Fort Smith schools renew computer-science efforts

FORT SMITH — The Fort Smith School District plans to continue its efforts to encourage residents to take an interest in computer science.

During its meeting Monday, the district’s Board of Education heard from technology integration specialist Eden Buergler about the continuation of the school district’s community coding clubs into the current school year. Buergler said the district agreed to independently fund the clubs for the current school year, allowing them to continue.

“Clubs received additional tech tools, teachers will continue to receive stipends and training, and with the additional investment and time, we will be able to better track student interest and achievement in computer science across the district,” Buergler said.

Buergler also provided the board with an evaluation of the community coding clubs for the spring 2019 semester. Buergler said she and Samantha Hall, supervisor of professional development for the district, submitted a grant application to the Arkansas Department of Education in November to get the funding to create the clubs. The district was awarded the grant in December, with the clubs starting in January and running through May.

Buergler said she and Hall had three goals: to increase teacher capacity and encourage teacher involvement in computer science education; to increase enrollment, especially that of females and members of minority groups, in high school computer science classes; and to increase awareness of computer science career opportunities in schools and the community.

In speaking about the first goal, Buergler said all 24 facilitators of the clubs participated in standards-based training the previous spring. The school district finished this year’s training on Thursday.

“Teachers were very enthusiastic,” Buergler said. “In fact, 75% of them returned, and 25% of them have attended the state’s K-8 computer science lead-teacher training. Many shared that the activities they had implemented during our coding clubs have transferred to their classroom instruction.”

The school district has a total of 24 community coding clubs: 19 elementary school clubs, four junior high clubs and another club at its alternative-education campus, Belle Point Center, Buergler said. More than 200 students were involved last spring in the after-school clubs, which were focused on students in fifth through eighth grades.

One aspect Buergler talked about in relation to increasing awareness of computer science was the creation of coding clubs at the libraries in Fort Smith during the summer.

“We connected our coding club facilitators with each of the four branch librarians, who had also received similar tech tools from the state,” Buergler said. “Interestingly enough, the tools had remained unused because of lack of training. Our facilitators were paid stipends to meet with the librarians to develop lessons and learn about the tools and lead the sessions.”

About 160 children and parents attended the 16 sessions, which Buergler said took place in June and July.

Vision 2023, which Fort Smith School District Superintendent Doug Brubaker described as the district’s strategic plan that was approved in December 2017, is composed of seven different strategies. One of these strategies is technology, which according to the agenda packet for Monday’s meeting involves providing appropriate technology that is consistently available, effectively supported and equitably distributed for group and individual instruction.