The Accelerating Women’s Success and Mastery in Computer Science (AWSM in CS) Research Practice Partnership resulted in four key outcomes summarized below.

1. Researchers and practitioners identified several strategies that were effective for improving recruitment, retention, and success of young women in K12 computer science courses. Many of these strategies were also noted by practitioners as being effective for broadening participation in CS for all students, irrespective of gender. 
   1. Collaborating with counselors and leveraging peer recruitment.
   2. Requiring all students to have exposure to CS.
   3. Allowing CS to count as a foreign language graduation requirement.
   4. Connecting computational problem solving to students’ lives through lessons which are collaborative, creative, social, and community oriented. 
   5. Providing opportunities for all students to learn from diverse CS role models, highlighting the contributions of women to the CS profession.
   6. Empowering students to embrace struggle, overcome challenges, and increase self-confidence in CS.  
2. With a supplement to the AWSM in CS grant from NSF, a new model for recruiting and supporting teachers to serve as role models for diverse students in CS was piloted. The Computing Educator Diversity Initiative (CEDI) prioritized upskilling of existing secondary teachers to build their CS content knowledge, enabling them to earn an additional teaching certification in Grades 8-12 computer science. Because Hispanic and Black students make up 66% of the K12 students in Texas but are underrepresented in comparison to their population in CS courses, particular attention was paid to recruiting Black and Hispanic educators to a community of practice which made serving a diverse range of students a priority. Three cohorts of educators completed the CEDI program, which was improved and modified each time based on feedback from participants and researchers. Due to the success of the CEDI program and the flexible design which allows cohorts to focus on the priority populations in their own communities, CEDI, now renamed the Computing Educator Opportunities (CEO) Initiative, is being replicated in other states, and was funded by NSF as a stand-alone RPP in 2023. 
3. Researchers established a replicable protocol for identifying and recognizing secondary schools in Texas which had achieved gender parity in CS courses. The AWSM in CS Honor Roll recognized the 2% of schools in the state with at least 50% female enrollment each year for three years. Schools were highlighted on the Texas Advanced Computing Center website, social media, and at the WeTeach_CS Summit. Identification of these schools allowed researchers to conduct a “bright spots” research study to complement the prior RPP research regarding effective strategies for supporting young women in CS. 
4. AWSM in CS provided direct professional development focused on building teacher CS content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and inclusive practices for over 100 educators. AWSM in CS and CEDI teacher participants grew as leaders in their schools, districts, and the greater CS education community by collaborating in their RPPs and training other teachers at events such as the WeTeach_CS Summit, CSTA regional and national conferences, The WeTeach_CS AI Symposium, and other professional development workshops and conferences. A primary goal of AWSM in CS was to empower new CS teachers as leaders and advocates for broadening participation in CS. By supporting the professional growth of these educators, the program has built the capacity to impact thousands of additional educators, thus sustaining the impact of the project well beyond the initial NSF funding period. 

Last Modified: 03/01/2025
Modified by: Carol Fletcher