Transcript Topics in Computer Science - Welcome — Association for

A CSTA Status Report
Chris Stephenson
Executive Director
02/05/07
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Agenda
• CSTA Organizationally (governance and membership)
• CSTA Fiscally (revenues, expenditures, sustainability)
• CSTA’s Impact (resources developed, impact metrics)
• Working with Others (ACM SIGS, external partnerships)
• Issues to Watch Out For
• What’s Next
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Organizational Progress
 Board of Directors
•
In 2007 CSTA will transition to an entirely elected Board of Directors with
representation for all educational levels
 Advisory Council:
•
•
Dr. Debra Richardson has agreed to serve as Chair of the Advisory Council
The Council currently has members from both academe and industry but we are
considering expanding the Council by two members
 Standing Committees
•
•
•
The Board committees do the real work of the organization (Executive,
Communications, Curriculum, Equity, Membership, Policy and Advocacy,
Professional Development, Research, and Standards and Certification)
Senior Board members must chair a committee and all Board members must serve on
at least two committees
The committee structure is working very well
 Special Committee:
•
In June the Board will create a special committee to oversee the development of local
CSTA Chapters and will appoint a special Chair for this committee
 Volunteers:
•
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We have a large volunteer base but we would like to use them more efficiently
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Membership Statistics
 Current CSTA Membership (January 1, 2007)
Total: 6882
Individual Members:
Institutional Members:
6417
465
Expired: 2106
Cancelled:75
U.S. Membership:
Canadian Membership:
Other Countries:
India:
183
Phillipines
60
Pakistan:
35
Nigeria:
28
UK:
24
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3917
133
668
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Membership Challenges
 Providing Benefits for All Members:
•
•
•
Developing membership benefits has been a primary focus for the Board and
volunteer committees
Our membership is diverse and developing benefits that appeal to all members is
challenging
Many international members join thinking that we can provide them with funding or
teaching jobs and fail to renew when they find out we cannot
 Attracting Institutional Members:
•
•
Concern with enrollment is high but many post-secondary educators do not understand
the importance of supporting K-12 computing education
We are looking at new programs to make institutional membership more valuable to
university computer science and information technology departments but getting them
to join and renew is labor intensive
 Balancing Impact and Revenue:
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The more resources we put behind the membership wall, the more likely we are to
attract members but the less likely we are to achieve real, sustained improvements in
K-12. The CSTA Board believes that we are a discipline in crises and we need to find
ways to impact as many people as possible right now. This means we have to be
creative, flexible, and vigilant in terms of attracting and diversifying CSTA’s revenue
sources.
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CSTA Revenue Sources
ACM
21%
C orporate P rojec ts
25%
SGB
17%
M embers hip D ues
0%
C orporate D ues
8%
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N S F G rants
29%
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CSTA 06 Expenditures
P os tage , S upplies ,
B anking
5%
P ublic Relations
13%
S alaries & B e nefits
28%
M embers hip
1%
Web S upport
3%
Works hops
3%
D es ign
2%
T rav el
8%
P rinting & P ublic ations
24%
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M eetings
9%
E xte rnal E valuator
E ditorial S upport
1%
3%
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Sustainability
Without support from ACM and the SIG Governing Council, CSTA simply
could not afford to produce the materials and have the impact it is now having
 Our track record with National Science Foundation grant funding has been
excellent and we need to continue to:
•
•
•
•
Investigate funding sources
Plan projects that will attract funding commitments
Write solid proposals
Give our grantors an excellent return on their investment
 Our track record on project funding from corporate sponsors has been
excellent and we need to continue to:
•
•
•
•
Investigate funding sources
Plan projects that will attract funding commitments
Write solid proposals
Give our corporate sponsors an excellent return on their investment
 We need to find someone with the expertise to help us explore foundation
funding sources and to continue to diversify our revenue sources
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This Year
Four new issues of the CSTA Voice
30 more JETT workshops across the country
Beta testing of the new TECS introductory CS workshops
11 TECS workshops across the country
Development of The New Educational Imperative: Improving High School
Computer Science Education report
Distribution of The New Educational Imperative: Improving High School
Computer Science Education report to over 31,000 educators
Development of a new edition of the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12
Computer Science with a special new foreword
Development of the Level III Outlines and Objectives document to support
implementation of the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science
Development of the “IT is all about me” poster and distribution to more than
17,000 educators
The 2006 Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium (130)
Development of a new Member Benefits brochure
Worked with The ACM Ed Board to develop and disseminate the Degrees and
Careers in Computing brochure
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Addressing Key Challenges
 The Continuing drop in student enrollment at all levels:
– Getting career information into the hands of teachers, counselors, students, and parents
(poster, brochures, lesson plans, ASCA articles, Voice articles, conference presentations)
– Working on equity issues (poster, NCWIT K-12 Alliance, CWIT, CSEA)
 Certification of K-12 Teachers (Who Teaches):
– Working towards sensible models of certification for K-12 computing teachers that ensure
that they have the requisite technical and pedagogical skills (CS certification study, CS
certification database, formation of special committee, working with UC Irvine on new
models for educating potential K-12 CS teachers)
 Curriculum Standards (What and How They Teach):
– Continuing to promote the implementation of the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12
Computer Science (Objectives & Outlines documents)
– Providing classroom relevant resources (web repository, IBM curriculum project)
– Providing professional develop opportunities (JETT/TECS, CS&IT Symposium)
– Providing information about more engaging ways to teach (new foreword to the Model
Curriculum 2nd Ed., CS&T Symposium, CSTA Voice articles, Advocate blog postings)
 Creating Community:
– Finding ways to bridge the knowledge gap between K-12 and post secondary institutions
and build mentoring relationships between K-121 and college/university (JETT/TECS,
conference presentations, CSTA institutional membership program)
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Metrics of CSTA Success (Evaluator’s Report)
 CSTA Media Hits:
– In one year, CSTA generated a total of 121 media hits reaching over 7 million
individuals in major media outlets across the country (these included a CNN
interview with CSTA’s President Robb Cutler)
 CSTA Website:
– Over a seven-month period there were 34,000 visits and 22,000 unique visitors
– 71% found the desired information easy to locate and that the site’s organization
made sense, that the page layout was effective, and that there was the right
balance of text, graphics, and interactive elements
 CSTA Voice:
– From September 2005 - June 2006 circulation of the CSTA Voice increased
70% from 2,823 to 4,776
– 84% found the featured articles interesting and relevant
– 80% were enthusiastic about the newsletters overall appearance believing it was
inviting and engaging
– 80% agreed that the layout was clear, well organized and straightforward.
– 79% reported that the columns were interesting and relevant to their needs
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Metrics cont.
New Educational Imperative Report:
– 94% said the paper examined the critical role educational leaders play in the
effective teaching of Computer Science to a moderate or great extent
– 93% said that they would probably (45%) or definitely (49%) would
recommend The New Educational Imperative: Improving High School
Computer Science Education to a colleague
– 92% reported they agreed (44%) or strongly agreed (49%) the paper readability
had a wide reach
– 83% said that their familiarity with the concepts had changed as a result of their
review of the report
– 83% reported that the report helped them gain a better understanding of the
kinds of issues surrounding computer science education as well as their ability
to effectively evaluate and assess their districts’ current Computer Science
curricula
– 70% were enthusiastic about the paper, believing the content was relevant to the
current and future teaching and learning needs of their districts.
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Metrics cont.
 ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science:
– 62% have used the model curriculum and believe that it had broad impacts on their
instructional practices
– “One of the most significant impacts the curriculum had was in establishing a common
instructional language throughout all of levels of the educational community from state
policy makers to district administrators to classroom teachers.”
 JETT Workshops:
– 86% indicated that JETT significantly impacted their understanding of CS concepts
– 85% reported that they would recommend the workshop to a friend or colleague
– 56% reported that the workshop deepened their understanding of gender equity
 CSIT Annual Symposium:
– 100% rated their presenter’s knowledge of session content as “good” or “excellent”
– 98% rated the timeliness and values of the session topics as “good” or “excellent”
– 97% reported finding the sessions useful for improving teaching and learning.
 CSTA Curriculum Panel (NECC):
– 96% noted that the panel clearly established the key foundational concepts and theoretical
elements that define Computer Science
– 80% felt that the panel provided them with more information about the obstacles in
establishing and implementing national standards and curricula than what they had
previously understood
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Key Partnerships
 ACM Groups
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Working with SIGCSE on attracting more high schools teachers
Presentations at SIGCSE 06
Working with SIGITE on attracting more high schools teachers
Presentation at SIGITE 06
Working with ACM Education Board on the Degrees and Careers in Computing brochure
Helping to “Canadianize” the Degrees and Careers in Computing brochure
 Other Groups
– Working with American School Counselors Association to develop career information
resources and publications
– Working with NCWIT to establish a K-12 Education Alliance
– Helping university researchers disseminate information about new resources and best
practices to teachers
– Working with CCSC to increase K-12 content at its regional conferences
– Working with College Board to improve teacher preparation for the CS AP exams
– Participating in faculty colloquiums to give faculty a better understanding of K-12 issues
and needs (CMU, UAB)
– Working with ISTE to plan and present the annual Computer Science and Information
Technology symposium
– Working with TCEA TACS SIG on course requirement legislation
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Issues to Watch Our For
 NCLB
– This year, the No Child Left Behind legislation was implemented in high schools
– Under this legislation, federal funding is withdrawn from schools where students fail to
reach specified performance levels on standardized tests in math and reading
– The result:
» Non-core courses are being cancelled
» Funds are being withdrawn from other programs
» CS teachers are being pulled out of their classrooms to teach remedial
mathematics (the Los Angeles example)
 Teacher Certification
– Certification requirements vary enormously from state to state
– Many states require CS teachers to hold multiple certifications with CS as a secondary to
some other discipline
– Some states require CS teachers to take and pass praxis exams in other disciplines (math,
business, vocational technology)
– Teachers are ill-informed as to the requirements in their own state
– Many DOE people responsible for certification are ill-informed as to the requirements in
their own state (primarily because they do not know what computer science is)
– In some states where there are clearly-stated requirements, there is no way for them to be
met (the Florida example)
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Coming Soon from CSTA
 The Source Online Repository for K-12 Teaching and Learning materials
 Searchable database of state-level computer science teacher certification requirements
 Formation of an expert committee to produce a white paper on establishing workable
models for computer science teacher certification
 Careers in Computing brochure for middle school students and parents
 The 2007 Computer Science and Information Technology Symposium
 The 2007 National Survey of High School Computer Science Education
 Conference presentations: SIGCSE, TCEA, NECC, CCSC
 Working with NCWIT via the K-12 Alliance to develop a Girls Gotta Have IT kit for
dissemination at the National Educational Computer Conference
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Contact Information
Chris Stephenson
Executive Director, CSTA
Phone: 1-800-401-1799
Fax: 1-541-687-1840
[email protected]
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