CSTA has now just reached its first birthday and, looking back on the year, I am feeling very good about what our dedicated staff and volunteers have accomplished.
We began the year with a big to do list.
* Start new organization for computer science teachers
* Get members
* Do good stuff for members
* Reach out to K-12 teachers across the world
* Reach out to university folks to help ease communication and bride gaps
* Convince corporate sponsors that this organization is worth supporting
* Write a strategic plan
* Write grant proposals to ensure long-term viability
Because we really wanted to give our members a chance to get to know us, we instituted a one-year free charter membership for both individual (teacher) and organizational (school districts, universities, research organizations, corporations) members.
Here are some of the things that we promised our members that we delivered on.
* Provided a free copy of A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science
* Provided a free “csta.acm.org” email forwarding address
* Provided online training courses through the Sun Academic Alliance
* Provided access to the Career Resource Center
* Provided Table of Contents alerts for new material in the ACM Digital Library
* Provided online access to Crossroads magazine and the TechNews and CareerNews online IT digests
Here are the things we were not sure we could promise, but we did them anyway.
* Created the Voice, CSTA’s quarterly newsletter to all our members
* Provided 60 workshops for AP teachers in partnership with The College Board and universities and colleges across the country
* Provided two of several planned virtual e-binders of research on key issues in K-12 computer science education (Equity, Teaching Strategies)
* Provided two full-day Computer Science and Information Technology Symposia for over 200 teachers
* Set up an Advisory Council of high level leaders in academia and industry to help guide us and keep us connected with the professional world around us
* Organized an international panel on K-12 computer science curricula in the US, Canada, Israel, Scotland, and South Africa for NECC
* Provided new support documents for the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science Education to help teachers effectively implement the curriculum
* Created a new position on our Board of Directors for someone who would advise us on how to reach out to computer science educators around the world and how to better support our international members
And here are just some of the things we are planning to do this coming year.
* Develop a national web repository of classroom learning resources and professional development materials
* Provide localized workshops for pre-AP teachers across the country
* Provide new resources to give students a better idea of the kinds of opportunities computer science provides and why it is important to take computer science in high schools
* Create an on-line repository of teacher-created learning materials focusing on cyber education
* Create a database of teacher certification requirements by state
* Produce more resource documents to help implement the model curriculum
* Present a even better Computer Science and Information Technology Symposium
* Continue to work with other organizations and with our corporate partners to support computer science education
In the next little while we will be asking our members whose charter membership has expired to renew their membership in our organization. To encourage them to do so, we are offering two years of membership for the price of one ($30).
We hope we have done enough to earn their continued support.