Understanding Rural Strengths and Challenges Related to Elementary Computer Science Pathway Development

The Idaho Elementary Computer Science Collaborative (IECC) Collaborative is a research-practice partnership (RPP) among the Idaho STEM Action Center (Idaho STEM AC), the American Institutes for Research (AIR), and BootUp Professional Development (BootUp PD). The purpose of the IECC is to explore the strengths and challenges rural school districts bring to the process of developing and implementing elementary computer science (CS) pathways. The IECC conducted interviews with CS leaders in five districts across the state. Analysis of the interviews provided insight into both the nuances of local contexts and the values, issues, and challenges common across rural districts. In this poster, we discuss how the shared challenge of low exposure to CS, the shared strength of community connections to education, and the similar processes of curriculum adoption played out with local nuances in five rural Idaho districts. We discuss implications for developing elementary CS pathways in rural contexts.