See how school districts use Code4Kids to build confident teachers, capable students, and stronger computer science pathways.
When Louisiana passed its Computer Science mandate, Bossier Parish Schools didn't just get courses on the schedule. They built a standards-aligned program from scratch, measured what students were actually learning, and used that data to make decisions most districts can't make. Here is what they found, and what it means for any district asking the same question.
"Before implementing the benchmarking assessments, computer science was happening in pockets across our middle schools, but we didn't have a consistent way to understand how students were progressing or where support was needed. Having a district-wide baseline and ongoing benchmarking data has given us much greater visibility into how learning is developing across schools and how we can better support both teachers and students as we continue building our computer science pathway."
Doug Scott
CTE Supervisor
Bossier Parish Schools
.png)
The Code4Kids Approach
Bossier Parish partnered with Code4Kids to develop a vertically aligned middle school computer science curriculum mapped to Louisiana's five content areas: Algorithms and Programming, Impacts of Computing, Computing Systems, Networks and Internet, and Data and Analysis. Teachers were trained to deliver it, many for the first time. By the start of the 2025-26 school year, all seven middle schools had a coherent, standards-aligned program in place.
Rather than starting with the high school graduation requirement and working backwards, Doug Scott, who oversees CTE and computer science at Bossier Parish, chose to start with middle school. Because he knew that a student who arrives in high school without the underlying skills isn't ready for a CS course regardless of whether it's on their schedule. Getting middle school right first was the priority, and doing it a full year before the mandate required it gave the district something most districts don't have: time to find out what was actually working.
In Fall of 2025, Code4Kids launched its Benchmark Assessments - the first of its kind for Computer Science - across all seven schools. For the first time in the district's history, they had real data to work from.
What the Data Revealed
Proficiency was measured across three tiers: Emerging (still building core skills), Expected (meeting grade-level expectations), and Exceeding (performing above grade-level expectations). The assessment was administered early in the first year of implementation across 414 students.
The 55-point gap across schools
District-wide, 70% of students performed above grade-level expectations. On its own that number looks fine. A single average across seven schools tells a district almost nothing it can act on.
The school-level data told a different story. The share of students exceeding grade-level expectations ranged from 93% at the district's highest-performing school to 38% at its lowest. Without school-level data, that gap was invisible. Students at the lowest-performing schools would have received the same generic support as everyone else, their gaps unidentified and unaddressed, while the district operated under the impression that 70% above grade level meant things were broadly on track.
Where the foundational gaps were
Students performed strongest in digital citizenship, responsible technology use, and working with data - areas with more natural connection to everyday technology use, where students tend to arrive with some prior informal exposure.
The weakest areas were applied coding, logical problem-solving, and understanding how hardware and software work - the skills that determine whether a student arrives in high school ready for CS or already behind before the course begins. Proficiency in these areas averaged in the low-to-mid 60s in 6th grade. Those gaps don't resolve on their own. They follow students forward into every year that comes after.
What the grade progression showed
Average proficiency climbed from 67% in 6th grade to 78% in 8th. The pattern was consistent across every content area: students performed better with each additional year. Whatever students bring into middle school shapes what they're able to do there - which points directly to the need for building CS skills before 6th grade.
Students are interested. Most don't yet feel ready.
Across all seven schools, student interest in pursuing CS in high school consistently outpaced confidence in succeeding. Students already see computer science as relevant to their futures. What they lack is the belief that they can do it. Without earlier and more consistent instruction, that confidence gap follows students into high school where it becomes a career pathway problem. Students who could have pursued advanced coursework and careers in a field they were genuinely interested in opt out - not because the interest wasn't there, but because nothing built the confidence to match it.
What Changed
The baseline gave Bossier Parish something it had never had: specific, actionable information about where students were, broken down by school and by content area.
Every teacher received a school-level report showing exactly where their students were across each content area. Where gaps were significant, Code4Kids provided targeted lesson guidance tied to those specific areas. A teacher working with students predominantly in the emerging tier received different support than a teacher whose students were largely exceeding expectations. The guidance was tied to what their specific students showed, not a standard program delivered the same way to everyone.
For schools with the largest foundational gaps, the district directed additional support toward applied coding and computing fundamentals. For higher-performing schools, the instructional focus shifted to extension and cross-content application.
Building on what the data showed, Bossier Parish is now working with Code4Kids to extend CS instruction into K-5. The students entering Bossier Parish high schools in 2026-27 - the first cohort required to complete a standards-aligned CS course to graduate - will arrive having spent a full year in a structured program, with teachers who had specific guidance on where their students were and what to do about it, and a district that had the benchmark data to make informed decisions throughout the year. Those students are more prepared for what high school CS asks of them than they would have been without any of that.
What This Means for Any District
Mandates create access. Benchmarking creates visibility. Visibility lets districts move from compliance to targeted action.
Whether a Computer Science mandate exists in your state or not, the underlying question is the same: Are students building the skills that will matter like applied coding, logical problem-solving, the ability to understand and work with the digital systems shaping their lives? Most districts don't yet have a reliable way to answer that. Unlike Math or reading and writing, CS rarely gets the measurement infrastructure that would make those gaps visible.
Any district can build what Bossier Parish built. It starts with two questions: what are our students actually learning, and do we have the foundations in place to ensure they enter high school with real preparation and confidence? If you don't yet have clear answers to those, that's where we start.
About Code4Kids
Code4Kids (c4k.io) provides K-8 computer science and AI literacy curriculum and benchmark assessments for school districts. Most CS providers are built for high school. Code4Kids is built for K-8 - the developmental window that determines what students are capable of when they get there. Our curriculum and assessments are designed for teachers who have never taught CS before, giving every teacher the structure and confidence to deliver it well.
Want to learn more? Contact stewart@c4k.io or schedule a call here.
"Code4Kids is proving very effective for our students, our computer science curriculum, and the state's initiatives. Our students are engaged, challenged, and ready for 21st-century careers and lifelong learning!"
Ida Smith
CTE , Cyber Literacy , & Lead STEM Teacher
Benton Middle School
.svg)
