Expanding the capacity for equitable computer science education: Strategies and challenges in teacher preparation pathway development

As computer science (CS) becomes increasingly important in K–12 education, there are limited qualified CS teachers ready to meet the demand, along with limited CS educator preparation programs (EPPs). This study analyzes data from universities participating in the PrepareCS Project, a Google-funded, cross-institutional initiative dedicated to supporting universities in the development of their own CS EPPs. Findings from the first two years of this initiative highlight the strategies and challenges developers face in creating their CS EPPs. The subcomponents of the extended CAPE Framework serve as a lens for analyzing the findings, which reveal that developers employed various strategies to establish sustainable CS EPPs, including community-building initiatives, securing diverse funding sources, and coordinating communication among multiple stakeholders.