BootUp PD Inc

BootUp PD specializes in sustainable, multi-year, district-wide elementary computer science professional development focused on coding, computational thinking, creativity and problem-solving. As of December 2022, BootUp has worked with more than 1,000 elementary schools in twenty-three states, directly impacting over 500,000 students. Through ongoing professional development, model teaching, and instructional coach support, BootUp prepares participants to become confident, innovative educators who engage students with meaningful, project-based, open-ended, age-appropriate coding activities.

Teachers learn how to engage students through easy-to-use, block-based programming languages. Students create and share interactive stories, animations, games, art, music, and more through problem-solving and other fundamental computer science concepts and practices (based on the K12 CS Framework and CSTA Standards). No prior coding experience is required, and BootUps support includes a free, interest-driven curriculum with nearly 100 class projects (and more to come) for grades K-6.

Bootup PD supports academic research in computer science education and assists in determining and setting standards in various states, including: ? Ongoing DRK-12 National Science Foundation grant with Wyoming Department of Education, American Institutes for Research, and three school districts in Wyoming. ? Ongoing Computational Thinking grant, Robin Hood Foundation, New York, New York. ? PreK-8 strand RPP National Science Foundation grant with Arizona K-8 Consortium: Building CS and CT capacity in rural K-8 education. These RPPs will initially work to integrate computer science (CS) and computational thinking (CT) into rural and tribal K-8 education in Arizona. ? Dr. Peter Rich, Brigham Young University, ongoing study on teacher confidence and self-efficacy in elementary computer science education. ? Active participation as a member of the Code.org advocacy coalition. ? Ongoing CS RPP CS pathway grant between AIR, Idaho STEM Action Center, and Bootup to learn about CS trends. ? Colla