So I am part of a 3 year researcher-practioner-partnership with UT Austin called AWSMCS - Accelerating Women’s Success and Mastery in CS. Yesterday we were interviewed as part of their research project by a 3rd party for the second time. I jotted down my thoughts to help me respond to the questions. I want to expand upon those thoughts here.

Question: What is my understanding now for my own school with challenge and underrepresentation of girls in computing? I have learned a lot about policy, school district course selection, funding from state, hiring teachers - there is so much that is above me in terms of having the final decision. And maybe the decision is above my school district and is a state level thing. Regardless of these ‘macro’ trends, I have learned to do what I can on the micro-level for things I can control and affect. For the larger things, I partner with others and make myself available: examples are writing course descriptions for new courses, giving my input and pushing for a CS pathway, and helping other teachers as they begin teaching CS. Another thing I have reflected on is how Years 1-2 is really only the beginning. We are about to start Year 3 of AWSMCS. In my opinion, it takes at a minimum 4-5 years to affect the culture and how things are perceived. I’m lucky to be able to teach in the school district I grew up in, and I still remember choosing courses based off what I heard about the teacher, perceived difficulty, friends, etc. My students have the same mindset. I am entering year 5 of teaching CS and year 3 of specifically looking to increase female enrollment: already I have seen a 1:20 female:male ratio jump to 1:5 ratio as of this past year - looking forward to more improvement next year as we go from 8 CS periods to 12. Something else I’ve learned is how much what we do in high school depends on what is done in earlier grades. I remember doing 4 years of orchestra in high school, in large part due to starting it in 6th grade. Many students continue in high school what they’ve begun in middle school. Imagine if we could start CS in middle school? And what about incorporating CS concepts in Elementary School? I am thankful my school district is piloting Elementary School CS implementation at select schools; I am also thankful the head of this initiative is the parent of one of my past students and one whom I have established a great relationship with. Again, the goal is to make myself available to these initiatives so we can partner with them and help nurture them. New programs are never easy. I was asked a clarification question - how specifically affecting girls vs boys? I didn’t quite get the rest of the question, but I think the question was asking - for my school what were the specific things that were a challenge affecting the representation of girls in computing? Besides what I discussed up there, I can list the following: more conservative culture, but NASA!, lots of other great CTE courses, lack of history of good CS program, confusing pathway that hopefully just got cleared up.

Question: What interventions have you taken? CS CLUB at elementary/middle school (paused due to COVID). Ask other teachers to rec students who they think typically wouldn’t sign up - be specific about what you’re looking for and share with them the reason for this. Establish rapport with other teachers! Making myself known as the go-to person for CS in the district. Making myself known in my campus. Using relevant news articles in my classes. YouTube Channel - work in progress to not only help students who are struggling, but also to give students who want to do more. Personally encouraging -specifically- females to continue on in the class (hard to tell non-students to take class because covid, did in prev years, did prize for students who rec’d most friends and they signed up). Middle school girls and guy groups to tour our engineering and CS classes (paused due to COVID, but can vouch this works because 2020-2021 recognized some of those students) 1:20 to 1:5 ratio in 4 years.

Question: A lot of you have talked about already doing work to increase participation in CS before AWSMCS. How has AWSMCS helped you accelerate this process or do even more? Before, I was working solo and really just doing/trying things by myself. I could definitely see myself burning out from this, and yeah I definitely piled on too much stuff. It’s always trying to find that balance as there’s never enough time. AWSMCS gave me a community that acts as both a cheerleader and pusher, and they help me make goals and give great ideas for things I can try out. AWSMCS also gives what I am trying to do some backing and oomph when talking about it with my principal, other teachers, and district leaders. AWSMCS definitely helped me realize the potential of working with other teachers, doing what I can, giving grace to myself for things I can’t, and learning to partner with others for a goal. I’ve built a framework with which to enact change.

Question: Talk about the future of AWSMCS, how you might envision that happening. Yes there are FB groups we may be part of (I see Efrain posts/comments on some way too much…) but at the same time, AWSMCS is a 3 year thing. What can we do to not just keep this wealth of knowledge and experience amongst ourselves, but to share it with other groups/communities? Something I have learned from AWSMCS is the importance of community. Something I have begun doing is making myself a resource and stepping up for leadership roles in my district for CS. I have a great rapport and have established myself as a go-to person for our District CTE coordinator. I am now the longest serving CS teacher (that teaches CS as my main subject) in the district and I have shared my resources to people from other districts as well (Dickinson HS). This collaborative relationship from AWSMCS has transferred over to my other relationships with other high school CS teachers in my district and we now have established a Microsoft TEAMS chat where we actively share resources and solicit feedback from each other. In my opinion, it is okay if my relationship with the AWSMCS cohort ends because I am actively doing this with other people now. Making disciples who make disciples - house church style.

Question: What were your thoughts on the shift to bringing outside speakers/moving away from PDSA cycle. Keep in mind COVID complications. I personally didn’t think worked as well. I view it as the difference between gaining knowledge vs learning by doing/implementation - I definitely think I learn better when I try and fail/succeed/gray area. But I also understand implementation may have been hard due to COVID. Another way I can see it is by measuring my impact: which had the biggest impact in my personal practice? Definitely the PDSA cycle.

Question: Is there anything should’ve asked/followed up on? My Question: I’m curious to your perspective. What are your thoughts on the program? I never get a chance to hear - you present to grant leaders. Response Notes: Resarch practiioner partnership, we are the researchers and practitioners to make research more relevant (more useful). The survey they designed is built on one used in the Department of Education evaluation to understand research use. In retrospect may not be one I would use but it is what I started with. In general, people are much more likely to use research with districts at end vs in beginning. Less frequent communication w/ people in district (because of COVID?) - maybe AWSMCS is a uunique space to delve into research/best practices to inform what doing/being challenge Analysis of why girls are underrepresented - factors were all external - all still true but in open ende of last survey people talked about self reflection and challenging own beliefs.