A Clean Slate Approach to High School CS

Jan Cuny

9/26/2009QuickTime™ and a

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Why High School?

Why High School?

1. Things are really bad there. 2. Without the HS piece, anything we

do for middle school will be lost.3. Without the HS piece, anything we do

at the college level will be insufficient.

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Why focus on AP?

Often the only CS course that carries college prep credit

Attractive to students & schools 2,000 CB-audited teachers Single point of national leverage

What’s wrong with the current AP course?

Doesn’t appeal to many students (particularly women and minorities)

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AP test takers (2007) 14,529 students took AP CS A

• 204,564 Calculus AB • 141,321 Bio• 96,282 Statistics

AP CS had the worst gender balance of any of the AP tests

• 18.3% CS A • 48.7% Calculus AB • 50.2% Statistics

What’s wrong with the current AP course?

Doesn’t appeal to many students (particularly women and minorities)

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Inaccessible to students without previous experience

Fails to introduce the fundamental concepts of CT

Doesn’t teach the breadth of application or “magic” of computing

Math and Science in U.S. High Schools (NRC, 2002)

AP courses should

• Reflect what we know about how students learn • Build students’ transferable, conceptual understanding and

inquiry skills • Convey the content and unifying concepts of a discipline

AP courses should not be designed solely to replicate introductory college courses (which are not typically exemplary models)

Chemistry, Biology, Physics, and Environmental Science are leading the

way. (ESI-0525575)

AP Commission

Owen Astrachan, Chair

Stacey ArmstrongCharmaine Bentley Amy BriggsMark Guzdial Rich Kick Jody Paul Chris Stephenson

AP Advisory Group

Duane Bailey (Williams) Jim Kurose (UMass)

Tiffany Barnes (UNC Charlotte) Andrea Lawrence (Spelman)

Gail Chapman (CSTA Richard Pattis (UCI)

Tim Cortina (CMU) Eric Roberts (Stanford)

Stephen Edwards (VA Tech) Katie Seik (CU)

Dan Garcia (Berkeley) Beth Simon (UCSD)

Joanna Goode (UO) Larry Snyder (UW)

Susanne Hambrusch (Purdue) Lynn Andrea Stein (Oiln)

Michelle Hutton (HS, CA) Fan Trees (Drew)

Deepak Kumar (Bryn Mawr) Cameron Wilson (ACM)

AP GSC’s Big Ideas

1. Computing is a creative human activity that engenders innovation, exploration, and the creation of knowledge.

2. Abstraction is the process of reducing information and detail to solve problems.

3. Humans use computer programs to manipulate data and information to facilitate the creation of insight and knowledge.

95/5% Rule

AP GSC’s Big Ideas

4. Algorithms are tools for developing and expressing solutions to computational problems and for exploring and creating data.

5. Programming is a tool for computational problem solving and the exploration and creation of knowledge.

6. Computer systems and networks facilitate communication and computational problem solving.

7. Computing engages with other disciplines to drive innovation and define new fields.

95/5% Rule

AP GSC

Engaging, accessible, inspiring, rigorous

Focused on the fundamental concepts of computing (CT)

A target for K-9 course development

An impetus for college curriculum reform

Available nationwide (IB as well)

AP GSC

Piloted at the college level 2010 Piloted at the high school level 2011 Test available 2015

What’s before GSC?

Introductory CS

Define a framework Pick exemplars Provide materials

Exploring Computer Science

LAUSD, Jane Margolis Piloted ECS 08/09 Currently in 20 LAUSD schools Complete, detailed curriculum & lessons

plans on CSTA site “G” credit and CTE credit

HS Computing Curriculum

Introductory Computing (for everyone) GSC AP CS A (possibly modified)

The new AP course will be coming to

a school near you in 2014 …

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Getting it

taught &

taught well

GOAL: Have the new curriculum taught in 10,000 schools by 10,000 well-prepared teachers by 2015.

CS / 10,000 Project

Curriculum development Teacher Preparation

In-service preparation Pre-service preparation Ongoing professional development

Entrée into schools

In-Service Preparation

Significant training

Coaching & mentoring for novice teachers, e.g. Teacher Residency Programs

Collaborations with other STEM programs e.g. MSP, GK-12

High quality on-line options (infrastructure, content)

Pre-service preparation

Partnerships between CS & Ed Schools (computing methods courses, recruiting)

Traditional and alternative certification: UTEACH,TFA, MFA, Teaching Fellows, Transitions to Teaching (Troops to Teachers) …

On-going professional development

CSTA

Something like the National Writing Project

In class assistance: GK-12, SLC-like Computing Corps, Citizen teachers, Faculty (Adopt a Classroom)

Collaborate with math & science teachers’ associations

Entrée into the schools

Hardware, Software, Connectivity, & Tech Support

Extended hours & Out of school hours availability

Help with teacher salaries / Stipends

AP Incentives

Maneuver patchwork of state standards, credit issues, certification requirements, etc.

Entrée into the schools

Good news:Lots of school districts REALLY want us.

Status

Intro & AP course well underway Demo sites on teacher training in LA

(Margolis) & Atlanta (Ericson) Discussions with UTEACH, NMSI,

MFA Thought Leaders Meeting 10/20 to

design national rollout (Google) Discussions with possible funders

The time is right.

Clean slate …

We need the computing community to step up.

but we can’t blow it.

What ACM Ed do?

Publicize the effort Advocacy

Local schools: computing classesStates: standards, certification, etc.Universities:

• GSC credit • Adding computing to the preferred list

of HS courses

What can individuals do?

Pilot GSC (university & high schools) Run summer teacher training programs Work with your Ed School to get develop preservice

computing courses Use GK-12 or Service Learning courses to get your

students into K-12 class rooms Recruit students to teaching Work with programs like UTEACH, TFA, MFA, etc.

What can individuals do?

Participate in larger projects e.g. MSP, Race to the Top, Innovation Projects

Consider an Expeditions proposal Promote teaching to your students Help build the significant public/private partnerships

that we will need to commandeer major funding Help review proposals, etc.

Thanks!

jcuny@nsf.gov