CS4All: An Early Look at Teacher Implementation in NYC

CS for All initiatives have emerged around the country in the last decade with the hopes of addressing the growing call for all students to have opportunities to be proficient computational thinkers and to be exposed to computer science (CS) curriculum throughout their educational careers. As districts and states grapple with the realities of implementing such initiatives, they must address a key barrier: a lack of teacher capacity to teach CS. NYC's Computer Science for All (CS4All) is a 10-year, districtwide initiative aimed at providing high-quality computer science (CS) education to all public-school students. To address teacher capacity issues, the district has designed and implemented professional development (PD) with the goal of providing high-quality training to nearly 5,000 teachers by 2025. We conducted online surveys with about 1,500 teachers who participated in the multi-day professional development to assess the early outcomes of this effort. Results from two years of surveys offer insight into professional development quality, teacher confidence, ability of teachers to implement CS in their classrooms, and supports and barriers to offering CS (even in a district where CS is a priority). They also provide insight into how supports and barriers differ in schools serving students with high economic needs compared to schools serving students with lower economic needs. The successes and challenges highlighted by these data inform the work of other districts and states around the country engaged in similar efforts.