Insights from NYC’s CS4All Initiative

By Cheri Fancsali, June Mark, and Janice Lee

(February 2025)

New York City Public Schools’ Computer Science for All (CS4All) initiative was a groundbreaking effort to ensure equitable access to computer science (CS) education across K-12 classrooms. Launched in 2015, the initiative has focused on building teacher capacity through extensive professional learning (PL) programs, equipping educators—many with little or no prior CS experience—with tools to provide high-quality CS instruction to their students. 

This report provides an in-depth analysis of these efforts, examining teachers’ participation in CS4All PL opportunities, their subsequent implementation of CS in the classroom, and the barriers and facilitators that shaped their capacity to teach CS. Key findings show that: 

• Over 3,000 NYC teachers participated in CS4All PL, with most reporting increased CS knowledge and skills and high confidence in teaching CS.
• Among teachers who remained in the classroom, 68 percent implemented CS at least once post-training. Implementation rates were higher among high school teachers and those teaching standalone CS courses. 
• Teachers serving higher-income, higher-performing students were more likely to implement CS. Structural barriers—including scheduling conflicts, competing priorities, and staffing shortages—were particularly pronounced in high-need schools, limiting equitable access to CS education.
• Factors that facilitated CS instruction included supportive school leadership, a professional community of CS teachers, and a strong school-wide CS culture.

NYC’s CS4All initiative has made significant strides in expanding CS education, but persistent barriers and inequities remain. To advance CS4All’s goals, the report recommends addressing structural barriers such as scheduling challenges and staffing shortages; aligning CS with larger district-wide priorities; providing ongoing, differentiated professional learning opportunities for teachers; continuing to embed culturally responsive-sustaining education (CR-SE) in teacher PL; and building a sustainable pipeline of qualified CS educators through certification pathways, incentives, and targeted recruitment and retention efforts. These lessons have the potential to inform not only NYC’s CS4All efforts but also similar initiatives nationwide.

For additional details on the methodology and findings, please see the Technical Appendix.