CS Educator Toolkit CS Family Toolkit Community Practice

Instruction & Classroom Climate

Equity isn’t a direct result of enrolling all students in CS.
Debunking “CS for All Students = All Students in CS.”

Considerations for how CS is taught and how students are supported in CS are critical to ensure equitable CS education.

Pedagogy (How is CS taught?)
CS pedagogy involves evidence-based practices and strategies consistent with or adapted from those used across subjects.

As in other content areas, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Understanding By Design (UbD) are frameworks that support effective CS instruction. Likewise, specific strategies that are effective in math, literacy, or other instruction, can and should be used in CS, too. Explore more about CS instructional design in the PA CS Teacher Toolkit.

Classroom Culture (How are diverse learners supported in CS education?)

Efforts to ensure a positive classroom culture include:⁴

Recognizing and addressing stereotypes, implicit biases, and fixed mindsets among students and teachers
Demonstrating cultural competency with the use of culturally relevant practices and resources that brings CS together with students’ culture, backgrounds, and interests
Using instructional strategies and resources to support the needs of English language learners students with disabilities

Instruction & Classroom Climate Resources

9 Tips for Promoting Equity in the Classroom (Code.org)
One-page document with tips for educators

Equity Matters 2016 Digital & Online Learning for Students with Disabilities
The Center on Online Learning and Students with Disabilities