Background and Context. Research software in the Computing Education Research (CER) domain frequently encounters issues with scalability and sustained adoption, which limits its educational impact. Despite the development of numerous CER programming (CER-P) tools designed to enhance learning and instruction, many fail to see widespread use or remain relevant over time. Previous research has primarily examined the challenges educators face in adopting and reusing CER tools, with few focusing on understanding the barriers to scaling and adoption practices from the tool developers’ perspective.

Objectives. To address this, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 16 tool developers within the computing education community, focusing on the challenges they encounter and the practices they employ in scaling their CER-P tools.

Method. Our study employs thematic analysis of the semi-structured interviews conducted with developers of CER-P tools.

Findings. Our analysis revealed several barriers to scaling highlighted by participants, including funding issues, maintenance burdens, and the challenge of ensuring tool interoperability for a broader user base. Despite these challenges, developers shared various practices and strategies that facilitated some degree of success in scaling their tools. These strategies include the development of teaching materials and units of curriculum, active marketing within the academic community, and the adoption of flexible design principles to facilitate easier adaptation and use by educators and students.

Implications. Our findings lay the foundation for further discussion on potential community action initiatives, such as the repository of CS tools and the community of tool developers, to allow educators to discover and integrate tools more easily in their classrooms and support tool developers by exchanging design practices to build high-quality education tools. Furthermore, our study suggests the potential benefits of exploring alternative funding models.