Examining the Role of Informal Education in K-12 Computing Pathways & CS Education Reform Efforts: (Abstract Only)

Afterschool and summer learning programs are an essential tool to support and expand K-12 computer science education. When used strategically, they can fill out a pathway of CS opportunities across the grade-span, spark interest, deepen engagement, and connect in- and out-of-school learning. Because African-American and Hispanic youth, and youth from low-income households, participate in afterschool programs in higher numbers (America After 3pm, 2014), and because more schools offer informal CS than offer formal coding classes (Google/Gallup, 2016), these programs provide access to "preparatory privilege"--the additional exposures that prime well-resourced students' confidence with computing (Margolis, 2008).