| dc.description.abstract | Background
The purpose of this quantitative project was to explore school-level factors that may impact a Chicago public high school’s likelihood of offering Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP). We collaborated with the Chicago Alliance for Equity in Computer Science (CAFÉCS), a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) dedicated to expanding computer science access for all students, especially those typically underrepresented in computer science. This study quantitatively analyzed 52 school-level variables that The Learning Partnership received from Chicago Public School (CPS) high schools from school years (SY) 2016-2017 through 2020-2021. This project sought to examine the following questions:
1. What student factors impact the likelihood that AP CSP is offered in CPS high schools?
2. What teacher factors impact the likelihood that AP CSP is offered in CPS high schools?
3. What school context factors impact the likelihood that AP CSP is offered in CPS high schools?
Methods
We obtained our data on CPS school-level variables from The Learning Partnership, which has a data share agreement with CPS. We developed a conceptual framework for this project consisting of 19 independent variables that were a synthesis of the data set and of the literature review of student, teacher, and school context factors that might impact curricular expansion. We used multiple logistic regression to analyze the data due to the binary nature of our dependent variable: did a high school offer AP CSP, yes or no.
Results
Our results showed that five of the 19 variables were statistically significant. The presence of AP CSP partially qualified teachers and a five-year high school graduation rate correlated with an increased chance of a CPS high school offering AP CSP, while increased percentages of Black students, increased percentages of students enrolled in special education, and the presence of a Career and Technical Education – Information Technology (CTE-IT) track correlated with decreased chances of a CPS high school offering AP CSP. Our findings were consistent with the literature surrounding two of the five statistically significant variables. Increased percentages of Black students were linked to reduced curricular offerings, and teachers, as a resource, were linked to expanded curricular offerings. Surprisingly, the remaining three statistically significant variables, a five-year graduation rate, the percentage of students participating in special education, and the presence of a CTE-IT track in a high school did not appear in the literature as impacting curricular expansion, which may indicate opportunities for future research.
Recommendations
Our recommendations include an initial expansion of AP CSP in STEM high schools that do not offer the course but have an AP CSP teacher who is at least partially qualified to teach it, while simultaneously working to make those partially qualified teachers fully qualified through local professional development credentialing sessions. Another recommendation is to conduct a case study of the schools that currently offer AP CSP to determine how they were able to implement the course into their curriculum. Our final recommendation is from the literature, not the results, and it is to expand the professional community of practice opportunities for all computer science teachers as one way to address potential pipeline issues in obtaining and retaining more AP CSP teachers. This project can assist with informing educational stakeholders about future research when determining optimal environments and support systems that might be needed when deciding where AP CSP courses might be initiated within CPS. | |
