by Computational Thinking at Project Tomorrow
Project Tomorrow releases a case study on computational thinking at P.S. 19, launches its Computational Thinking at Work series, and debuts a companion CT Cafe podcast episode
October 1, 2026 — Project Tomorrow today released “Scaling Critical Thinking: How a NYC School Built Problem-Solving into Every Classroom,” a case study of how one Staten Island elementary school turned computational thinking (CT) from an initiative introduced one grade at a time into a schoolwide practice led by its own teachers.
P.S. 19: The Curtis School, joined Project Tomorrow’s Building Elementary Teacher Readiness and Capacity for Computational Thinking (BETR-CT) initiative in 2020. Rather than adopting a new curriculum, teachers learned to build CT strategies such as decomposition, pattern recognition, and abstraction into the instruction they already provide. Today, CT spans kindergarten through fifth grade, and the school’s own teacher leaders coach their colleagues.
“Computational Thinking became an anchor that connected our subject areas, as it didn’t stay with one teacher or in a small set of classrooms,”
Lynette Perez, Principal of P.S. 19.
State assessment results offer another view of the school’s progress. In 2022–23, P.S. 19 and three New York City schools serving similar student populations had nearly the same share of students in grades 3–5 meeting state ELA standards. By 2024–25, 52.2 percent of P.S. 19 students met standards, compared with 40.6 percent across the comparison schools. These results sit alongside teachers’ descriptions of students approaching complex work more deliberately and building on their problem-solving habits from year to year.
The case study draws on teacher and administrator interviews, a student survey, Project Tomorrow’s CT-TRAACT™ assessment of teacher practice, and state assessment data to show what changed in P.S. 19’s classrooms and what it took for the school to sustain the work on its own.
Introducing Computational Thinking at Work
Project Tomorrow is also launching Computational Thinking at Work, a new series that challenges the assumption that CT is reserved for programmers and engineers. The first story follows pediatrician Dr. Sophie Smith through a typical day, revealing how CT shapes her clinical decisions. In a companion episode of the CT Cafe podcast, host Katie Marchionna talks with Project Tomorrow Research Fellow Erin Gohl about the new series.
Download the P.S. 19 case study at https://www.tomorrow.org/resource/2026-ct-case-study/, read the first Computational Thinking at Work story at https://www.tomorrow.org/ct-at-work-pediatrics/, and listen to the CT Cafe episode at https://open.spotify.com/episode/2GZfECdhCuOIoyJRLuCbV8?si=4lwhYdJ6TAyp-AmIE0Of8A.
To learn how Project Tomorrow can support CT integration in your schools, contact CT@tomorrow.org.
