Informatics in Education

It was found that most of the programs offered direct computer science instruction to North American high school students. Stakeholder attitudes, program enrollment, academic achievement in core courses, and achievement in computer science courses were the most frequently measured outcomes. Questionnaires, existing sources of data, standardized tests, and teacher- or researcher-made tests were the most frequently used types of measures. Based on eight programs that offered direct computer science instruction, the average increase on tests of computer science achievement over the course of the program was 1.10 standard deviations, or the statistical equivalent of 73 out of 100 program participants having shown improvement. Some of the main challenges for the evaluation of computer science education programs are the absence of standardized, reliable, and valid measures of K-12 computer science education and coming to understand the causal links between program activities, gender, and program outcomes.