How a Small College Can Make a Big Impact on High School CS

At SIGCSE 2022 we reported on a grant funded CSforAll project to develop comprehensive and sustained college-high school partnerships focused on building computer science (CS) teacher capacity and broadening participation in high school CS classrooms. The partnerships involve a wide range of districts including high-needs and small rural ones. In this paper we first provide an update on this distinctive and successful project. Grant funding ended in 2022, however the project continues to grow and evolve. Led by faculty at a small liberal arts college, some of the results are stunning and demonstrate the impact a small college can have. For example, in the last three years the number of partner school districts has increased from 23 to 54. The teacher retention rate is 95%, with the most veteran teachers belonging to the partnership for almost ten years. This update includes two additional years of data on student experiences in their CS classes. Second, we provide suggestions and encouragement for replicating this work. The project provides a model that can be used by other colleges and universities for building long-term partnerships with schools to improve CS education. Important components of this model include summer and school year professional development, curriculum and support for four CS courses, a dual-enrollment program, teacher CS certification pathways, and a professional learning community. We offer suggestions and identify opportunities and challenges for those interested in developing a similar program.