Susan Yonezawa

Choosing Tracks:“Freedom of Choice” in Detracking Schools

In this article, we discuss how and why educators’ attempts at detracking by providing students and parents with greater “freedom of choice” in track placement often result in little movement of low-and middle-track students into high-track classes. Using data from six racially mixed high schools undergoing detracking reform, the authors contend that these schools’ low- and middle-track students, most of whom were African American and Latino, resisted entering high-track classes because the relationship between their places in the tracking hierarchy and their evolving identities and ideologies shaped the way such options were presented to and perceived by them. The authors conclude that the hidden institutional barriers within schools, the students’ tracked aspirations, and the desire of students to learn in “places of respect” thwarted reformers’ efforts to detrack through the mechanism of choice.

Teacher Resilience in Urban Schools: The Importance of Technical Knowledge, Professional Community, and Leadership Opportunities

Improving teacher retention and resiliency are key educational problems. In this article, we share findings from case studies of six educators who, for over 200 combined years, worked in urban, high-poverty schools and highlight what teachers need to remain in such contexts. We argue that developing professional resilience is a process built on the interplay between individuals and their supportive contexts. In-depth interviews with these six educators reveal how connections with educator networks such as the National Writing Project (NWP) helped teachers develop into durable and reflective practitioners by providing them technical expertise, cultural support, and opportunities to develop as leaders.

Student Voice, Cultural Change: Using Inquiry in School Reform

Since 1998, the Center for Research in Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE) at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) has formed partnerships with 18 lowperforming elementary and secondary schools that serve a largely minority student population from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods. The university created these partnerships following the passage of Proposition 209 in 1995, which ended affirmative action in university admissions in California. At that time, the state legislature charged the University of California system to increase diversity on each of the 10 campuses. At UCSD, CREATE and its partnership schools were established as a response. We work in CREATE and, along with our colleagues, we are responsible for developing, sustaining, and studying UCSD’s partnerships with 18 schools in San Diego County. As two of three partnership coordinators, we serve as the primary liaison for 12 schools (each partnership coordinator works with 6 schools). Our 12 schools include four high schools, two middle schools, and six elementary schools. As partnership coordinators, we develop resources, implement programs for the partnership schools, and provide technical support such as tutors, teacher professional development opportunities, and parent education. As action researchers, we also are responsible for studying the partnership schools and using that knowledge to inform the partnership process and our school reform efforts. The technical supports we often provide schools certainly can help UCSD meet the legislature’s charge to increase campus diversity. However, we also know from our everyday experiences in schools and communities that technical resources alone cannot tackle deeply rooted patterns of educational inequality. Cultural, social, economic, and political issues permeate the urban school, community, and classroom contexts within which we work, and these issues circumscribe beliefs about teaching, learning, and student achievement. Con-

Student Co-Researchers: How Principals Can Recruit, Train, and Enlist the Help of Students to Examine What Works and Does Not Work in Their Schools.

This article describes an e fort by principals and university researchers to create student co-research groups at several high schools. The authors describe the student co-research team concept, how it provides principals with ways to actively engage students in ongoing school-reform e forts, and how it assists them in gathering and analyzing data regarding school change. More specifically, the article describes an e fort to create student co-research groups across school sites to address dilemmas districtwide and within specific schools. Co-research team enactment, training, and support are discussed and suggestions for principals to sustain such a concept are recommended.

CS-CAVE: districts' roles in broadening CS access

Bits & Bytes CS-CAVE: DISTRICTS’ ROLES IN BROADENING CS ACCESS Susan Yonezawa, Nan Renner, Monica Sweet, Beth Simon and Diane Baxter This research investigates the spread and sustainability of university efforts to increase the number and types of computer science (CS) courses available in K-12. Two university/K-12 collaborative projects in the San Diego region provide insights into pathways for sustainability. Nearly 75 teachers were trained to teach CS Principles through professional development by university CS faculty and staff. Despite myriad challenges, one-third of the teachers implemented the course. Subsequent research explores three school districts as active players rather than passive recipients (or worse, resistors) of NSF-funded university-led efforts, revealing political and cultural challenges to implementation and sustainability of CS education reform. Computing pervades contemporary life. The US economy demands workers with computational competence. Yet, few K-12 students, particularly those from low-income and minority back- grounds, have access to formal learning opportunities in computer science (CS) [2]. To meet economic demands and give students access to opportunities, the US education system must expand CS offerings in K-12 education. Equally critical, this expansion must be equitable and accessible to diverse student populations, not limited just to the affluent and tech-endowed schools. Educational leaders call for expanding access to K-12 comput- ing education, with deliberate attention to broadening participation by students traditionally underrepresented in computer science, including female, African American, Latino, Native American, and students with disabilities/learning differences. Researchers have documented disparities in students’ K-12 access to computer science learning opportunities, but higher education’s investment to actively assist K-12 is more recent [1]. Higher education part- nerships with K-12 have increased the number and types of CS courses available for students. Our research expands the scope to investigate sustainability and spread of CS reforms. Two sequential CS education projects involving collaboration between California higher education (UC San Diego and San 80 acm Inroads 2015 December • Vol. 6 • No. 4 Working with district partners, ComPASS and CS-CaVE reveal that the technical as- pects of CS curriculum and teacher training present only one set of challenges. Diego State University) and K-12 education in the San Diego region highlight this recent progression from implementation to sustainability research in K-12 CS education, providing insight into pathways for sustainability. Two efforts to broaden participation in CS: From ComPASS to CS-CaVE In 2011, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded teams at University of California San Diego (UCSD) and San Diego State University (SDSU) to conduct research on adapting a college- level course, CS Principles (CSP), for high schools in San Diego County, California. This CE21 project, “Computing Principles for All Students’ Success” (ComPASS), aimed to create a broader pool of CSP teachers, expand CSP class offerings, increase the number of schools offering CSP, and broaden teacher and student partici- pation. ComPASS project objectives were to: ■ develop and evaluate content and pedagogy training and support resources for teachers (with or without computing backgrounds) to teach CSP; ■ build a regional computing education community to provide sustainable peer support for new CSP teachers. ComPASS has trained approximately 75 teachers to teach CSP, through intensive CS workshops and professional development led by UCSD and SDSU Computer Science faculty and instructors from the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC). However,