About the IMPACT Project
The goal of the project was to establish and strengthen a research-practice partnership (RPP) among 5 school districts in Central Massachusetts and researchers from WPI and UMass Dartmouth, and Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The RPP co-planned and co-designed standards-aligned and culturally responsive professional development (PD) that integrates computational thinking (CT) into the PK-5 curriculum and instruction.
Project Objectives
- Establish trust, respect, and shared knowledge related to CT among RPP members
- Identify successful CT integration practices among participating districts and research literature
- Identify problems of practice among participating districts
Develop a framework for high-quality CT tasks that are inclusive and culturally responsive - Select standards-aligned classroom materials that are inclusive for all learners, integrated with other subjects (ELA, math, STE), and can be used with any tool
- Co-develop PD experiences and materials that are aligned with the framework (4) and follow best practices for high-quality CT professional development
- Build RPP members’ capacity to lead professional development experiences that focus on the integration of CT with other subjects
- Form structures to sustain the RPP as a Community of Practice (CoP) which supports the districts, exchanges best practices, and prepares for scale up of the project