UT Austin Takes Computer Science Education to Rural Communities

Founded in 2015, the WeTeach_CS team at The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) is dedicated to broadening participation in computing for every student regardless of race, gender, income, or location. This commitment includes partnering with schools and districts to bring computer science (CS) education to rural communities.

"Our research shows that rural districts in Texas are less likely to offer CS courses than their urban and suburban counterparts, so assisting teachers in bringing education to students in rural districts is a high priority for both WeTeach_CS and UT Austin," said Carol Fletcher, director of Expanding Pathways in Computing (EPIC) at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).

To tackle this shortage of opportunities, WeTeach_CS created online curriculum and professional development tools to help teachers obtain a CS teaching certification and make it more convenient to acquire these skills, whether you teach in a rural or urban area.

Marcy Reed of Terlingua Community School District says rural districts would benefit from more CS teachers and resources. In addition to teaching Fundamentals of CS and Computer Science I and II, Reed also teaches Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Integrated Physics and Chemistry (IPC), and a University Interscholastic League academics class.

"After earning my certification, I used WeTeach_CS grant money to purchase Bee-Bots, which are great tools for introducing STEM to students of all ages," Reed said. "I used them to teach coding concepts to my high school CS students, who then came up with lesson activities for our preK-8th grade students."

"Several of our students have parents who didn't finish high school, so getting kids into CS careers could improve the lives of students and their families."

"Several of our students have parents who didn't finish high school, so getting kids into CS careers could improve the lives of students and their families," she added.

Reed earned her CS teaching certification in 2017 with the help of the WeTeach_CS Certification Incentive Program (CIP), which provides a $1,000 stipend to any Texas educator who earns their certification. She also is a past recipient of the WeTeach_CS Mini Grant, which provides up to $1,500 in seed funding to CS teachers who bring new ideas to teaching and learning to the classroom.

Sean Douglas, a robotics and technology teacher in the Cuero Independent School District, created a CS-focused robotics program for 7th and 8th graders, which was expanded to high school students after a successful first year.

"CS education thrives best when it's tied to hands-on experiences because career and technical education (CTE) courses in rural communities compete with industry jobs like agriculture and welding," said Douglas, who joined Cuero ISD in 2014. "Subjects like robotics, video game design, and 3D printing have all been great methods for teaching CS in a non-traditional fashion."

Douglas is thankful for the support of WeTeach_CS, referring to the team as a "fountain of resources and advice."

"State legislators recently approved career and technical education funding for CS education, which could earn extra per-student funding for our campuses. That's a big deal for rural schools, which don't have the numbers of larger districts."

"From imagining new ways to incorporate CS into everyday subjects to gaining confidence in my ability to teach the material, I learned more from the WeTeach_CS online Foundations of Computer Science for Teachers course than I did during my time studying Technology and Computer Science in college," he said. "The course took elements from things I'd learned across four classes and seamlessly wove them together in one course, which helped me better retain the knowledge."

Terlingua is more than 300 miles southeast of El Paso and near the Texas-Mexico border; Cuero is a rural community about 100 miles south of Austin. As of the 2020-2021 school year, Terlingua had a total enrollment of just 98 students, while Cuero had an enrollment of just over 1,900. By comparison, the state's largest school district is Houston ISD with nearly 200,000 students.

"State legislators recently approved CTE funding for CS education, which could earn extra per-student funding for our campuses," Douglas said. That's a big deal for rural schools, which don't have the numbers of larger districts."

According to Fletcher, these success stories are the latest steps on the road to creating equity in CS.

"We want WeTeach_CS to be the go-to resource for Texas teachers and administrators who want to grow diverse and inclusive CS programs at their schools," Fletcher said. "Serving a state as large and diverse as Texas requires lots of resources. Thanks to the help of our private-sector partners like Microsoft and Google and support from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education, we have proven that we can fulfill that role."

"We are proud of teachers like Marcy and Doug for bringing CS education to rural communities and making a positive impact on their students."

"We are proud of teachers like Marcy and Doug for bringing CS education to rural communities and making a positive impact on their students," Fletcher added. "But with only 43% of rural high schools offering a CS course, we know we have even more work to do. We are eager to engage new partners and funders who are interested in investing in a proven model for bringing CS to rural schools."

Since its inception, the WeTeach_CS team has helped more than 600 Texas educators earn a CS teaching certificate, many in rural communities.