Introducing Student Assessments with Evidence of Validity for NYC's CS4All

Abstract

There are few assessments with strong evidence of validity for collecting data from students studying computer science (CS) education. Many of the assessments focus solely on students' attitudes and beliefs, or on curriculum. With the launch of NYC's CS4All initiative, there is a need for assessments that can be used at scale to measure CS outcomes across curricula and programs. This paper presents scales drawn from Panorama Education for collecting data from students, and the methodology used in creating and modifying those scales. The selected scales were modified, without undermining their evidence of validity, to measure students' perceptions of the pedagogical effectiveness and expectations and rigor of a CS teacher; and students' perceptions of their own interest in CS and engagement in their CS class. Following a discussion of the surveys and their modifications, data from an initial administration of the surveys are presented as a baseline for the community. Overall response data as well as cross-scale correlations are included. The paper concludes with a discussion of findings and how the surveys will be used in the future in NYC.