A Los Angeles County public schools pilot program trained 154 teachers across 84 schools and 28 districts to integrate computer science into instruction, and 95% of post-training survey respondents reported that the program’s micro:bit resources increased their confidence in teaching the subject.
The Micro:bit Educational Foundation launched the Google.org-funded pilot with the Los Angeles County Office of Education in 2025. A December 2025 evaluation report from the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Advanced Computing Center details the results.
The program targeted third- through fifth-grade teachers in schools serving students historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and computer science. Ninety percent of participating schools were Title I schools.
The BBC micro:bit is a programmable device that gives students hands-on experience with coding and digital making, according to the foundation. Each participating teacher received a kit of 10 devices and supporting resources, along with professional development and teaching materials.
Teachers completed training during summer and early fall 2025, and classroom implementation was requested by October of that year. In a follow-up survey, teachers reported using micro:bit with 3,172 students, most in grades three through six.
The program evaluation combined teacher surveys before and after training, a follow-up survey after classroom implementation, student assessments, teacher interviews, and reviews of project documents and school data. Response rates reached 95% for the post-training teacher survey and 61% for the follow-up survey.
The training improved teachers’ ability to integrate computer science in their instruction, according to the evaluation report. The share of teachers who agreed they possessed the knowledge and skills needed to integrate computer science rose from 42% before training to 82% afterward; the share who reported sufficient resources increased from 34% to 86%.
Among follow-up survey respondents, 78% implemented the micro:bit resources before completing the survey. Teachers used the resources for standalone computer science instruction and across other subjects.
Among teachers who implemented the resources, 51% used them in computer science as a standalone subject, 46% in science, 30% in math, 21% in other technology instruction, and 10% in English language arts.
Teachers who implemented the resources reported benefits for student learning. In the follow-up survey, 98% agreed that the resources improved the quality of students’ computer science learning experiences, while 81% reported improvements in other subject areas.
Of the 725 students who completed an assessment, 79% agreed that they learned about coding, and 73% agreed that using micro:bit helped them view coding as a useful skill.
“My favorite part of using micro:bit was coding what I wanted it to do and seeing my vision come to life,” one student said.
Teachers who did not implement the resources before the follow-up survey described plans for future use, barriers such as limited time and competing priorities, a need for additional resources, or other school factors. Overall, 87% of teachers planned to teach with the devices and integration resources in the future.
