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. 

1. Establish trust, respect, and shared knowledge related to CT among RPP members  
2. Identify successful CT integration practices among participating districts and research literature  
3. Identify problems of practice among participating districts  
4. Develop a framework for high-quality CT tasks that are inclusive and culturally responsive  
5. 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 
6. Co-develop PD experiences and materials that are aligned with the framework (4) and follow best practices for high-quality CT professional development  
7. Build RPP members’ capacity to lead professional development experiences that focus on the integration of CT with other subjects  
8. 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