Presentation from the September 2015 meeting of the Texas Alliance for Computer Science Education (TACSE) workshop on teacher certification requirements.

1. September Meeting:
Teacher Certification
Requirements
9 September 2015
@HalSpeed @TACSEd

2. 2
Thank You Sponsors!
Partners

3. Agenda
 October Statewide Meeting - Houston
 Teacher Certification Requirements
 John Owen, The TRC, UT-Austin
 “Pass the Mic”
3

4. TACSE Statewide Meeting
 October 14th, 6:00-9:00pm
 Embassy Suites – Houston Downtown
4
http://www.thetrc.org/tacse-statewide-meeting-fall-2015/
Dwayne Bohac
Texas State Representative,
District 138
Paula Harris
School Board Trustee in Houston ISD
Director of Community Affairs at Schlumberger
Donna Bahorich
Chair of the Texas State Board
of Education

5. A Discussion of the
Requirements for the
TEA Computer Science 8-12
Certification Test
September 9, 2015
with John Owen
University of Texas at Austin
Texas Regional Collaboratives
Office of STEM Education

6. Meeting Objectives
•Discuss the current crisis in computer science
education.
•Provide an overview and brief history of the TEA
Computer Science 8-12 Certification
process
•Examine and suggest adjustments and/or
revisions to the standards and competencies
required for this certification6

7. Current State of CS Education
•White Paper by Dr. Carol Fletcher, TRC (2014)
•Building the Texas Computer Science Pipeline:
Strategic Recommendations for Success
7

8. Current State of CS Education
•By 2020, there will be 1,000,000 more
computing jobs than students/graduates to
fill them, resulting in a $500 billion
opportunity gap (Code.org,2014).
8

9. Current State of CS Education
•Computer Science is the only STEM
discipline that showed a DECREASE in high
school enrollment nationally between 1990
and 2009.
9

10. Current State of CS Education
•The percentage of graduates who earned
credits in high school computer science
classes fell to 19% in 2009 from 25% in
1990…
10

11. Current State of CS Education
•…fewer than 40,000 students received
bachelor’s degrees in computer science in
2009, 33 percent fewer than at the peak in
2004 (National Science Board, 2014),
11

12. Current State of CS Education
•…only 1 out of 10 schools in the U.S. offer
programming classes (Code.org, 2014).
•In Texas, less than 15% of high schools
offered the AP Computer Science course in
2013-14 according to the College Board
(2014).
12

13. Current State of CS Education
•Why are we in this crisis?
13

14. Current State of CS Education
•Four major impact issues were identified
•Lack of trained teachers
•No incentive for administrators to invest in
CS pathway
•Low student/parent demand
•No system connecting HS courses to
careers in industry14

15. Current State of CS Education
•Fifth major issue (from my perspective as a high
school computer science teacher)
•Lack of suitable curriculum materials for
the high school level of CS learning
15

16. 16
Who is this person,
and how is he
qualified to talk to
us about this?

17. A bit about me
•TEA Certified computer science instructor, with
both certificates (CIS, CS 8-12) that qualify
•Also certified in Secondary Mathematics and All-
Level Music, with Bachelor’s and Master’s in
Music (long story, very boring)
17

18. A bit about me
• Taught 33 years in Texas public schools, 5 as a band
director, 5 in junior high math and algebra, and 23 in high
school computer science
• Retired in 2013, started marketing CS curriculum I developed
over years of teaching
• Currently serve on State UIL Computer Science committee
as test and packet writer
• Recently joined TRC in developing CS education
professional development
18

19. A bit about me
• Strong record of success:
• Students scored consistent 4s and 5s on the AP test
• Two national CS champions, two state champions, and numerous state
silver and bronze winners
• Served as an CS AP Reader for six summers
• Several teacher awards and honors, including:
• TEA Region 2 Teacher of the Year, 2003
• HEB Secondary Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, 2009
• National Teacher’s Hall of Fame Finalist, 2010
19

20. A Brief History of CS Certification
•Texas high school Computer Science has
historically followed the lead of the College
Board Computer Science committee decisions,
adopting the language designated at the time
•For the first AP test in 1984, Pascal was used,
then C++ in 1999, then Java in 2004 to present
20

21. A Brief History of CS Certification
•When the AP language was Pascal (1984)
•ExCET Test – Computer Information Systems
(CIS) Certification (no longer available, but still valid)
•AP Language changed to C++(1999)
•ExCET Test was not immediately revised,
certification process fell to the colleges for a while
21

22. A Brief History of CS Certification
•In 2004, the same year Java was adopted
as the language of choice by the College
Board, a new test was devised that was not
language specific, and which is currently in
use
22

23. A Brief History of CS Certification
•Originally 159 Standards organized in six groups
23

24. A Brief History of CS Certification
24

25. A Brief History of CS Certification
•Revised to 87 competencies, still using the 6
standard groups, but further divided into 3
domains and 9 subgroups of competencies
25

26. Courses You Can Teach with CS 8-12
•Tech Apps (no Carl Perkins funding available)
• Fundamentals of Computer Science
• Computer Science I, II, III
• Digital Forensics
• Robotics Programming and Design
• Game Programming and Design
• Mobile Application Development
• Discrete Mathematics26

27. Courses You Can Teach with CS 8-12
•Career and Technology (Carl Perkins funding available)
•Computer Programming
•Advanced Computer Programming
27

28. Process for becoming CS 8-12 Certified
•Take the CS 8-12 Certification test and pass it
with a minimum 80% score (240/300)
•Apply to TEA for the certification
•Both cost…approximately $200 in all
28

29. Why are there not more CS teachers?
•College CS graduates are NOT likely to
consider teaching as a career option
•Few currently certified teachers are willing to
attempt the CS certification to become “highly
qualified” as the CS teacher of record at their
school. Why is that?
•It’s a very difficult test!
29

30. Current TRC initiative
•TeachCS
•One-Day Workshop, July 2015
•Two-Day Workshop, October 2015
•MOOC Development, target release, Summer
2016
30

31. Great News!
•As a direct result of the July TeachCS
workshop, three teachers have taken and
passed the CS 8-12 Certification Test
31

32. More Great News!
•Current TEA initiative
•Review and consider revisions for the CS 8-12
Certification Standards/Competencies
•Committee meeting scheduled for October,
2015
32

33. Which brings us to tonight’s main objective
•Explore the 87 competencies
•Analyze the validity and necessity of each
competency
•Make suggestions for continued inclusion,
possible revision, or exclusion of each item
33

34. Domain 1
Technology Applications Core
•Group 1 – Hardware/Software Issues
•Group 2 – Applications
•Group 3 – Instructional Issues
34

35. Domain 2
Program Design and Development
•Group 4 – Software Design
•Group 5 – Software Development
•Group 6 – Programming Languages
35

36. Domain 3
Programming Language Topics
•Group 7 – Data Types and Structures
•Group 8 – Coding Concepts and Processes
•Group 9 – Algorithms
36

37. Tonight’s Activity
•Divide into six groups
•Examine the competencies
•Make your comments and suggestions on the
poster, using stickers, write-in comments
•Present your recommendations to the group
37

38. Rating System
38
Very important
for a beginning
CS teacher to
know!

39. Rating System
39
Somewhat
important for a
beginning CS
teacher to know!

40. Rating System
40
What does
this mean?

41. Rating System
41
Why should a
beginning CS
teacher have to
know this?

42. Rating System
42
No way a
beginning CS
teacher should
have to know
this!

43. Scrutinize, analyze, and report!
43

45. “Pass the Mic”
45

46. Thank you for attending!
Next meeting Wednesday October 14th in Houston
46