Case Study: Project-Based AP CSP in an Unscreened School
Overview:
How do you bring a college-level CS course to a school where many students are still catching up in Algebra I? This case study describes a multi-year effort to adapt AP CS Principles into an accessible, meaningful, and standards-aligned experience for all students in a diverse, unscreened NYC public school.
Challenge:
Deliver rigorous computing content to ~120 10th graders per year, most with no prior coding experience, limited math confidence, and wide variation in literacy skills.
What We Did
- Adopted a functional programming pedagogy (Racket, then Pyret) to reinforce algebraic reasoning and structured thinking
- Centered the course around data science and real-world modeling, using Bootstrap’s CSP pathway as the spine
- Embedded design recipe scaffolds to support all students in writing, debugging, and analyzing functions
- Built in weekly reflective blogging and student voice surveys to track engagement and agency
- Supported students in completing both Explore & Create tasks, with authentic data projects often replacing contrived app demos
What Worked
- Completion rates for the full AP CSP submission steadily improved each year, despite the exam’s misalignment with our tools
- Classroom engagement was higher with project-based themes and student-selected datasets
- Math/CS integration reinforced key function modeling skills also needed for Algebra I success
- Student work quality was notably stronger on open-ended tasks where structure met creativity
What We Learned
- Students responded best to authenticity + structure—real data, real questions, with real scaffolds
- The AP exam’s framing limited the expressive scope for some projects, but the learning still held
- Some students self-selected into Java/AP CS A the following year, seeing a path forward in computing
“I used to think coding was just for games or websites. But when we worked with survey data, I realized I could ask my own questions. That made me want to keep going.” — Student reflection
This case study demonstrates that high-level computing instruction can be accessible and rigorous—when it’s reimagined with pedagogy, not just content, in mind.