also often note that this is not as "hard" as perhaps they expected. They are surprised by the degree of alignment between what they are teaching as "CS" and what they already teach in other content areas. The feedback from students is, I think, pretty much universally positive. This is likely a combination of the CS content, use of technology, and that our lessons involve more "hands-on" activities than much of what students do in other subjects areas. We have not collected data from parents, but I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor. I also like the idea of the more longitudinal look at whether this impacts student interest/choices later in their school career. That's something we haven't yet discussed, but would be a good way for our RPP to live beyond our current grant.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 5, 2020 | 07:05 p.m.
As Scott mentioned above all of the teachers -- the coordinators, the design teams ("innovators"), and the the "early adopters" have developed a strong community. Our research has shown significant growth in teacher leadership skills and efficacy among the teachers currently involved. The students are highly engaged with the curricula. The district is committed to having our curricula taught in every school and to every student. The wave of entering sixth graders into middle school in 2012 should have some impact.
The "empowerment zone" of independent middle schools between the district run K-5 and HSs, will be "interesting."
Paul Foster
Co-Presenter Chief Information and Accountability Officer
May 8, 2020 | 01:27 p.m.
Just to add to Rick's point here on the empowerment zone. A majority of Springfield's middle schools are in a quasi-independent zone. One of our hopes is that teaching elementary students CS will result in upward pressure through middle and high school (from students and parents) to expand our offerings in CS (not that people don't already have desire to expand CS offerings, but there are many competing pressures).
Great to see the evident enthusiasm of both learners and teachers. I also like the emphasis on coding being a way of thinking. I'm curious about what kind of transfer you hope this kind of thinking will lead to.
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Florence Sullivan
Annie Leonard
Co-Presenter Instructor and Doctoral Student, CSforAll Springfield Facilitator
May 6, 2020 | 12:03 p.m.
Hi Al, good question - transfer is tricky, and the research leads on the project will have more thoughts about this, but as a start I would say that 1) for students, high engagement and integration of CT into other subject areas could help with transfer of new problem-solving capacities and self-efficacy to other aspects of school and 2) for teachers, powerful collaborative experiences designing, implementing, and instructional coaching for the CS/CT modules could build transferable teacher leadership capacity for SPS.
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Florence Sullivan
Florence Sullivan
Co-Presenter Professor & Chair
May 6, 2020 | 01:17 p.m.
Yes, one of the benefits of taking an interdisciplinary approach with integrating computational thinking is that the CS concepts are manifested in different disciplines across the 4 quarters of the year, and in this way, the ubiquity of CT is demonstrated. Hence, transfer is not a cognitive achievement of the children, but rather a designed outcome of the implementation. For example, the concept of "algorithm" is one that can be approached in ELA, Math, Science, or Social Studies, and, indeed, has been integrated into each of these areas in our first two years. Therefore, students will come across the concept in each of these disciplines and begin to understand the ubiquity and the utility of the concept for thinking in various disciplinary domains. The approach is akin to Bruner's and/or Dewey's notion of the spiral curriculum, but it broadens it to an interdisciplinary approach, which adds a high level of pedagogical power. The key is interdisciplinary integration.
One problem we are still working out on our project is how to support teachers in the uptake and integration of some of the more sophisticated CS concepts outlined in the DLCS, like simulation and modeling. So, while the notion of an algorithm has been quickly learned and integrated across the curriculum, less so with the use of data, abstraction, and modeling and simulation.
And thanks for the thought provoking replies (Annie's too). Algorithm is a great example of a concept that can be used outside the domain of CS - modeling and simulation are also powerful and transferable ideas. Learning Logo in the age of Seymour Papert, I remember the hopes of transferable ways of thinking and problem solving that went beyond domain based ideas. This kind of transfer is either elusive and/or we aren't great at assessing it. Are you working on this kind of transfer too?
Richard Ladner
Professor Emeritus
May 6, 2020 | 02:43 p.m.
You mention that 23.5% of students have disabilities in this school district. This is a pretty high number by national standards. What is the project doing to accommodate these students?
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Katie Bevan
Katie Bevan
Co-Presenter Math Instructional Leadership Specialist (ILS)
May 6, 2020 | 06:13 p.m.
One of our main priorities is ensuring that the modules are accessible to both our Special Education students as well as our English Language Learners. Our design teams are made up of 16 teachers and two consultants. Our consultants are experienced in teaching both Special Education and English Language Learners and are able to view the modules through the lens of students with specific needs. They provide feedback to our teachers on ways to best provide differentiation and scaffolds throughout the entire lesson. They pinpoint exact moments within each lesson that may cause a student difficulty and work with teachers throughout the entire writing process.
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Carol Fletcher
Alison Billman
Facilitator Director of Early Elementary Curriculum
May 6, 2020 | 05:29 p.m.
Thanks for sharing your project! I especially appreciated hearing the enthusiasm of the early adopters explaining what they have learned and what they have noticed regarding students' learning. I agree that engagement across the layers of responsibility in a district (leaders-to-classroom teachers) often is the key to success in large endeavors such as yours. Bringing this to scale in your district is certainly plenty of work. I am curious--do you have any advice for districts who might want to embark on a similar project? Are there key things that you have learned that would make the pathway smoother for another district?
Florence Sullivan
Co-Presenter Professor & Chair
May 7, 2020 | 08:47 a.m.
Speaking from my perspective as a university-based researcher focused on teaching and learning of the modules in the classroom, I can say that the five teacher leaders (whom we call coordinators) have been instrumental in making this project the success that it is. We are organized such that in each year of the grant we engage in design, implementation, and re-design of the CS/CT modules for two grade levels (yr. 1 = K and 3rd grade, yr. 2 = 1st and 4th, and yr. 3 = 2nd and 5th, with the 4th year focused on continuing to support full roll-out). We have five teacher leaders (1 for each for the yearly grade level design work), 1 technology teaching and an overall project manager. These teachers are key to this endeavor. They work very hard across the project (design teachers, district admin people, and researchers). They are responsible for managing the design and module creation process, including ongoing professional development. They also attend educational conferences and advise the project leads. So, if other districts are interested, they should consider following the coordinator model. Teacher leaders are a key element to district innovation.
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Melissa Zeitz
Annie Leonard
Paul Foster
Co-Presenter Chief Information and Accountability Officer
May 8, 2020 | 01:34 p.m.
I would second Florence's point about the central role of the Coordinators. As SPS teachers they have been phenomenal in working with our teacher teams and communicating across the project. As a district administrator, I know it is very different for a message to come to teachers from me versus coming from fellow teachers who experience similar challenges daily.
As a lesson learned, I could have done a better job early in our project more regularly engaging our Principals in this work. I suppose it is obvious that they are essential to a district-wide implementation. Because we did not communicate with them as consistently as we could have, we have some who understand the project and are enthusiastic and others who are not there yet. This can also impact the work of our design team teachers, some of whom may feel more supported in the work than others.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 7, 2020 | 10:11 a.m.
I agree with Florence that selecting the five coordinators was key. It is also true that we have enjoyed support from high levels in the district. We also have a broad-based "advisory team" that includes researchers, evaluators, district and school administrators (principals, district "academic" team and the district IT and accountability team), and coordinators. SPS upgraded networking in all schools and provided laptops to all students and teachers. With the shutdown, the District distributed 10,000 of the laptops to students and families and Comcast is providing "free" WiFi across most of Springfield. This was key in an economically-challenged city. Now we are looking at how we might adapt the curricula to an online or hybrid teaching environment.
Loved the story about the young kids who shout out about algorithms and loops! Wonderful support from the district to help level the playing field wrt access. Best wishes with the adaption to online or hybrid modes.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
It seems evident from the teachers in the video that they have a sense of ownership about this work and potentially empowerment. Is the research measuring how this project may be contributing to that?
Itza Martinez
Graduate Student
May 8, 2020 | 11:29 a.m.
Thanks for the question! Yes, as part of the partnership we all strive to work as researchers and practitioners together as experts for the best possible outcome. Dr. Rebecca Woodland and Itza Martínez, her graduate research assistant, are working on understanding the conditions for collaboration that are developing throughout the processes of the work. They have worked closely with the five coordinators., particularly as critical friends to support how they work together to collaborate as well as how they develop the spaces, conditions, and support systems to enable the teachers to engage with each other and the project goals. They’ve also provided specific professional development as requested/needed to the coordinators and teachers to engage and support the work as it has evolved.
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Jacqueline Genovesi
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 7, 2020 | 05:21 p.m.
Yes, one of the research projects led by Rebecca Woodlawn and her grad student, Itza Martinez, is looking at the growth of leadership skills, efficacy, and the flow of innovation among the teachers and PLCs. They have observed significant growth. One change we made from the original plan for iterative development is the original dyad developing a module maintains control of the module/lessons as they evolve through 3 iterations of design, teaching, assessment and redesign. They the become the experts as we roll the curricula out through "early adopters" and then to all grade level classrooms. It is a team-oriented design process, even so, with all of the grade level design team teachers contributing to the final design with strong input from ELL and SPED advisors and the district curriculum coordinators. It is clear as we move to all schools, that principals are going to play a roll in determining where in a given school's curriculum the modules are taught and whether they is taught by "homeroom" teachers or specialists like instructional technology, computer science, or science teachers.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 8, 2020 | 08:45 a.m.
Rebecca Woodland
Florence Sullivan
Co-Presenter Professor & Chair
May 7, 2020 | 05:37 p.m.
Hi Carol! Great question. We have several levels of teacher involvement on the project and we are doing research in different ways with teachers at each level. For example, the five teacher leaders work closely with my colleague, Dr. Rebecca Woodland and her doc student Itza Martinez, they are doing research on collaboration among these teachers. There are design team teachers (48 in total when all is said and done) and my research team is doing research on teacher learning and experience of design on the project. The last group are the early adopter teachers ( >50 in this second year, and up to the entire teaching community by the end of year 4). With the early adopters we have been doing survey research, and the third researcher on the the team, Dr. Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell and I are doing case study research on issues of equity with the early adopters (presented in PD). So, we are doing a lot of research with teachers and I do believe that some of this research will capture teacher's efficacy and ownership of the project (though those questions are not specifically asked).
Paul Foster
Co-Presenter Chief Information and Accountability Officer
May 8, 2020 | 01:41 p.m.
Adding to the conversation about teacher ownership, I think one by-product of this project will be the development of a replicable model within our district for empowering teachers in the development of learning activities. Historically, our district has been fairly "top-down" when it comes to curriculum and instruction. Part of the enthusiasm of our teachers on this project is that they are being asked to create something for their classroom and that has not been a common ask in our district. I am hopeful we will see other examples of this kind of lesson/curriculum design work in other content areas because it is delightful to see our teachers throw themselves into developing engaging and meaningful learning activities for our students.
Chris Mainhart
K-12 Teacher
May 8, 2020 | 08:37 p.m.
This is an amazing project. Computer science in elementary schools makes so much sense. Three years-ago, I started using Scratch Jr. to do block coding with K-3 students. I never could have imagined how engaging it would be for the students. I hope the project continues for many many years1
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Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 9, 2020 | 03:43 p.m.
Thanks, Chris! The teachers were concerned about Scratch and other block coding languages we are using, but they found that they could code and came to enjoy it. Kudos go to Melissa Zeitz, our technology coordinator (and Western MA CSTA president), for offering extra PD and supporting the teachers. The students are really engaged with Scratch, Codespark, and other block coding.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 9, 2020 | 03:47 p.m.
While the following is a long list, I need to give credit to the whole team from SPS, UMass, and SageFox. No room to list all of the dedicated teachers on the design teams and to the early adopters.
UMass and Five College Team: Rick Adrion, PI and Emeritus Professor, UMass Anna Branch, former CoPI and consultant, Vice Chancellor and Professor, Rutgers Darrell Earnest, Associate Professor, UMass Keisha Green, Assistant Professor, UMass Annie Leonard, Project Facilitator, UMass and Five Colleges, Inc Jennifer Randall, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, UMass Enrique Suárez, Assistant Professor, UMass Florence Sullivan, Professor and Department Chair, UMass Rebecca Woodland, Professor, UMass Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell. Research Fellow, UMass RAs: Sandra Botha, Lian Duan, Itza Martinez, Emrah Pektas
Springfield Team: Kate Asher, Supervisor of PK-3, SPS Katie Bevan, CS4All SPS Head Coordinator, SPS Rachel Chouinard, CS4All SPS K-3 Coordinator, SPS Jose Escribano, Principal Brightwood Elementary School, SPS Paul Foster, CS4All SPS Lead and Chief Information and Accountability Officer, SPS Denise Matuszczak, Sr. Administrator of Digital Learning and Assessment, SPS Laura Mendes, Director of Literacy PK-5, SPS Terry Powe, Principal, Elias Brookings School, SPS Stefania Raschilla, Chief Instructional Officer, SPS Tom Rachele, Director of ELA 6-12, SPS Laura Rita, CS4All SPS 1-4 Coordinator, SPS Stefanie Santaniello, Data Analyst - Strategic Data, SPS Ronald St. Amand, Director of Science, SPS Robert St. Lawrence, Director of Information Systems. SPS Sarah Truoiolo, Director of Mathematics, SPS Scott Wohlers, CS4All SPS 2-5 Coordinator, SPS Melissa Zeitz, CS4All SPS Technology Coordinator, SPS plus 36 K,2,3,& 4 design team and advising teachers, 50 K&3 Early Adopter teachers ... an incredible group!
SageFox Team: Stacey Sexton, Evaluator, SageFox Jeff Xavier, lead and Evaluator, SageFox
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Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 9, 2020 | 03:51 p.m.
We miss Marla Solomon, the original CSforAll SPS Project Facilitator and Five College Director of Partnership Programs, who had to reduce her workload in February.
This is a great project! I really like the integrated CS/CT approach and the focus on inclusion and diversity. The students and staff in the video are so enthusiastic. I will be interested to see the results of your efforts after four years.
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Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
So important this work, both in content and in outreach. Listening to the teachers respond to the opportunities and the ease of integration and supports is great to hear. Thank you for sharing.
For the curricular modules created by pairs, are they given a pedagogical framework to develop in? Do these modules get reviewed by peers? Re-vision/re-design process? Do lessons differentiate by school? Are there rubrick to guide teachers in instruction, activities and assessment? How do the modules work into PD?
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 12, 2020 | 07:20 p.m.
Eric - Thanks for visiting. Congrats on your international project!
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 12, 2020 | 07:44 p.m.
Each pair begins the module design (5-10 lessons) with PD before and during. They are advised by the coordinators (which include Instructional Leadership Specialists and and an instructional technology specialist), district curriculum coordinators, and SPED and ELL teacher advisors. The four pairs at each grade level meet and share their work throughout each round of piloting. After the first round of piloting, assessment and revision, the authoring pair hands their module off to another pair (and takes on another module). The second pair pilots the revised module, assesses the outcome and works with the authoring pair to revise. There is a standard format for documenting the module that includes references to elements of the state standards for Digital Literacy/Computer Science and the embedded subject (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies), the lesson content, suggested approaches, and links to the technologies used. The revised module is handed off to a third pair and the process repeats. So each module (there are 4, one per grading period) is taught, assessed and revised 3 times. Florence Sullivan and her students observe the teaching of at least one instance of each module and work with the design teachers on revisions. Rebecca Woodland and her student work with the Coordinators and design teams on the development process as critical friends. The design team teachers, coordinators and the researchers are then involved in designing PD for the early adopters and then for the district-wide roll out. Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell looks carefully at the strategy and the curricula to see if we are meeting our goals for diversity, equity and inclusion and helps design an equity component to all of the PD.
I'll alert Florence, Rebecca, and Sneha to provide clarifications, but the site is only one for another 15 minutes.
W. Adrion
Lead Presenter Professor Emeritus Computer Science
May 12, 2020 | 07:51 p.m.
The process in careful to differentiate by classroom (to engage all students) as well as by school and guidance is given in the module documentation. Our plan is to build an online resource around the modules to support district-wide implementation.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Welcome:
Thank you for visiting and viewing the CSforAll Springfield (MA) RPP video. Our Research Practice-Partnership project formed following an NSF CSforAll EAGER grant and is in the second year of a 4-year NSF CSforAll RPP grant. Our video provides a brief overview of the project, but focuses on the participating teachers and students in this highly diverse school district that serves 12,000 K-5 students. We are especially interested in discussion regarding our strategy of teacher-developed, integrated K-5 CS/CT curricula with tight collaboration between teachers and administrators in the District and researchers. Please feel free to comment on or ask questions about any aspect of our project.
Jeremy Pina
Katie Bevan
Jacqueline Genovesi
Vice President
Thank you for your summary. I would love some more information on the professional development piece of the project. I'm wondering how many hours of professional development did each teacher receive before starting to implement the new curriculum? Did you provide in-class modeling/mentoring?
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
In year one, we had the 16 K and 3rd grade design teachers, their advisors, and the 5 coordinator/teachers take the online LaunchCS PD. That's supposed to be 24 hours, but it took longer. We decided that it overly influenced their curricula design and most importantly did not cover equity and inclusion. For year two we ran separate PD for the 60 K & 3 "early adopters" and the 20 1st and 4th grade design teachers and their advisors (advisors are SPED, ELL and instructional coaches). We had 3 days in the summer and bimonthly 2-4 PD for the K & 3 teachers and 1 day in the summer and monthly PD for the 1st and 4th. There were also weekend PD on Scratch, CodeSpark, Makey-Makey, MicroBIT and other technologies. One of our coordinators is a certified code.org trainer. Curricula (4 grading period modules of 5-10 lessons) were developed by teachers in 3 iterations with substantial feedback from the researchers, district curriculum coordinators, and each other. The goal was to develop expertise on CS/CT teaching and learning among the design team teachers and that they would serve as mentors for the early adopters. The early adopters are in 28 of the 32 schools and will in turn serves as mentors in their buildings. Sorry to go on so long, it is a complicated process with quite good results so far.
Jacqueline Genovesi
Vice President
I appreciate your detailed response. It helps me understand the project in more depth.
Jeffrey Ram
We provide incentives for teachers to write lesson plans (mostly in the biological ecological area; also water) as part of the follow up after a professional development experience, but we get fewer than we expected. We interpet this as "too busy" to do it, but I'm wondering what types of incentives you use to get teachers to participate.
Jacqueline Genovesi
Vice President
It's an interesting assumption that the teachers are "too busy". It might be the case, but I have found when working with teachers if the project is something that helps them or the students it often becomes doable. We try to make sure anytime we are doing a pilot project that it lessens the work load. I know that sounds counter intuitive but if the project is cross curricular or helps them work smarter it is often easier to implement. Did you try just asking the teachers about their lack of participation?
Scott Wohlers
Instructional Leadership Specialist
The design teams and the coordinators are all educators at Springfield Public Schools. Many of the educators are motivated by the opportunity to impact students and educators throughout our city. The design team teachers are highly supported throughout the entire process, and a sense community is developed through regular interactions, group PD, and celebration of their work. Design team teachers also hand off iterations of their modules to other design team teachers to pilot and provide feedback, so they know that others are relying on them to have their modules completed. Educators apply for the position and are interviewed, and the positions are paid positions. Educators are financially compensated for the work they do and for attending most of the PD.
Jacqueline Genovesi
W. Adrion
Isabel Huff
Delighted to see another project happening in SPS, and especially excited to see Melissa Zeitz involved! What the teacher said about how taking CS beyond just technology made it more approachable resonated with our experience too. A good reminder that great STEM curricula make these subjects engaging for both educators and students!
Melissa Zeitz
Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
Florence Sullivan
Professor & Chair
Yes, good curricula is key. Another important component of our work related to teacher learning has been highlighting the ubiquity of many concepts embedded in the computational thinking construct. For example, many of the early elementary teachers have been able to strongly connect with algorithms, debugging, classifying, and other CS ideas as parts of everyday activity. This has then been translated into disciplinary approaches - like retelling a story in ELA (first, then, next, last) an ELA sequence that is comparable to a basic algorithm. These connections have really supported integration.
Becky Mazur
Love this video! Exciting to see teachers talking about their students using the language of CS, especially at such young ages. This project is doing great work!
Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
Florence Sullivan
Professor & Chair
Thanks, Becky. Yes, things are going well, both the teachers and the students are inspired by CS and the fun and interesting ways CT connects to the elementary curriculum.
Abigail Levy
Distinguished Scholar
In your description of this project, you mentioned it was a, "tight collaboration between teachers and administrators in the District and researchers." It's so important to engage administrators early and often in development work - I'm curious about the role they played in this project. Could describe the role you had in mind for them, and the ways that might be evolving as the project matures?
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
In the 2-year planning project that preceded the RPP, most of the SPS "academic team" (chief academic officer, most of the district curriculum coordinators) were involved. SPS is starting to use new ELA and Math curricula and having them involved with the CS/CT effort has made that integration go more smoothly (although with a few bumps). We are also working with principals, but reaching all 33 is a challenges. The scale of this project (33 schools, 600 teachers, 12,000 students) is a challenge, but a year and a half into the project, we are in 60 K & 3 classrooms in 28 schools and 14 1 & 4 classrooms for the pilots. The administrators are helping design a rollout to all students in all K & 3 classrooms.
Beth McGinnis-Cavanaugh
Great video! We should connect at some point to discuss successes and challenges with implementation in SPS and with PD. Also curious as to how you're assessing outcomes and if you have assessment results to share at this point?
Michael I. Swart
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Again the scale has been a challenge, we have been developing a variety of assessments but can only use them in a small percentage of classrooms and students. Florence Sullivan is leading that effort.
Renee Fall
It is great to see all the district leaders, teachers, and students in this video. Because of its depth and scale, the project has the potential to transform CS education for the district, which may have positive ripple effects for the workforce and economy of the region. What are you learning so far about the impact of the PD and experience on teachers, their impressions of CS and their students' interest and potential in technology? Do you have any idea how parents are responding to their young ones learning CT? Any longer term plans for studying how this early exposure to CS may impact students' interest and learning in SPS in middle and high school?
Melissa Zeitz
Florence Sullivan
Paul Foster
Chief Information and Accountability Officer
Hi Renee, nice to see you virtually here! I think the feedback from teachers thus far is that both they and their students enjoy learning CS and the activities as part of the lessons. Teachers also often note that this is not as "hard" as perhaps they expected. They are surprised by the degree of alignment between what they are teaching as "CS" and what they already teach in other content areas. The feedback from students is, I think, pretty much universally positive. This is likely a combination of the CS content, use of technology, and that our lessons involve more "hands-on" activities than much of what students do in other subjects areas. We have not collected data from parents, but I think it would be a worthwhile endeavor. I also like the idea of the more longitudinal look at whether this impacts student interest/choices later in their school career. That's something we haven't yet discussed, but would be a good way for our RPP to live beyond our current grant.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
As Scott mentioned above all of the teachers -- the coordinators, the design teams ("innovators"), and the the "early adopters" have developed a strong community. Our research has shown significant growth in teacher leadership skills and efficacy among the teachers currently involved. The students are highly engaged with the curricula. The district is committed to having our curricula taught in every school and to every student. The wave of entering sixth graders into middle school in 2012 should have some impact.
The "empowerment zone" of independent middle schools between the district run K-5 and HSs, will be "interesting."
Paul Foster
Chief Information and Accountability Officer
Just to add to Rick's point here on the empowerment zone. A majority of Springfield's middle schools are in a quasi-independent zone. One of our hopes is that teaching elementary students CS will result in upward pressure through middle and high school (from students and parents) to expand our offerings in CS (not that people don't already have desire to expand CS offerings, but there are many competing pressures).
Al Rudnitsky
Great to see the evident enthusiasm of both learners and teachers. I also like the emphasis on coding being a way of thinking. I'm curious about what kind of transfer you hope this kind of thinking will lead to.
Florence Sullivan
Annie Leonard
Instructor and Doctoral Student, CSforAll Springfield Facilitator
Hi Al, good question - transfer is tricky, and the research leads on the project will have more thoughts about this, but as a start I would say that 1) for students, high engagement and integration of CT into other subject areas could help with transfer of new problem-solving capacities and self-efficacy to other aspects of school and 2) for teachers, powerful collaborative experiences designing, implementing, and instructional coaching for the CS/CT modules could build transferable teacher leadership capacity for SPS.
Florence Sullivan
Florence Sullivan
Professor & Chair
Yes, one of the benefits of taking an interdisciplinary approach with integrating computational thinking is that the CS concepts are manifested in different disciplines across the 4 quarters of the year, and in this way, the ubiquity of CT is demonstrated. Hence, transfer is not a cognitive achievement of the children, but rather a designed outcome of the implementation. For example, the concept of "algorithm" is one that can be approached in ELA, Math, Science, or Social Studies, and, indeed, has been integrated into each of these areas in our first two years. Therefore, students will come across the concept in each of these disciplines and begin to understand the ubiquity and the utility of the concept for thinking in various disciplinary domains. The approach is akin to Bruner's and/or Dewey's notion of the spiral curriculum, but it broadens it to an interdisciplinary approach, which adds a high level of pedagogical power. The key is interdisciplinary integration.
One problem we are still working out on our project is how to support teachers in the uptake and integration of some of the more sophisticated CS concepts outlined in the DLCS, like simulation and modeling. So, while the notion of an algorithm has been quickly learned and integrated across the curriculum, less so with the use of data, abstraction, and modeling and simulation.
Thanks for the thought-provoking question, Al.
Al Rudnitsky
And thanks for the thought provoking replies (Annie's too). Algorithm is a great example of a concept that can be used outside the domain of CS - modeling and simulation are also powerful and transferable ideas. Learning Logo in the age of Seymour Papert, I remember the hopes of transferable ways of thinking and problem solving that went beyond domain based ideas. This kind of transfer is either elusive and/or we aren't great at assessing it. Are you working on this kind of transfer too?
Richard Ladner
You mention that 23.5% of students have disabilities in this school district. This is a pretty high number by national standards. What is the project doing to accommodate these students?
Katie Bevan
Katie Bevan
Math Instructional Leadership Specialist (ILS)
One of our main priorities is ensuring that the modules are accessible to both our Special Education students as well as our English Language Learners. Our design teams are made up of 16 teachers and two consultants. Our consultants are experienced in teaching both Special Education and English Language Learners and are able to view the modules through the lens of students with specific needs. They provide feedback to our teachers on ways to best provide differentiation and scaffolds throughout the entire lesson. They pinpoint exact moments within each lesson that may cause a student difficulty and work with teachers throughout the entire writing process.
Carol Fletcher
Alison Billman
Director of Early Elementary Curriculum
Thanks for sharing your project! I especially appreciated hearing the enthusiasm of the early adopters explaining what they have learned and what they have noticed regarding students' learning. I agree that engagement across the layers of responsibility in a district (leaders-to-classroom teachers) often is the key to success in large endeavors such as yours. Bringing this to scale in your district is certainly plenty of work. I am curious--do you have any advice for districts who might want to embark on a similar project? Are there key things that you have learned that would make the pathway smoother for another district?
Florence Sullivan
Professor & Chair
Speaking from my perspective as a university-based researcher focused on teaching and learning of the modules in the classroom, I can say that the five teacher leaders (whom we call coordinators) have been instrumental in making this project the success that it is. We are organized such that in each year of the grant we engage in design, implementation, and re-design of the CS/CT modules for two grade levels (yr. 1 = K and 3rd grade, yr. 2 = 1st and 4th, and yr. 3 = 2nd and 5th, with the 4th year focused on continuing to support full roll-out). We have five teacher leaders (1 for each for the yearly grade level design work), 1 technology teaching and an overall project manager. These teachers are key to this endeavor. They work very hard across the project (design teachers, district admin people, and researchers). They are responsible for managing the design and module creation process, including ongoing professional development. They also attend educational conferences and advise the project leads. So, if other districts are interested, they should consider following the coordinator model. Teacher leaders are a key element to district innovation.
Melissa Zeitz
Annie Leonard
Paul Foster
Chief Information and Accountability Officer
I would second Florence's point about the central role of the Coordinators. As SPS teachers they have been phenomenal in working with our teacher teams and communicating across the project. As a district administrator, I know it is very different for a message to come to teachers from me versus coming from fellow teachers who experience similar challenges daily.
As a lesson learned, I could have done a better job early in our project more regularly engaging our Principals in this work. I suppose it is obvious that they are essential to a district-wide implementation. Because we did not communicate with them as consistently as we could have, we have some who understand the project and are enthusiastic and others who are not there yet. This can also impact the work of our design team teachers, some of whom may feel more supported in the work than others.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
I agree with Florence that selecting the five coordinators was key. It is also true that we have enjoyed support from high levels in the district. We also have a broad-based "advisory team" that includes researchers, evaluators, district and school administrators (principals, district "academic" team and the district IT and accountability team), and coordinators. SPS upgraded networking in all schools and provided laptops to all students and teachers. With the shutdown, the District distributed 10,000 of the laptops to students and families and Comcast is providing "free" WiFi across most of Springfield. This was key in an economically-challenged city. Now we are looking at how we might adapt the curricula to an online or hybrid teaching environment.
Maureen Biggers
Loved the story about the young kids who shout out about algorithms and loops! Wonderful support from the district to help level the playing field wrt access. Best wishes with the adaption to online or hybrid modes.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Thanks, Maureen
Carol Fletcher
It seems evident from the teachers in the video that they have a sense of ownership about this work and potentially empowerment. Is the research measuring how this project may be contributing to that?
Itza Martinez
Thanks for the question! Yes, as part of the partnership we all strive to work as researchers and practitioners together as experts for the best possible outcome. Dr. Rebecca Woodland and Itza Martínez, her graduate research assistant, are working on understanding the conditions for collaboration that are developing throughout the processes of the work. They have worked closely with the five coordinators., particularly as critical friends to support how they work together to collaborate as well as how they develop the spaces, conditions, and support systems to enable the teachers to engage with each other and the project goals. They’ve also provided specific professional development as requested/needed to the coordinators and teachers to engage and support the work as it has evolved.
Jacqueline Genovesi
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Yes, one of the research projects led by Rebecca Woodlawn and her grad student, Itza Martinez, is looking at the growth of leadership skills, efficacy, and the flow of innovation among the teachers and PLCs. They have observed significant growth. One change we made from the original plan for iterative development is the original dyad developing a module maintains control of the module/lessons as they evolve through 3 iterations of design, teaching, assessment and redesign. They the become the experts as we roll the curricula out through "early adopters" and then to all grade level classrooms. It is a team-oriented design process, even so, with all of the grade level design team teachers contributing to the final design with strong input from ELL and SPED advisors and the district curriculum coordinators. It is clear as we move to all schools, that principals are going to play a roll in determining where in a given school's curriculum the modules are taught and whether they is taught by "homeroom" teachers or specialists like instructional technology, computer science, or science teachers.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Rebecca Woodland
Florence Sullivan
Professor & Chair
Hi Carol! Great question. We have several levels of teacher involvement on the project and we are doing research in different ways with teachers at each level. For example, the five teacher leaders work closely with my colleague, Dr. Rebecca Woodland and her doc student Itza Martinez, they are doing research on collaboration among these teachers. There are design team teachers (48 in total when all is said and done) and my research team is doing research on teacher learning and experience of design on the project. The last group are the early adopter teachers ( >50 in this second year, and up to the entire teaching community by the end of year 4). With the early adopters we have been doing survey research, and the third researcher on the the team, Dr. Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell and I are doing case study research on issues of equity with the early adopters (presented in PD). So, we are doing a lot of research with teachers and I do believe that some of this research will capture teacher's efficacy and ownership of the project (though those questions are not specifically asked).
Paul Foster
Chief Information and Accountability Officer
Adding to the conversation about teacher ownership, I think one by-product of this project will be the development of a replicable model within our district for empowering teachers in the development of learning activities. Historically, our district has been fairly "top-down" when it comes to curriculum and instruction. Part of the enthusiasm of our teachers on this project is that they are being asked to create something for their classroom and that has not been a common ask in our district. I am hopeful we will see other examples of this kind of lesson/curriculum design work in other content areas because it is delightful to see our teachers throw themselves into developing engaging and meaningful learning activities for our students.
Chris Mainhart
This is an amazing project. Computer science in elementary schools makes so much sense. Three years-ago, I started using Scratch Jr. to do block coding with K-3 students. I never could have imagined how engaging it would be for the students. I hope the project continues for many many years1
Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Thanks, Chris! The teachers were concerned about Scratch and other block coding languages we are using, but they found that they could code and came to enjoy it. Kudos go to Melissa Zeitz, our technology coordinator (and Western MA CSTA president), for offering extra PD and supporting the teachers. The students are really engaged with Scratch, Codespark, and other block coding.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
While the following is a long list, I need to give credit to the whole team from SPS, UMass, and SageFox. No room to list all of the dedicated teachers on the design teams and to the early adopters.
UMass and Five College Team:
Rick Adrion, PI and Emeritus Professor, UMass
Anna Branch, former CoPI and consultant, Vice Chancellor and Professor, Rutgers
Darrell Earnest, Associate Professor, UMass
Keisha Green, Assistant Professor, UMass
Annie Leonard, Project Facilitator, UMass and Five Colleges, Inc
Jennifer Randall, Associate Professor and Associate Dean, UMass
Enrique Suárez, Assistant Professor, UMass
Florence Sullivan, Professor and Department Chair, UMass
Rebecca Woodland, Professor, UMass
Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell. Research Fellow, UMass
RAs: Sandra Botha, Lian Duan, Itza Martinez, Emrah Pektas
Springfield Team:
Kate Asher, Supervisor of PK-3, SPS
Katie Bevan, CS4All SPS Head Coordinator, SPS
Rachel Chouinard, CS4All SPS K-3 Coordinator, SPS
Jose Escribano, Principal Brightwood Elementary School, SPS
Paul Foster, CS4All SPS Lead and Chief Information and Accountability Officer, SPS
Denise Matuszczak, Sr. Administrator of Digital Learning and Assessment, SPS
Laura Mendes, Director of Literacy PK-5, SPS
Terry Powe, Principal, Elias Brookings School, SPS
Stefania Raschilla, Chief Instructional Officer, SPS
Tom Rachele, Director of ELA 6-12, SPS
Laura Rita, CS4All SPS 1-4 Coordinator, SPS
Stefanie Santaniello, Data Analyst - Strategic Data, SPS
Ronald St. Amand, Director of Science, SPS
Robert St. Lawrence, Director of Information Systems. SPS
Sarah Truoiolo, Director of Mathematics, SPS
Scott Wohlers, CS4All SPS 2-5 Coordinator, SPS
Melissa Zeitz, CS4All SPS Technology Coordinator, SPS
plus 36 K,2,3,& 4 design team and advising teachers, 50 K&3 Early Adopter teachers ... an incredible group!
SageFox Team:
Stacey Sexton, Evaluator, SageFox
Jeff Xavier, lead and Evaluator, SageFox
Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
We miss Marla Solomon, the original CSforAll SPS Project Facilitator and Five College Director of Partnership Programs, who had to reduce her workload in February.
Deborah Seehorn
This is a great project! I really like the integrated CS/CT approach and the focus on inclusion and diversity. The students and staff in the video are so enthusiastic. I will be interested to see the results of your efforts after four years.
Katie Bevan
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Deborah - Thanks!
Eric Hamilton
Rick and team, congratulations on a great and promising approach and project, and amazing to see the level of collaboration the project has created.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Thank you to all of the visitors!
Michael I. Swart
So important this work, both in content and in outreach. Listening to the teachers respond to the opportunities and the ease of integration and supports is great to hear. Thank you for sharing.
For the curricular modules created by pairs, are they given a pedagogical framework to develop in? Do these modules get reviewed by peers? Re-vision/re-design process? Do lessons differentiate by school? Are there rubrick to guide teachers in instruction, activities and assessment? How do the modules work into PD?
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Eric - Thanks for visiting. Congrats on your international project!
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
Each pair begins the module design (5-10 lessons) with PD before and during. They are advised by the coordinators (which include Instructional Leadership Specialists and and an instructional technology specialist), district curriculum coordinators, and SPED and ELL teacher advisors. The four pairs at each grade level meet and share their work throughout each round of piloting. After the first round of piloting, assessment and revision, the authoring pair hands their module off to another pair (and takes on another module). The second pair pilots the revised module, assesses the outcome and works with the authoring pair to revise. There is a standard format for documenting the module that includes references to elements of the state standards for Digital Literacy/Computer Science and the embedded subject (ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies), the lesson content, suggested approaches, and links to the technologies used. The revised module is handed off to a third pair and the process repeats. So each module (there are 4, one per grading period) is taught, assessed and revised 3 times. Florence Sullivan and her students observe the teaching of at least one instance of each module and work with the design teachers on revisions. Rebecca Woodland and her student work with the Coordinators and design teams on the development process as critical friends. The design team teachers, coordinators and the researchers are then involved in designing PD for the early adopters and then for the district-wide roll out. Sneha Veeragoudar Harrell looks carefully at the strategy and the curricula to see if we are meeting our goals for diversity, equity and inclusion and helps design an equity component to all of the PD.
I'll alert Florence, Rebecca, and Sneha to provide clarifications, but the site is only one for another 15 minutes.
W. Adrion
Professor Emeritus Computer Science
The process in careful to differentiate by classroom (to engage all students) as well as by school and guidance is given in the module documentation. Our plan is to build an online resource around the modules to support district-wide implementation.
Further posting is closed as the event has ended.