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The Growing ECEP Alliance

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By: Mark Guzdial

The NSF Alliance Expanding Computing Education Pathways has expanded dramatically over the last few months. There are now 11 states in our cohort: Alabama, California, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. The participants in the state cohort are leaders in their state to improve CS education and broaden participation. They are teachers, policy-makers from state education departments, higher education faculty, and industry.

The state cohort has monthly calls where we discuss progress in each state, share experiences, and make suggestions in other states. Each call has a guest speaker who addresses an area of concern for the cohort. Jane Kraus from NCWIT talked to us about working with high school counselors to promote computer science degrees and careers. Heather Carey from Constant Contact talked to us about how to engage with industry. We will be having our first annual meeting with our expanded cohort the day after the RESPECT conference (see web page) in Charlotte.

We held a session at the CSTA 2015 Conference in Grapevine on “Changing Computing Education in Your State.” We talked about the kinds of changes happening in Massachusetts (Rick Adrion), Georgia (Mark Guzdial), and California (Debra Richardson) — what’s been most successful for promoting change, and what’s been the most challenging. (Slides are available here.) Then we broke the audience into small groups by region (e.g., Midwest, West, Southeast) to talk about how to make change and find opportunities to collaborate. The session was videotaped and will become available at the conference archive.

Some of the common issues that we heard:

  • Some states are choosing to grow CS at the elementary and middle school levels. Nationally, ExploringCS and CS Principles are growing, but there is less pre-high school CS curriculum available.
  • It’s challenging to develop curriculum/learning standards for CS and teacher education programs and teacher certification. They interact (e.g., you want teachers to get credentials for taking the education programs that prepare them to teach to the standards) and they all take a lot of time to develop. The processes have to be timed right so that they interact and inform each other productively.
  • Each state’s policy works so differently, at all of the elementary, high school, and post-secondary school levels. There aren’t any good guidebooks for “How Education Works In My State.”
  • Higher education faculty should be able to play a role in policy and advocacy, but that’s not how their job is defined and they don’t always know where and how to play a role (see previous point).
  • We heard from some states where there is interest in writing a landscape report (see our page of resources to help in writing a landscape report) and organizing a group, but it’s hard to find a leader, a plan, and to organize the effort.
  • Texas was highlighted as a state with a lot of sticks (e.g., requirements from the state to implement policies to promote computing education) but no carrots (i.e., incentives or funding to build capacity).
  • Several states told us about competition between funding for CTE and for CS programs. For example, there are arguments within states over whether Perkins funding (see here for explanation) can be applied to CS classes, even if they’re not classified as CTE programs. The answer is “Yes,” but not all states agree with that interpretation.

We in ECEP are excited to be working with this larger group of states. We’re learning a lot about different models for change in computing education policy. We are pleased to be working with CSTA members and chapters in our cohort states because of their passion for computing education and their insights into the school systems in their states.

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Study Confirms Critical Need for Computer Science Evaluation Tools

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A recent study released by the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) highlights the need for valid and reliable source assessment of student learning and calls upon the computer science education community to assist in the development of more and better assessment tools and strategies.

Sowing the Seeds of Assessment Literacy in Secondary Computer Science Education details the results of a landscape study aimed at determining the challenges US high school teachers face when examining student understanding of computing concepts and to identify current models for computer science (CS) assessment. The study, supported by Google, was conducted by the CSTA Assessment Task Force chaired by Aman Yadav, Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Educational Technology at Michigan State University. The study took place over a year and involved in-depth interviews with computer science practitioners with a wide range of teaching experience.

The study concluded that while computer science teachers use a variety of formative and summative assessment techniques and rely on an assortment of sources (test banks, colleagues, even their own undergraduate CS courses), they face a number of challenges finding valid and reliable assessments to use in their classrooms.  Many participants also noted that the potential for variability in how students approach and develop algorithms makes assessment especially challenging and time-consuming.

Among the report’s recommendations, the CSTA Assessment Task Force suggests the following next steps for the CS Ed community:

  • Develop valid and reliable assessments aligned to the CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards.
  • Develop valid and reliable formative and summative assessments for programming languages beyond Java, such as Python, C#, etc.
  • Develop an online repository of assessment items for K–12 computer science teachers.
  • Develop a community of practice surrounding the use of assessment in computer science classrooms.
  • Design and deliver professional development to increase K–12 computer science teachers’ assessment literacy.

The chair of the CSTA Assessment Task Force, Aman Yadav, highlighted the importance of the study, stating: “During our in-depth interviews with the teachers, we found that teachers are very resourceful in using a hodgepodge of resources (test-banks, rubrics, etc.) and lean on their peers to come up with assessments that examine student understanding in their classrooms. But, there is a dearth of formative and summative assessments, especially for non-AP courses, that are easy accessible and categorized by grade level, concept, difficulty, programming language, etc. The Task Force is now working with the CSTA Board to launch a new project to create a repository of assessment resources that teachers can access to meet their needs.”

CSTA hopes that this study will focus the computer science education community’s attention on the importance of valid assessment of student learning and the pressing need for better and more computer science assessment tools and strategies.

Download the official press release here. 

Download the PDF of the study here. 

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PRESS RELEASE: ACM, CSTA Announce New Award to Recognize US High School Students in Computing

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Gordon Bell and David Cutler Establish $1 Million Endowment to Fund Award

NEW YORK, June 17, 2015– ACM, the Association for Computing Machinery, and CSTA, the Computer Science Teachers Association, today announced a new award, the ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing, to recognize talented high school students in computer science. The program seeks to promote and encourage the field of computer science, as well as to empower young and aspiring learners to pursue computing challenges outside of the traditional classroom environment.

“This new award touches on several areas central to ACM’s mission,” said ACM President Alexander L Wolf. “Chief among these are to foster technological innovation and excellence, in this case, by bringing the excitement of invention to students at a time in their lives when they begin to make decisions about higher education and career possibilities.”

Four winners will be selected annually and each will be awarded a $10,000 prize and cost of travel to the annual ACM/CSTA Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing Reception where students will demonstrate their programs and discuss their work. The prizes will be funded by a $1 million endowment established by David Cutler and Gordon Bell. Cutler is a software engineer, designer and developer of several operating systems including Windows NT at Microsoft and RSX-11M, VMS and VAXELN at Digital Equipment Corporation. He is Senior Technical Fellow at Microsoft. Bell is an electrical engineer and an early employee of Digital Equipment Corporation where he led the development of VAX. He is now a researcher emeritus at Microsoft Research.

“David and I are delighted to endow this new award to recognize, encourage and reward high school students in computing,” said Gordon Bell. “We hope that it proves to help students discover computer science and how empowering computing can be.”

Eligible applicants for the award will include graduating high school seniors residing and attending school in the US. Challenges for the award will focus on developing an artifact that engages modern computing technology and computer science. Judges will look for submissions that demonstrate ingenuity, complexity, relevancy, originality, and a desire to further computer science as a discipline.

The application period for the inaugural award is scheduled to open August 1, 2015 and close January 1, 2016. The inaugural awards will be announced in February 2016.

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Public-Private Partnerships in Computer Science Education

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By: Lorilyn Owens, Director, Oracle Academy North America

Industry partners are content providers, augmenting and enhancing curriculum resources. Industry partners are funding sources, helping support classroom resources, professional development, and extracurricular clubs and activities. Industry partners provide volunteers to support classroom teaching, lending expertise and credibility to real-world ideas. All of these ideas were expressed by experienced educators at the 2014 CSTA conference during the Oracle Academy panel discussion focused on how to maximize public-private partnerships to better support computer science (CS) education. When it comes to CS education, which approach is right? Or are they all right? The lively discussion only began to scratch the surface. We did learn, however, there is no one right answer.

For more than 20 years Oracle, through its flagship philanthropic Oracle Academy program, has worked to advance computer science education and make it more accessible and engaging to students everywhere. Oracle Academy supports continuous computer science learning at all levels, and makes available a variety of resources including technology, curriculum and courseware, student and educator training, and certification and exam preparation materials.

Over the years, we have seen tremendous progress with public-private partnerships. Recently there has been an influx of both industry and nonprofit organizations that provide support for computer science education. While some of the resources come with a hefty price tag, many of them are free or low cost. The resources often differ in scope and objective. Some resources are vendor specific and some are vendor neutral and focus on core concepts and foundational knowledge. Some resources are event driven and others are curriculum based. Some resources focus on students and others focus on educators. There are e-books, videos, software, games, and countless websites with downloadable resources. With so much available, how do you choose what is right for you and your students? Rather than solely considering the available resources, perhaps you should also look at the resource provider and seek an opportunity for a public-private partnership.

Although we cannot provide specific guidance, in our experience, effective public-private partnerships in support of CS education do three things:

  1. They provide an opportunity for true engagement. If an industry partner is seen only as a project funder with little direct engagement with students or teachers, it is a missed opportunity for all involved. Seek a partnership that helps foster a strong and supportive community of practice, and provides support for educators at all levels.
  2. They are mutually beneficial. The arrangement should clearly articulate what the industry partner can offer the educational institution and what the educational institution can offer the industry partner. All involved need to be sure they deliver on commitments.
  3. They help address the need. Don’t lose sight of the problem you are trying to solve. Have a good understanding of what you are trying to accomplish and what is needed to achieve that goal. Then, seek a partnership that truly helps to deliver what is needed. Finally, consider including success metrics as a way to evaluate the effectiveness of the public-private partnership in addressing your needs.

Access to computer science education, regardless of gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status, is a defining 21st century social issue. Technology permeates our lives and drives the global economy. Future growth requires people with strong computer science skills. As we work collectively to prepare the technology innovators of the future, consider engaging in public-private partnerships to support your efforts. They can be effective avenues to increase access and opportunity in CS education.

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Research Committee Survey Information

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The Research Committee does just what the name implies – research surrounding computer science education in K-12 setting.  The research is often in conjunction with other organizations, such as Oracle that led to the recent CSTA – Oracle Academy 2014 High School CS Survey.  Beside partnering with corporations, CSTA also conducts larger research projects, such as the Bugs in the System: Computer Science Teacher Certification in the US.  These types of research are important to understanding what is happening in the landscape of computer science education and identify issues our CS educators face .

Along with larger research projects we also do our own CSTA Membership Survey (results of past years here) and CSTA National Secondary Computer Science Survey (results of past years here).  These two surveys alternate years to allow CSTA to collect complimentary data and inform our work.

  • The membership survey gives us data on membership demographics, how they are connected to CS education, and CSTA resources they find useful in their work.  This gives us data to improve CSTA’s support and direction for the membership at large.
  • The CSTA National Secondary CS Survey gives us data on what is being taught at the high school level, the types of certification teachers hold, demographics of the students we reach, as well as allowing us to see the demographic reach of CS education.  The survey data allows us to tailor our professional development resources to meet the curricular needs of the CSTA members and apply for grants and funding based on the student population we are reaching.

This years 2015 CSTA National Secondary Computer Science Survey was sent out in an e-blast yesterday (4/21) to the US Secondary membership. We would greatly appreciate your time in completing the survey as the data is valuable in meeting your needs.  As an incentive, we have a drawing for five Amazon gift cards worth $100 for those that complete the survey.

Survey link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2015NatHSCS (Closes on May 5, 2015, at 11:59pm HST)

Thanks,
The Research Committee
Stephanie Hoepppner & Aman Yadav, CSTA Board and Research Committee Members

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The CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee

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By: Deborah Seehorn and Dave Reed

The primary purpose of the CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee is to oversee and maintain the nominations and elections process.

The primary functions of the committee are listed below.

  1. Conduct and oversee the Call for Nominations prior to each Board of Directors election.
  2. Actively recruit and bring forth qualified applicants to maintain diversity on the Board of Directors.
  3. Ensure that recruiting of applicants for open positions on the Board of Directors occurs prior to the close of nominations. If only one qualified nomination is received, the Nominations and Elections committee may seek additional candidates.
  4. Select two applicants from the pool of nominations for each open Board of Director position during an election period. These two applicants will then be presented to the general membership during the Board of Directors election process. If only one qualified nominee can been found, that nominee will be acclaimed.
  5. Work with staff to facilitate the sharing of candidate information with the members.
  6. Work with the Executive Director and CSTA staff to select and refine technologies for conducting fair and secure election. Election technologies shall be approved by the Board of Directors.
  7. Ensure that all elections are carried out in accordance with the current Bylaws and Board of Directors Policies and Procedures.
  8. Make recommendations to the Board of Directors for qualified candidates to fill vacated positions on the Board of Directors.
  9. Provide recommendations to the Board for the revision of the current election process and eligibility requirements of candidates.
  10. Stagger the elections for the positions of 9-12 Teacher Representative and At-Large Representative so that only one from each is position is elected each year. If more than one position from either of these representative categories will become vacant in the following year, the Board may vote to extend the term of one of the current representatives for a period of one year. The Chair will determine which of the two current representatives will be asked to extend their term of service

For the 2015 CSTA Board Election, the Call for Nominations was issued in November 2014. Nominations closed on February 1, 2015. CSTA received an ample number of well-qualified nominations for each of the three open board positions. Each member of the Nominations and Elections Committee reviews the qualifications of the nominees and rates them based on an objective rubric.  These ratings are then used to select the top two nominees for each board position. Those two nominees become the two candidates for each board position. The candidate qualifications are then posted on the CSTA website. This year candidates also submitted blog posts to the CSTA Advocate blog https://advocate.csteachers.org/.

The Election Buddy website was set up for the 2015 Election, and the election began on April 2, 2015. The election will conclude on May 4, 2015. The newly elected board members will be notified and then announced to the CSTA membership shortly thereafter. The new board members will participate in the CSTA Board Meeting in Grapevine, Texas in July.

The current members of the CSTA Curriculum Committee are:

Dave Reed, Creighton University, [email protected]

Tammy Pirmann, School District of Springfield Township, PA, [email protected]

Karen Lang, Former Board Member, [email protected]

Deborah Seehorn, NC Department of Public Instruction, [email protected]

Lissa Clayborn, Acting CSTA Executive Director, [email protected]

We welcome your comments and suggestions on how the CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee can better meet the needs of our CSTA members.

 

Deborah Seehorn
CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee Chair and Board Chair

Dave Reed
CSTA Nominations and Elections Committee and Board Chair-Elect

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New IT Roles Produce a Slew of New Job Titles

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In case you missed this CIO.com article in March, I thought I would share it here. The topic is a good one for discussion with students who might not see themselves as software engineers or computer scientists. The article discusses the new business landscape for some of the larger IT companies and how they are redesigning their infrastructures to accommodate the changing needs of the industry. The article touches on a few of the less talked about job positions that are needed for a vast majority of new, or re-envisioned jobs, for the changing IT landscape. This includes roles such as project manager, solution architect, data scientist, and new customer service oriented positions that some companies are developing outside the traditional “customer service” role.

http://www.cio.com/article/2899037/careers-staffing/new-it-roles-produce-a-slew-of-new-job-titles.html

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K-8 Board Representative Nominees

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The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below is a blog post from one of our K–8 Representative Nominees. The CSTA K-8 Representative is a classroom teacher who is currently teaching or promoting computer science at the pre-high school level.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

When to Code?
Dylan Ryder

I often hear fellow elementary school teachers say that they would love to try coding in the classroom, but that they just can’t find the time in their schedules. Whether constrained by rigid state learning standards or held under the pressure of high stakes testing, educators around the country are sometimes seeing time for other subjects like Music, Art and even Science go by the wayside already – so how could they fit in Computer Science?

For many educators, participating in The Hour of Code is an exciting chance to try something new, but they feel that exactly one hour is all they have room to spare in the curriculum that they have to cover. So when can they code?

My feeling: anywhere and anytime.

It’s my view that an integrated approach to Computer Science education holds an answer to this challenge for elementary school educators. In our daily lives computer programming is a flexible tool that we use to solve problems and model knowledge from any and every other discipline there is. So why can’t we learn computing the same way in the classroom?

I recently heard a wise teacher say that while standards do define what we have to teach, they don’t exactly prescribe how we have to teach it. Think about enhancing any of your other subjects with computer programming activities. I’ve found wonderful opportunities to let students code animations based on their own writing from Literacy class, and I have challenged students to make Math quiz games. Creative coding opportunities abound as well. Code is a fantastic medium for Art and Music integrations – especially when students integrate sensor input as part of their programmed artworks and songs!

Recently, I saw a colleague’s 8th grade Math students showcase their work in the Bootstrap language. As part of their Algebra study, the students spent a few weeks making basic video games that required them to master mathematical concepts such as the coordinate grid, variables, and recursive algorithms. It was an absolute thrill for me to hear the students speak about the functionality of their games in mathematical terms, and more proof to me that there are endless opportunities for CS integration in all subjects.

My name is Dylan Ryder and I am a technology teacher at The School at Columbia University in New York City. I am currently nominated for election to the CSTA Board as K-8 Teacher Representative for the upcoming term. I look forward to the opportunity to serve and help CS education flourish in our schools.

 

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9-12 Board Representative Nominees

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The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below are blog posts from our 9-12 Board Representative Nominees. The CSTA 9-12 Board Representative is a 9–12 classroom teacher who is currently teaching computer science at the high school level.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

Teaching in a Growing Field
Derek Babb

Course registration numbers are in and the news is great! I’ve got a record number of people who have signed up for computer science courses, more than I can actually handle. It is a great problem to have but how does a department grow beyond the number of teachers available?

The shortage of qualified computer science teachers has been well documented here and elsewhere but what exactly does an existing CS teacher need? Do I need an apprentice, someone who teaches math or business that would be interested in learning to teach computer science? Do I need someone who has experience teaching computer science? The numbers really don’t justify a second full-time computer science teacher so I don’t know that bringing in a CS veteran is possible.

I’ve been working with our counselors to see if there are students who might be better prepared for CS in a year, after they’ve had more math and in the case of freshmen, acclimated to high school. Deferring them to buy time and to see how things shake out. I don’t like it. I want to work with all these willing students and I don’t want to risk losing them if they change their interests over the course of the year. At the same time, options are limited and in systems with finite resources, difficult decisions must be made.

I think that CSTA and other organizations have done a good job of showing schools how to get started. What courses to offer, how to begin finding qualified and willing teachers, recruiting students, and building a successful program. I would like to see a model for growth to help schools and districts find the most optimal path forward. I think this is a problem that will be affecting more and more schools across the country and I think CSTA is in a position to be a leader in creating solutions. What a fantastic problem to have.

Derek Babb
9-12 Board Representative

Stephanie Hoeppner, 9-12 Board Representative

I am passionate about computer science education and have been for 16 years.  My efforts first started at our State Technology conference where a colleague and I presented on how to add computer science to your school district.  That was over 12 years ago and I have continued the fight as a Ohio Cohort Leader (now called CSALT) advocating for CS, as an Ohio Chapter Founder and Leader, providing professional development and continuing to coordinate presentations at the State Conference, and most recently as a 9-12 Representative on the CSTA Board working on the Research committee, Chapter committee, and the Publications Committee.   I enjoy working with the other CS leaders in advocating, supporting and providing resources for other CS teachers.

While this may read as a resume list, it is not.  It is a testament to my continued volunteer work for promoting and maintain CS education.  While CS is growing in numbers of courses, efforts, and teachers it is important that we keep the movement going.  By working in all of the above facets for several years I have seen the slow but steady fruits of our CSTA labors.  I want to continue working on the CSTA Board gathering data, providing resources, and working for you.
Members should take time to consider who to vote for and I encourage you to view our statements on the CSTA election page.  From my statements you should see that I am passionate about CS, a hard worker, and I have contributed as much as possible to supporting CS Education.  Please vote and allow me to continue working for you.
Thank you,
Stephanie Hoeppner
9-12 Board Representative Nominee
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At-Large Board Representative Nominees

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The 2015 CSTA Board of Directors Elections will run from April 2, 2015 to May 4, 2015. Below are blog posts from our At-Large Board Representative Nominees. The CSTA At-Large Representative is an educator with responsibilities for K–12 CS education.

Candidate personal statements and Q&A responses can be found at http://csta.acm.org/About/sub/AboutFiles/2015Election.html.

Arkansas’s New High School CS Requirement
Daniel Moix 

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson made good on his campaign promise to “offer coding in every high school” last month by signing Arkansas House Bill 1183 into law.  It’s an exciting time for the growing community of CS educators in the state as we scramble to help make the governor’s vision a reality.  The Arkansas chapter of CSTA has been an integral part of the achievements thus far, but we have much more to do in the coming months.

The law requires the over 270 public and charter high schools in the state to offer a high-quality Computer Science course which meets standards established by the Arkansas Department of Education.  The law also charges the state’s online high school, Virtual Arkansas, with offering CS courses to all districts in the state at no charge.  Finally, it establishes a 15-member task force to research, review, and recommend curriculum standards and to make recommendations to meet anticipated CS and technology workforce needs.

Governor Hutchinson’s ambitious goal is to have students across the state learning Computer Science in all schools by August, 2015.  To make this vision a reality, several efforts are already underway.  Curriculum Frameworks for Computer Science and Mathematics, an introductory computer programming course designed to count as a fourth-year mathematics credit, were developed in late 2014.  Frameworks for Essentials of Computer Programming were completed in early 2015.  Both courses draw heavily from the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, and members of CSTA Arkansas were on the respective committees.  Virtual Arkansas is in the process of implementing both of these courses as well as AP Computer Science A in their online learning environment.

There are also professional development initiatives planned to meet the demand for CS teachers.  First, CSTA Arkansas is working with colleges and universities around the state to offer summer workshops for teachers licensed in other content areas who are interested in learning to teach CS.  The chapter is also submitting a CS4HS grant application to request funding from Google to help build our community of practice.  The state’s second Computer Science Education Summit, planned to be held in October, will feature a track of sessions to support novice CS teachers.  Other ongoing initiatives are also building out the community, including the roll-out of a three-year program of study in Mobile Application Development beginning with tools like App Inventor and GameSalad but transitioning to XCode, Eclipse, and Android Studio.  Training for this program will also happen this summer for 8-10 new teachers.

Arkansas has no teacher licensure system in place for Computer Science educators.  Early efforts proposed by the Arkansas Department of Education would have required Computer Science teachers be No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Highly-Qualified Teachers (HQT) in Mathematics.  As it stands, any licensed educator may teach CS courses, but fourth-year math credit will only being granted to those students taught by NCLB HQT in math.  Arkansas is partnering with Education Testing Service (ETS), which is currently developing a multi-state Praxis exam for Computer Science.  We believe this exam will be required for CS licensure in the future.

It’s an exciting time to be a Computer Science educator in Arkansas, but we have a long road ahead of us.  The role of CSTA Arkansas will be to inform the standards as they are developed and revised, identify and prepare new CS teachers, support existing teachers and CS programs, and inform the new CS Education Task Force.

Daniel Moix teaches Mobile Application Development at Bryant High School in Bryant, Arkansas. He is CSTA Arkansas Vice-President, a member of the CSTA Computer Science Advocacy Leadership Team (CSALT), a member of the Councils of Chief State School Officers’ Computer Science Advisory Group, and a candidate for the CSTA Board of Directors At-Large Representative.

CSTA – More Than Ever
Alfred Thompson

Ten years ago when CSTA started it often felt like we were a bit of a lone voice advocating for computer science education. Today a lot has changed. There are many others advocating. For profit companies and nonprofit organizations alike are pushing for more CS education. The government at local, state and national levels has taken notice. Computer Science students are showing up at White House Science Fairs and the President of the United States is writing code. As a long time member and more recently a Board member of the CSTA I get asked if the CSTA is still needed. Of course this question comes from people outside of education. My answer is a resounding “more than ever.”

When one looks at the resources and guidance that others are using the CSTA is the source. One can’t discuss certification and licensure of CS teachers without referencing CSTA research. Anyone developing CS curriculum today looks to the CSTA CS Standards for guidance. Advocates for more CS education quote research from CSTA at every opportunity. Other organizations are dependent on the work that CSTA has done for the last ten years.

But there is more to it. CSTA is THE organization for K-12 computer science educators. It is the organization of teachers for teachers. CSTA provides the community of practice that is essential for the growth of computer science education. CSTA Chapters provide local and regional learning opportunities as the chance to share ideas with peers. The Annual CSTA Conference is still the premier CS education professional development for K-12 computer science educators. CSTA is the bridge among teachers that spans local and regional issues.

I believe that the more computer science education grows the more we need CSTA. I urge all members to get involved in their local chapters, take advantage of CSTA resources and help our organization to grow. We’re all in this together!

Alfred Thompson
At-Large Member, CSTA Board

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