Get Coding: Empowering LA’s Youth through CS Education

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Integrating coding into the school day has become crucial as CS and technology play an increasingly central role in our social, civic, and economic lives. Moreover, students who study Computer Science reap educational benefits immediately; they perform better in math and are 17% more likely to go to college (Code.org). Yet too many low-income students and students of color remain underrepresented in CS learning opportunities. The problem is twofold: 1) students from low-income communities are about half as likely to have access to a single CS course throughout their K-12 education (The State of CS Education, 2022), and 2) teachers in low-income schools lack the skills and resources they need to teach CS (Kapor Center, 2019). 9 Dots removes the barriers of cost, time, and access from the equation, meaning more elementary students have access to CS learning, and more public school teachers are well-equipped to incorporate innovative CS learning in their classrooms.

the issue identified in Question 6*: (1,417/1,500 character limit) 9 Dots’ Get Coding program offers a comprehensive solution for equitable CS education. We partner with schools in low-income neighborhoods to build complete K-6 CS Education pathways and ensure the long-term sustainability of CS learning opportunities by providing teachers with scaffolded training and tailored support to teach CS independently. Get Coding integrates CS into the standard school day, engaging students in weekly, hour-long coding lessons throughout the school year. Our curriculum, aligned with Next Generation Science, Common Core, and California state CS standards, consists of three units with ten lessons each. At the end of the year, student concept mastery is tested through interactive projects, allowing them to apply their CS skills creatively. This consistent integration of CS in the classroom helps students combat stereotypes about who belongs in STEM learning spaces and build strong technical and computational thinking foundations, empowering students to become the next generation of problem solvers.
Beyond student access, we focus on building teacher capacity for CS education. Recognizing the pivotal role of teachers in student learning and program sustainability, we implement a gradual release of responsibility model. This approach supports teachers in developing the skills and confidence needed to teach CS independently, ensuring long-term impact and community empowerment.

CS education is crucial as technology permeates every aspect of our lives. From algorithms determining loan approvals and biometric software used by police, to controlling social media and news feeds, code is everywhere, and it's powerful. There must be equitable opportunities to understand and contribute to building the tools shaping our civic, economic, and social lives.
California’s voluntary K-12 CS plan pushes equitable access, but low-income schools often lack the resources to offer CS. This issue is particularly severe in elementary schools, where CS opportunities are rare, funding is scarce, and underrepresented students begin to opt out of STEM.
9 Dots aims to bridge this gap by bringing the Get Coding program to every low-income school in Los Angeles. Our big goal is to bring Get Coding to all 1,000 low-income elementary schools in Los Angeles County, ultimately equipping hundreds of thousands of students with the tools they need to become tomorrow’s leaders and creators.

9 Dots uses data-driven solutions for accountability and impact measurement, enabling constant program evaluation and tailored support. Our learning platform tracks student proficiency in real time, using coding challenge completion and concept mastery to provide student-specific data. We share this information with teachers and administrators to interpret results, improve teaching strategies, and track data on a classroom, school, and organization level to get a full picture of our progress. We also measure student motivation and inclusion through platform-embedded surveys. Statements like "I am a coder" and "I belong in coding class" help us monitor student identity-building and enjoyment of the curriculum. We prioritize feedback from school administrators and teachers through surveys and interviews to guide program enhancements. Administrators have quarterly progress meetings with 9 Dots staff to share feedback, review data, and plan future Get Coding implementation.