Intersectional Factors that Influence K-2 Students' Computer Science Learning

Understanding issues of intersectionality in education is vital for creating equitable learning environments. Intersectionality emphasizes the complexity of students' identities, including race, gender, and socioeconomic status, and how they interact to characterize their diverse group membership. Examining data intersectionality underscores students' heterogeneous needs, circumstances, and outcomes, advancing researchers' and policymakers' understanding of the types of interventions that ameliorate disparities for marginalized students. This study examines the intersectional factors influencing K-2 students' coding skills. We employ a hierarchical linear model on a validated pre-and-post coding assessment to examine a year-long Coding as Another Language curriculum for Latine, multilingual, and low-socioeconomic students. Findings indicated initial performance gaps for students with historically marginalized and intersecting backgrounds. After receiving the curriculum, these students demonstrated significant improvement, closing the coding skills gap with their more privileged peers. These findings underscore the importance of investigating and mitigating disparities in coding education for students with intersecting identities.