Welcome back for the third and final installment of “Meet your new board members”. The third new member of the CSTA Board of Directors is David Burkhart. David is the newest K-8 teacher representative and he and brings experience with teaching computing to the lower grades to the board. Dave and I sat down in cyberspace and had a little chat.
Where are you from and what are you doing now in addition to being one of CSTA’s newest board members?
I am the Computer and Multimedia teacher at West Muskingum Middle School in Zanesville, Ohio. I also serve as the middle school technology mentor. I am a Master’s Degree candidate at Ohio University, graduating June 2008 with a degree in Computer Education and Technology.
Why Computer Science Education?
I feel that it is my responsibility to show my middle school students a wide range of uses and career opportunities within my computer classes. Computer Science is one of the fields that my students enjoy the most.
What do you like to do other than teach?
I love spending time with my two sons, ages 6 and 10. They are involved in Cub Scouts, soccer and music lessons. As a family, we enjoy participating in activities with the Muskingum Valley Vineyard Church.
For you personally which of the statements from CSTA’s purpose has the most significance?
Wow, choose just one? I think the purpose statement that means the most to me personally is “Build a strong community of computer science educators who share their knowledge.” I feel that I have benefited so much through networking with others within the CSTA.
Dave, along with Myra and Brian are bringing new ideas to your Board of Directors, but we want to hear from you as well! What are your hot topics? What can we do to help? Either leave Dave a comment or a question here, or let us know what we should be thinking about as we continue to move forward.
Leigh Ann Sudol
CSTA Communications Chair

Welcome to the second installment of “meet your new directors”. Today’s featured director is Myra Deister who is our newest 9-12 teacher representative.
Myra is an active teacher in Fullerton, CA and teaches mathematics as well as computer science at her high school. She is also involved in a local Java educators support group and a member of the assessment review panel for the California Standards Test in Mathematics.
What got you started in education?
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher. In high school I worked as a tutor at the local elementary school and was a member of the Future Teacher’s Club.
Why computer science education?
I became interested in computers when the first Apple computers were sold commercially. I was intrigued as to how it could process the data. My husband wanted a quicker way for me to calculate grades and he found the computer and I found the software. I also decided to pursue a Master’s degree around that time. I discovered that the math Master’s program was not what I wanted to do, but computer science seemed interesting. I finished my Master’s degree in software engineering a few years later and changed school districts so I could teach computing classes.
For you personally which of the statements from CSTA’s purpose has the most significance?
“Build a strong community of computer science educators who share their knowledge.”
This has been very important for me because, as the only computer science teacher on my campus, I appreciate the support of other teachers. For example, this summer our support group decided that we needed to meet to review the new case study. We met for nearly eight hours during which time we were able to answer questions as a group and become more familiar with the case study. Also, during one of the breaks, a teacher and I were taking about Online Learning Management software. I mentioned to him that I was going to purchase server space to move my computer science curriculum there. He told me that our county was offering exactly what I was looking for at no cost. I looked into to it and it was exactly what I wanted. I appreciate the help and suggestions I receive from the teachers that I meet with on a regular basis.
Is there anything else you would like to mention to help the membership get to know you better?
I live in Anaheim Hills with my husband and son. My daughter lives in Costa Mesa. My children are my pride and joy. My son is a full time student at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) majoring in communications. When he completes his degree, my entire family will be CSUF graduates. My daughter is working as a marketing manager in Costa Mesa for an IT company and does mission work with her church. She is leaving in a few weeks on a mission trip to India.
We welcome Myra to the ranks of leadership and we know that the enthusiasm that she has brought to CS teachers in her local area will translate well into the work that she does as a member of the Board of Directors. If you have any questions or comments for Myra please leave them here. :)
Leigh Ann Sudol
CSTA Communications Chair

Summer is my busiest time of year. We run teacher workshops and summer camps for middle and high school students. We began with two weeks of camp for high school students in 2004. Last year we added two weeks of camp for middle school students. This year we expanded the program to five weeks of camps for middle school students and three weeks of camps for high school students. We ran two weeks of middle school camps using Scratch and PicoCrickets and two weeks of middle school camps using LEGO NXT robots and Alice. We ran one week for middle school students on RoboCup Jr. and some teams went on to participate in the international RoboCup Jr competition at Georgia Tech.
For high school students we did two weeks of Alice, LEGO NXT robots, and Media Computation in Python. We also did one week for high school students for RoboCup Jr using LEGO NXT robots (dance and rescue).
One interesting result is that many middle school students really liked Scratch and many high school students really liked Media Computation in Python. Many students preferred these free items over the expensive robot kits from LEGO and Pico. One boy had his mother come up and take a picture with his image collage displayed behind him that he created using Media Computation. See this collage at http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/567 (3rd from the top).
So, it is fairly easy for a high school teacher to offer computing summer camps for middle and high school students with Scratch, Media Computation in Python, and perhaps Alice and make some extra money in the summer and hopefully increase the quatity and diversity of kids in your computing classes! You could even make enough to buy some robot kits. The kids liked the RoboCup Jr. camp, too. I would like to do a Southeastern regional competition every year for this.
See http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/ice-gt/475 for more information on our summer camps and a zip about how to start a summer camp and some curricular materials.
Barb Ericson
CSTA Board of Directors

Over the last year the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has been carrying out a review and renewal of its National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and early indications are that the results will be positive for educators concerned about ensuring that students have the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly technological world.
The newly released ISTE NETS for Students Draft document (1/4/2007) is a move towards inclusion of computer science topics as well as technology topics under one standard. I applaud ISTE for suggesting a broader base of computing studies than in previous standards.
While I believe the draft represents a step toward better computing preparation for K-8 students in the US, the one-page draft does not provide sufficient indication as to the anticipated level of student understanding expected. For example, Section “VI.A. Technology Operations and Concepts, understand and use technology systems” does not indicate the type of technology systems. I can reasonably imagine this as anything from connecting and using a DVD player or MP3 player, to connecting and using a computer system.
Unfortunately, “IV.B. Critical Thinking, Problem-Solving and Decision-Making, plan and manage activities to develop solutions and complete projects” also fails to specifically state that students should use algorithmic thinking as a means to develop solutions. Trial and error is a great place to start, but eventually standard algorithms need to be introduced and modified in the approach to a solution.
CSTA applauds ISTE for moving technology standards forward and for introducing concepts that are suggested in the
ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science Education. While not perfect, the revised NETS are moving students toward knowledge and skills necessary for success in today’s digital world. We would encourage ISTE, however, to look at the future needs of US students and consider a more comprehensive approach to these needs.
Anita Verno
Chair, CSTA Curriculum Committee

The College Board has released its Report to the Nation for 2007 and the good news is that the number of students writing the A and AB Computer Science Advanced Placement exams seems to be on the rise after four years of continual decline.
Between 2002 and 2005 the overall number of students taking AP CS dropped from 23,459 to 19,021. In 2006, however, there is a slight upward trend of about 3% to 19,601.
The distribution of examinees by grade level is fairly similar to last year, with a slight increase (from 0.8% to 1.4%) in students who are taking the exam as early as 9th grade).
Exam Takers by Grade Level
9th grade: 1.4%
10th grade: 14.5%
11th grade: 36.6%
12th grade: 42.4%
Other: 5.2%
The Grade Distribution also remains fairly consistent.
AP Grade Distribution
Score of 5: 24.9%
Score of 4: 21.6%
Score of 3: 15.1%
Score of 2: 8.1%
Score of 1: 30.3%
There is also a slight improvement in gender equity, with the percentage of young women writing the AP CS exam rising from 15% to 16%.
AP Exam Takers by Gender
Male: 84%
Female: 16%
The number of exam takers who are students from traditionally underrepresented populations has also improved marginally. Both the number of Hispanic or Latino students and the number of Black or African American students have increased by 0.4%.
AP Exam Takers by Race & Ethnicity:
White: 52.8%
Asian American or Pacific Islander 22.4%
Hispanic or Latino: 6.6%
Not stated: 5.0%
Other: 4.0%
Black or African American: 3.8%
American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.4%
These small improvements are a positive sign in light of growing concerns about the AP Computer Science exam, but it is doubtful that they are sufficient to overcome the growing sense among both K-12 and university educators that the exam is in need of a significant review and revision.