On December 1, 2011, the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards were released. These standards have been instrumental in assisting many schools, school systems, and states in implementing and promoting computer science education in the K-12 classroom. Nearly four years have passed since the 2011 CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards were released. CSTA is ready to take a thorough look at the standards to see how they can be updated and/or improved.

We realize that many CS educators are quite eager to work on revising the CSTA K-12 CS Standards. Unfortunately, the CSTA K-12 Standards Revision Task Force must be limited to a small representative working group of CS educators. However, we are seeking input from all educators who have used the standards and/or who have worked with them. This will provide us with informed input to guide our revision process. The more useful the input we receive, the higher quality standards will emerge from the 2015-2016 revision process. Effective K-12 CS standards will greatly benefit the expansion of K-12 computer science education.

Please take a moment to provide the CSTA Standards Revision Task Force with descriptive input that will assist us in making educated decisions about the standards. You will have the opportunity to comment about the five strands (Computational Thinking; Collaboration; Computing Practice and Programming; Computers and Communications Devices; and Community, Global, and Ethical Impacts). Are these the five essential strands or have we neglected to include a strand? You will also have the opportunity to give us detailed input on individual standards in each of the grade levels (Level 1, Grades K-6; Level 2, Grades 6-9, and Level 3, Grades 9-12).

The CSTA K-12 Standards Revision Task Force will include CS educator representatives from each of the grade levels, community college CS faculty, university CS faculty, and state representatives who have worked with K-12 CS education. The task force will analyze the input that received from the computer science practitioners prior to beginning the revision of the standards.  Our goal is to release the revised standards at the 2016 CSTA Annual Conference.

We want your input. We need your assistance.  Please complete the CSTA K-12 CS Standards Revision input form at http://bit.ly/1ND9xaM.  The input on the standards will be accepted until October 15, 2015.

Thank you for your time, expertise, and enthusiasm in supporting K-12 CS education!

Deborah Seehorn
CSTA Board of Directors Past Chair
CSTA K-12 CS Standards Revision Task Force Co-Chair

Tammy Pirmann
CSTA Board of Directors District Representative
CSTA K-12 CS Standards Revision Task Force Co-Chair

2015 CSTA Board of Directors Election and Vote on Proposed By Laws Change

Clarifying a confusing proposed change in an essential area

Today is April 2, the start of the CSTA Board of Directors Election. I hope you have received your information about participating in the election. There are three vacant board positions, K–8 Representative, 9–12 Representative, and At-Large Representative. You may find further information about the candidates here. You may also read blog posts by the candidates in the CSTA Advocate Blog.

We have had some questions and comments about the proposed By Laws change to Article V, Section 4. There is some concern that CSTA is no longer going to work with standards, and that is absolutely not true. Below is the proposed change to the by Law and the existing language in the by law.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE

Article V: Election of Officers

Section 4: Committees

Proposed language (with proposed changes highlighted in italicized bold text):

There are several committees that are essential to the operations of the organization. These committees address the following categories—Teacher Certification, Curriculum, Executive, Equity, Funding Development, Governance, International, Membership, Nominations and Elections, Professional Development and Research—and are permanent standing committees of CSTA.

Existing language:

There are several committees that are essential to the operations of the organization. These committees—Certification & Standards, Curriculum, Executive, Equity, Funding Development, Governance, International, Membership, Nominations and Elections, Professional Development and Research—are permanent standing committees of CSTA.

One can easily see that the proposed name for the committee that is currently named “Certification & Standards” is “Teacher Certification.” The justification for making this change is given below.

Language is fluid, and specialized language in a particular field even more so. Ten years ago it made sense to call a committee concerned with the academic preparation of computer science teachers “Teacher Certification & Standards ,” in the intervening decade CSTA has worked on and published standards for K-12 students, thereby making the name of two committees confusing. By changing the wording of this section to indicate that there will be standing committees addressing each category, without dictating the name of the actual committee, we are granting flexibility to future boards with regards to communication.

CSTA will most assuredly continue to address both standards for teacher certification and educational standards for student learning. The CSTA Teacher Certification Committee will address the teaching standards for teacher certification. The CSTA Curriculum Committee will address the educational learning standards for students. Standards for teacher certification and educational standards for students are both critical to the growth and vitality of the computer science education community. CSTA will continue to address both.

Happy voting!

Deborah Seehorn
Chair, CSTA Board of Directors
On behalf of the Elections and Nominations Committee