Northridge Middle School, a Coding Magnet program in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, has a vibrant partnership with UNC Charlotte faculty in the College of Computing and Informatics, that is designed to infuse computer science into the current curriculum.
Our aim is to prepare middle school students for computing curriculum in high school, to develop and test effective CS teaching modules that integrate into existing math, science and English language arts curriculum and, ultimately, to provide equitable access to students who are typically underrepresented in computing.
This partnership is working toward economic mobility efforts in the Charlotte community, by opening pathways to lucrative technology careers to students who are not typically exposed to computer science, i.e. those who are among the lower socioeconomic status levels, are African American or Hispanic.
Northridge Middle School (NRMS) became a coding magnet within CMS in 2017 and has 65 teachers. Among the 1,000 students, 67 percent qualify for the free and reduced lunch plan, and 57 percent of are African American and 35 percent Hispanic. The College of Computing and Informatics (CCI) at UNC Charlotte has the most diverse student body in computer science in the state, with 20 percent African American and Hispanic/Latinx students.
The CCI’s Center for Education Innovation champions culturally relevant teaching practices in computer science by leading training workshops and institutes for faculty and by conducting externally funded education research that supports the regional and the national computer science community. The partnership team at NRMS is led by Professional Development Facilitator Tara Anderson and our Lead Teachers Mr. Kevin Emerson, Ms. Shanita Carter, Ms. April Jackson, Ms. Marian Myers, Ms. Tina Williams and Ms. Haleigh Redmon. The CCI research team is led by Dr. Mary Lou Maher and co-researchers Drs. Mohsen Dorodchi, Lijuan Cao, David Pugalee, Audrey Rorrer and Ms. Katie Dunn. Our partnership is facilitated by the Magnet Coordinator Dr. Sharon Jones, of The Dot Consulting.
The NRMS-CCI partnership has trained eight lead teachers, who are subject matter experts in Python. These lead teachers design classroom lessons, activities and tools to teach computer science and Python that fit into the existing science and English language arts curricula. The lead teachers deliver these lessons and activities to their students. They also prepare and support other teachers at NRMS to implement the lessons into their classrooms. In our second formal year of partnership, we have co-designed 18 learning activities and tools (see samples in Figure one) and provided four teacher professional development workshops to NRMS teachers in Python language.
In the 2020-21 school year, NRMS-CCI partners are launching these activities in virtual classrooms. Student and teacher feedback will inform the partnership what lessons are effective, and guide enhancements.
The connection between the K12 education and higher education is pivotal in the movement of the pipeline.
Northridge Middle School Team:
Principal: Orlando Robinson
Magnet Coordinator: Tara Anderson
Lead Teachers: Kevin Emerson, Shanita Carter, April Jackson, Marian Myers, Haleigh Redmon and Shantelle Jacobs
Magnet Consultant: Dr. Sharon Jones, the dot. Consulting
Acknowledgement: This work is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant DRL-1837439. SFN, STEMFunders Network.
Women in STEM Series
Women in STEM Series is a 12-month series of articles to introduce you to a variety of perspectives of changing the conversation around Women and Girls in STEM. This series is led by two local business owners, Anjali Dighe, owner of Code Ninjas Ballantyne, Concord and Relentless Group, and Dr. Sharon Jones, founder of Dottie Rose Foundation and the dot. Consulting. Together, they hope to move the pendulum and provide quality programming, support and a pathway for girls to find their path in technology. Their missions are changing the conversation of what it means to be a woman in tech and establishing a framework for future generations to come.
Dr. Audrey Rorrer is a Research Associate Professor, Computer Science, UNC Charlotte. Her expertise includes broadening participation in computing research, diversity and inclusion education initiatives, STEM program evaluation and design, evaluation capacity building, statistical analysis, grant and report writing and college teaching.
