Frances Kay Harper

Computational thinking and literacy reflect important, distinct but interrelated sets of skills that have foundations in the early childhood years. While early literacy has long been studied and conceptualized, there are fewer shared understandings about early computational thinking, particularly how best to assess it in ways that are engaging and developmentally appropriate for young children. As a result, this study seeks to understand the potential of a playful and meaningful story-based assessment designed to capture preschool- and PreK-aged children’s narrative, computational thinking, and programming skills. Across three time points and using multiple embedded case study design with 12 focal children from four classrooms, this study investigated how a story-based computational thinking assessment documented young children’s knowledge and practices. Findings revealed key developmental differences, with PreK-aged children demonstrating more advanced narrative, computational thinking, and programming skills, as well as greater independence and stronger transfer from story to tasks than preschool-aged children. The assessment approach provided valuable insights into children’s emerging competencies in computational thinking and literacy, indicating that integrating narrative and coding supports both engagement and a holistic understanding of early computational thinking.

Recent initiatives promote transdisciplinary curriculum and instruction as an emerging approach to equitable mathematics education. Given the influence of a neoliberal agenda on transdisciplinary approaches (e.g., STEM), however, we asked how integrated, project-based learning might create opportunities to disrupt the institutionalized white space of mathematics at the classroom level, and how it might perpetuate it. Through an analysis of a project in a racially diverse urban classroom, we found that mathematics was overwhelming discursively constructed as a discipline in which communication and collaboration were valued. In most cases, such discourses enabled a more equitable distribution of mathematics as intellectual property. Yet, the more dominant discourses that frame mathematics as individual and disjointed allowed for the hoarding of mathematics as property at times and the perpetuation of discourses about mathematics ability as fixed. We discuss connections to prior research that suggest implications for disrupting whiteness at the classroom level in ways that benefit students who are Black, Indig-enous, and People of Color, and especially Black girls, in urban schools.

Persistent inequities in mathematics education point to a critical need to reimagine curricular tasks to better support marginalized student groups. While culturally responsive pedagogy has received growing attention, mainstream algebra curricula still largely fail to reflect students’ lived experiences or sociopolitical realities in meaningful ways. This study evaluates two units from a widely used algebra curriculum, synthesizes conceptual frameworks for developing culturally relevant materials, and reimagines traditional math tasks to better reflect the experiences of Black and Latinx students. An analysis of 50 original tasks revealed a consistent focus on academic rigor, yet showed minimal evidence of cultural relevance, representation, or integration of sociopolitical and social justice themes. In response, we revised selected tasks to preserve – or enhance – their academic rigor while incorporating elements of cultural competency and social justice. This work recognizes the complexity of such transformations and the potential challenges involved. By sharing the framework, evaluation process, and examples of both original and revised tasks, this study offers practical insights for educators and curriculum developers striving to support both equity and excellence in mathematics education.

A global push for teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as a multidisciplinary endeavor is becoming increasingly prevalent in primary education. To understand how teachers are prepared to meet this need, we examined the programmatic design of seven teacher education programs, identified from among seventeen Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship projects that focused on integrated STEM teacher education at the primary level. Specifically, we asked how the programmatic features and structures of the teacher education programs presented opportunities for prospective and practicing teachers to build capacity for integrated STEM teaching. Using case study methodology and qualitative content analysis, this study explored how primary teacher education programs framed integrated STEM across and within courses. The findings suggest that current initiatives aimed at meeting critical needs in STEM education do not sufficiently foster a focus on integrated STEM components in teacher education, especially at the primary level. The findings highlight a need for more intentional development of integrated STEM programs targeting primary teachers and provide guidance for the development or redesign of programs that better meet the demand. Specifically, integrated STEM can be woven into programs through a varying number of courses, which are introduced either later or from the beginning of programs.

Early literacy experiences, including reading and writing, serve as meaningful backdrops for teachers in early childhood contexts to support and embed both computational thinking and computer science into classroom instruction. This article shares how interactive in‐class instruction that is embedded within rich literacy experiences and computer science concepts allow young children to think deeply about books that are read to them and engage in forms of creative composition. Examples of common children's books are used to demonstrate and provide opportunities for children to develop early comprehension and composition skills that intersect with computational thinking skills and computer science competencies in naturalistic and unplugged classroom contexts.

Exploring preschool teachers’ pedagogical documentation practices in early computer science education, we analyzed 131 artifacts generated by four teachers. Documentation included predominantly photographs capturing interactions and work samples, with fewer video clips and reflective notes. Two teachers emphasized documenting interactions/processes over work samples/products. Most documentation occurred during small group lessons, showcasing varied pedagogical approaches. Through narratives, we illustrate how teacher voice and perspective enrich computer science education. This research emphasizes how, when educators are provided autonomy and choice in documentation, they capture the sociocultural nature of computer science teaching and learning through instances where teachers and children are co-constructing knowledge.

Theory and practice related to computing education with racially/ethnically and linguistically diverse groups of preschoolers remain in nascent stages. Accordingly, early childhood educators both require substantial support when integrating culturally responsive computing into curriculum and instruction and offer valuable perspectives on emerging practices. The purpose of this research study is to explore how educator voice-directed efforts support the implementation of a culturally relevant preschool robotics program through multi-year professional development. Through qualitative analyses, we examined how educator voice, conceptualized as perspectives and participation, guided the direction of professional learning situated within a larger research-practice partnership using design-based research (DBR) methodology. By comparing voice across these sessions, we were able to identify what roles educators assumed within the partnership and how those roles shifted over time. Further, we are able to identify the structural and systemic factors that may have affected their participation and implementation. Findings show a contrast in roles across the different stages of the partnership, suggesting implications for embedding professional learning within broader partnership work as a way to cultivate educator leadership and to realize culturally responsive computing education in sustainable ways.

Despite a growing movement towards expanding computer science education in PreK‐12, gaps in computing opportunities along lines of race, ethnicity, class, and gender have widened. Emergent theories and practices related to culturally responsive computing show promise in addressing this gap; however, little is known about engaging Black, Latinx, and Indigenous preschoolers in computer science. In this paper, we utilized qualitative content analyses to explore how an early childhood computer science curriculum created opportunities for young Black and Latinx preschoolers to develop computational thinking skills while engaging in culturally responsive computing. Overwhelmingly, we found the curriculum, co‐developed with educators and caregivers, emphasized unplugged tools and coding activities to support computational thinking. These unplugged opportunities positioned children as innovators with technology and technosocial change agents, in developmentally‐appropriate, play‐based ways. Findings demonstrate a need to emphasize the value of unplugged tools and coding activities in order to support computational thinking and align the goals of culturally responsive computing with the unique needs of young children. We discuss implications for a theory of culturally responsive computing specifically for early childhood education.