Building standards-aligned lessons and professional development in California
Working with Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation and Texas Advanced Computing Center
Computer science is an essential subject in our increasingly digitised world, and it has applications throughout many subjects in education. In Los Angeles County, USA, computer science is starting to be recognised as foundational knowledge, encouraging educators to find ways to integrate elements into multiple subjects across the curriculum.
The Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) aims to support nearly 1.3 million K-12 students and 500,000 early education students. Seven out of 10 students are socioeconomically disadvantaged, and 228,626 students are English language learners. Gaining access to technology can be a barrier for these communities, and combined with other societal challenges, computing can become a deprioritised area for students.
LACOE is integrating computer science across the curriculum and exploring practical and innovative ways to do so. Their aim? To stimulate interest, enjoyment, and confidence in computer science for young people furthest from opportunity across the county.
Having seen the fantastic response to our project in Compton, LACOE invited the Micro:bit Educational Foundation to play a role in their work. Together with the Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation (GLAEF) and The University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), we are launching a bold project for educators throughout Los Angeles County.
International collaboration, local expertise
Partners at a collaborative workshop in April 2025
The partners are conducting a one-year pilot to co-create California standards-aligned lessons infused with computer science, for 3rd – 5th grade classrooms with supporting professional development. Approximately 200 educators will receive training, 10 micro:bit kits and wearable wrist straps, and join a community of practice.
The versatility and accessibility of the BBC micro:bit creates multiple opportunities to incorporate physical computing into many subjects. In the Compton model, this was supported with training and support, tailored for the needs of educators in the district, created collaboratively between Compton United School District, Micro:bit Educational Foundation and local provider 9 Dots.
This model is one that the LACOE team felt aligned with the way they wanted to work. By working closely with educators and experts in the Los Angeles community, we aim to achieve impact by co-creating standards-aligned lessons and professional learning that work within an educators’ existing teaching expectations.
The pilot is being researched and evaluated by TACC Evaluation Services, who bring extensive experience evaluating US national and state-level computer science education initiatives. Results of the pilot will inform the design and launch of a new webpage at microbit.org to make standards-aligned resources freely available to educators.
Teacher training will begin summer 2025 with classroom implementation to take place in fall 2025.
Get involved
If you are an eligible school in Los Angeles County, you can get involved. Contact LACOE to express your interest.
Integrating computing across topics is essential for schools across Los Angeles. Through this project, educators will unlock exciting and fun ways to bring digital teaching to life and make computing more tangible for students. We’re excited to be working on this project!
Dr Christopher Hoang, Los Angeles County Office of Education
LACOE deliver exceptional educational programs, and we are proud to be able to bring a range of partners together to support their work. The standards-aligned resources we create together will not only be an important way to serve students and teachers across California, but across the country. We’re proud to work alongside LACOE, GLAEF and TACC to deliver this.
Katie Henry, Micro:bit Educational Foundation
GLAEF is thrilled to facilitate a partnership to support access to computer science training and resources for Los Angeles County educators and students - as the economy and workforce evolve, these skills will only become more important.
Sam Gelinas, The Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation
Through evaluating this innovative pilot program, we will learn what impacts the computer science infused curriculum, resources, and professional learning have on teachers and their students, and how this program can be scaled to serve more schools nationally for a far-reaching impact.
Lisa Garbrecht, TACC Evaluation Services
