Computer Science Teacher Professional Development Passport Alliance

Computer Science Teachers Association, Llc., New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) in collaboration with CSEdResearch.org and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) will develop an alliance to track participation in PreK-12 Computer Science (CS) teacher Professional Development (PD) experiences. To prepare students to learn CS skills and competencies needed to thrive in modern society, it is critical to support PK-12 CS teachers with PD experiences. There has been a lack of consistent tracking of participation and outcomes for individual CS teachers across CS education research projects. An alliance of three leading CS education organizations will develop a CS PD Passport system to address this major infrastructure challenge, allowing us to more accurately answer questions like “How many unique PK-12 teachers have engaged in NSF-funded computer science PD opportunities?” and “What are the demographics of PK-12 teachers who have engaged in computer science NSF-funded PD opportunities?” Teachers will benefit from having a common place for record for validated participation in CS PD, which can be used to prove completion of PD for continuing education credits, highlight skills for future employers, and unlock access to more advance PD opportunities. PD providers will benefit from simplified reporting and better target recruitment of participants, especially when seeking to work with teachers who teach historically marginalized in CS. Ultimately, the Alliance aims for a world where widespread adoption of the PD Passport leads to state departments of education and school districts using this platform to implement new teacher certification pathways and continuing professional development credit requirements. Over three years, the project will fulfill three primary goals: (1) develop and pilot a system for NSF-funded CS education research projects to report their PD characteristics, participating teacher demographics, and other data identified through research and evaluation; (2) create a PD passport system that PK-12 CS teachers can use as part of their professional portfolio; and (3) identify and support the conditions necessary for sustaining the PD Passport beyond the life of the grant. The Alliance aims to develop a system that teachers, PD providers, and NSF find useful, usable, findable, valuable, accessible, and credible. Research will utilize a user design framework to define user considerations and functional requirements, challenges and implications related to data privacy, and building trust with users. Formative and summative evaluation will involve semi-structured focus groups and usability testing with both teachers and CS PD providers from NSF-funded projects, extant data analyses, and an advisory board of CS education and research evaluation methodology experts. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.