Building Teacher and Community Networks for Sustainable Middle School Computer Science Education: Experiences from Two Pairs of Teachers

This paper presents an experience report from the CS Pathways RPP, a researcher-practitioner partnership (RPP) project. Based on a collaboration between two public research universities and three urban school districts in the Northeast USA, the project aims to establish a sustainable middle school computer science (CS) curriculum in the districts. The CS curriculum is centered on students developing mobile apps that provide social and community good. In this fifth year of the project, we describe the partnerships developed between universities, district schools, and communities as teachers facilitate students creating mobile apps that address community and social issues. We also zoom in to analyze the community-centered implementation by two teacher pairs in two middle schools. Through teacher interviews, survey responses, and recordings of bi-monthly professional learning meetings, this paper builds upon data from two teacher-pairs, exploring themes of RPP, classroom and district community, invested community stakeholders, and the broader online communities formed. The first teacher pair has developed a strong collaboration in the same school, influencing the facilitation of student projects. The second teacher pair highlights a mentor-mentee dynamic, where an experienced educator has significantly influenced the growth and confidence of a novice teacher. We seek to understand two key areas: the collaboration and networks built among teachers and the broader support network as a pathway to sustainable CS education programs. This paper contributes to advancing knowledge of RPP teacher and community networks to establish a sustainable middle school computer science curriculum and advance student outcomes.