9-12 Computer Science + Advanced STE
Build a K-12 Computer Science Pathway
KIPP 2025 Goal: All KIPP High School students are provided the opportunity to take AP CS Principles and at least two advanced STEM courses (i.e. AP CS A, PLTW Engineering or BioMed Pathways, AP Seminar, Data Science)
AP CSP students at KIPP DC College Prep work hard to solve classwork on Code.org.
How are schools making this possible?
Scheduling and staffing varies by school and region. Below you will see how various regions are making AP CSP and AP CSA a possibility for all students.
Year-long, daily core course that all sophomores take.
Year-long, daily elective class that some students take.
States have varying policies around credits for computer science. Many states have passed laws allow students to get foreign language or math/science credit for computer science. See here for the most up to date state policies.
Grade 9: Optional Intro Course (if not taught in Middle School)
Used in ~ 35 KIPP Schools
Curriculum Details: CSD is a semester or year long course utilizing Code.org’s free, online curriculum. All unit and daily level materials are provided along with a teacher dashboard to enable auto-grading for student work.
Training: Code.org offers training through a variety of local partners around the country. The 5 day training enables teachers to internalize the curriculum by seeing it in action through a series of model lessons. All participating teachers will teach one lesson whole group during their training experience. Training has received over 95% satisfaction from KIPP participants.
Ongoing Support: Code.org provides 4 follow-up PD sessions through the same local provider from summer training. These trainings usually take place on Saturday and are also available virtually. Teachers are also encouraged to utilize Code.org’s online forum to post questions.
Costs and Hardware: Chromebooks + one set of Adafruit Boards. (All teachers who complete Code.org’s training series will receive a free set for their class.) See Code.org’s technology requirements here. Curriculum is free. Training costs vary by region. Registration: Register for training through a local Code.org partner.
“The curriculum and training from Code.org is top notch. Students LOVE the tools provided (for free) by the curriculum like WebLab, AppLab, and GameLab and they learn by DOING, which is so powerful. Engagement is a non-issue! - Emily McGrath, KIPP New Orleans”
“CSD has been an amazing intro Computer Science course for our students! Students are super excited to create their own games and apps in a course that’s both rigorous and engaging. - Debbie Grashin, KIPP Columbus”
Code.org's AP Computer Science Principles
Used in 19 KIPP High Schools
Curriculum Details: This year-long course can be taught as an introductory course and as an AP course - no prerequisites required for students or for teachers new to computer science! Computer Science Principles introduces students to the foundational concepts of computer science and challenges them to explore how computing and technology can impact the world. It is a rigorous, engaging, and approachable course that explores many of the foundational ideas of computing so all students understand how these concepts are transforming the world we live in.
Training: Code.org offers training through a variety of local partners around the country. The 5 day training enables teachers to internalize the curriculum by seeing it in action through a series of model lessons. All participating teachers will teach one lesson whole group during their training experience. Training has received over 95% satisfaction from KIPP participants.
Ongoing Support: KIPP Foundation and Code.org are partnering to offer all CSP teachers on-going support through monthly virtual collaboratives. See here for more information.
Costs and Hardware: Chromebooks only. See Code.org’s technology requirements here. Curriculum is free. Training is free for all KIPP Teachers and will be hosted in Chicago on June 22-26, 2020. See here for details.
Registration: Registration will open in Mid-March as a part of the KIPP Summer of Learning. Click here to receive a note when it opens!
Resources: Check out this yea’r’s collaborative resources HERE!
Launching in ~10 KIPP high schools in 20-21
Grades 11-12: AP CS A
Curriculum Details: Edhesive is an online comprehensive curriculum provided for free to KIPP through the Amazon Future Engineer Program. The course can be teacher led or student paced, uses Canvas, has a built in coding platform, auto grading, and more. AP Computer Science A is a programming class in Java, a popular in-demand programming language. Java is used to build server-side applications, games, and financial applications, and is the core foundation for developing Android apps. Students will be introduced to topics that include problem-solving, design strategies and methodologies, organization of data (data structure), approaches to processing data (algorithms), analysis of potential solutions, and the ethical and social implications of computing.
Training: Edhesive offer a free, online, asynchronous professional development for teachers. The PD is ~40 hours in length and is self-paced.
Ongoing Support: KIPP Foundation is partnering with Reboot Representation to provide support to all CS A teachers through virtual collaboratives. Collaborates are led by our AP CS A Leader and meet every ~3 weeks.
Costs and Hardware: The course and training are free. Chromebook is only technology required.
Registration: Register for training through Edhesive and let them know that you are an Amazon Future Engineer School.
Resources: Check out this yea’r’s collaborative resources HERE!
