Early exposure to Computer Science (CS) for all is critical to broaden participation and promote equity in the field. But how does introducting CS into primary school curricula impact learning, perception, and gaps between groups of students? We investigate a CS-curricular reform and teacher Professional Development (PD) program from an equity standpoint by applying hierarchical regression and structural equation modelling on student learning and perception data from three studies with respectively 1384, 2433 & 1644 grade 3-6 students (ages 7-11) and their 83, 142 & 95 teachers. Regarding learning, exposure to CS instruction appears to contribute to closing the performance gap between low-achieving and high-achieving students, as well as pre-existing gender gaps. Despite a lack of direct influence of what was taught on student learning, there is no impact of teachers' demographics or motivation on student learning, with teachers' perception of the CS-PD positively influencing learning. Regarding perception, students perceive CS and its teaching tools (robotics, tablets) positively, and even more so when they perceive a role model close to them as doing CS. Nonetheless gender differences exist all around with boys perceiving CS more positively than girls despite access to CS education. However, access to CS-education affects boys and girls differently: larger gender gaps are closing (namely those related to robotics), while smaller gaps are increasing (namely those related to CS and tablets). To conclude, our findings highlight how a CS curricular reform impacts learning, perception, and equity and supports the importance of i) early introductions to CS for all, ii) preparing teachers to teach CS all the while removing the influence of teacher demographics and motivation on student outcomes, and iii) having developmentally appropriate activities that signal to all groups of students.

翻译：早期面向全体学生普及计算机科学教育对于拓宽参与度、促进该领域公平至关重要。但将计算机科学引入小学课程究竟如何影响学生的学习、认知及不同学生群体间的差距？我们从教育公平角度出发，运用分层回归分析和结构方程模型，基于三项研究（分别涉及1384名、2433名及1644名3-6年级学生（年龄7-11岁）及其83位、142位及95位教师）的学生学习与认知数据，对一项计算机科学课程改革及教师专业发展（PD）项目进行了探究。在学习方面，接受计算机科学教学似乎有助于缩小低学业成就学生与高学业成就学生之间的成绩差距，以及先前存在的性别差距。尽管教学内容对学生学习无直接影响，但教师的人口学特征或动机对学生学习无影响，而教师对计算机科学专业发展的感知对学习产生积极影响。在认知方面，学生对计算机科学及其教学工具（机器人、平板电脑）持积极态度，尤其当他们认为身边有榜样从事计算机科学工作时，这种积极态度更为显著。尽管如此，性别差异普遍存在：尽管男女学生均能接受计算机科学教育，但男生对计算机科学的认知比女生更积极。然而，计算机科学教育对男女生的影响不同：较大的性别差距（如与机器人相关的差距）正在缩小，而较小的性别差距（如与计算机科学及平板电脑相关的差距）则在扩大。总之，我们的研究结果凸显了计算机科学课程改革对学习、认知和公平的影响，并支持以下重要性：i）早期面向全体学生普及计算机科学教育；ii）培养教师教授计算机科学的能力，同时消除教师人口学特征和动机对学生成绩的影响；iii）设计符合发展特点的活动，向所有学生群体传递明确信号。