Students with Disabilities in Computer Science Principles: An Examination of Capacity, Access, and Participation
Among ongoing efforts to broaden participation in Kâ12 computer science (CS) education, the Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Principles (CSP) course receives a lot of attention. While prior research has shown increased participation among some historically underrepresented groups, little is known about how the course serves students with disabilities. This study examines participation patterns of students with disabilities in CSP courses across 230 public schools in Pennsylvania during the 2022â2023 academic year. Drawing on statewide enrollment data from 306 CSP courses, we conducted a series of statistical analyses to investigate relationships between student participation and school-level capacity factors identified by the Capacity, Access, Participation, and Experience (CAPE) framework, including teacher experience, school funding, and locale. Findings show that many factors have a small, but statistically significant influence. However, CSP courses labeled as AP were associated with significantly lower participation rates among students with disabilities, compared to CSP courses without the designation. These findings suggest that course labeling and underlying assumptions about academic rigor may unintentionally limit opportunities for students with disabilities.
Thu 19 FebDisplayed time zone: Central Time (US & Canada) change
13:40 - 15:00 | Accessible ComputingPapers at Meeting Room 260-267 Chair(s): Trent Dawson University of Nevada, Las Vegas | ||
13:40 20mTalk | Debugging Support for Students with Blindness and Visual Impairments on Notebook-based Programming Environments Papers God'Salvation Oguibe The University of Texas at San Antonio, Lauryn Castro The University of Texas at San Antonio, Katherine Holloway University of Texas at San Antonio, Kathy Ewoldt The University of Texas at San Antonio, Leslie Neely The University of Texas at San Antonio, Taslima Akter UTSA, Wei Wang University of Texas at San Antonio, USA | ||
14:00 20mTalk | Where are the Disabled Students?: A Literature Review of Disability Inclusion in Computing Education Research Papers Isabela Figueira University of California, Irvine, Josahandi Cisneros University of California, Irvine, Jason Weber University of California, Irvine, Wendy Sanka University of California, Irvine, Karen Phan University of California, Irvine, Jennifer Wong-Ma University of California, Irvine, Stacy Branham University of California, Irvine | ||
14:20 20mTalk | Students with Disabilities in Computer Science Principles: An Examination of Capacity, Access, and Participation Papers Sara Frey Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network, Hannah Williams University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Andreas Stefik University of Nevada at Las Vegas, USA | ||
14:40 20mTalk | Examining Inclusive Computing Education for Blind Students in India Papers Akshay Kolgar Nayak pc, Yash Prakash pc, Md Javedul Ferdous Old Dominion University, Sampath Jayarathna Old Dominion University, Hae-Na Lee Michigan State University, Vikas Ashok Old Dominion University | ||