The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) proposes to develop and evaluate a model for the scalable deployment and sustainable persistence of the new CS Principles course across a statewide network of teachers. The model adopts the successful practices of a national Advanced Placement (AP) training program developed by the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). It applies those practices in a professional development program based on in-person training and distance learning collaboration. It will provide year-long professional development to support teachers, rather than the week-long summer institutes that are typical of most AP training programs in other STEM areas. A statewide "Teacher Leader" model will be explored where those already teaching more rigorous CS courses (e.g., the existing AP CS A) will assist in training new peer cohorts as they establish CS Principles in their schools. Teachers in these cohorts will collaborate together on content and pedagogical learning experiences, fostered by peer leaders and facilitated through A+ College Ready (A+CR), the NMSI partner for Alabama. A+CR has demonstrated success in promoting AP advancement in other STEM areas, especially among students from underrepresented populations. The pedagogical approach will be centered on inquiry/discovery-based techniques that introduce computer science as a broad set of topics as defined by the learning objectives contained in the Big Ideas of CS Principles. The elaboration of the model will support both rural and urban school teachers through use of virtual collaboration tools (e.g., Blackboard Collaborate or ACCESS, which is a statewide distance learning infrastructure deployed in all Alabama schools). The assessment, led by Haynie Research and Evaluation, will uncover the facets of the proposed model that are most suitable for building a successful and sustainable nationwide network of CS Principles teachers. The participants will include: a cohort of 50 high school teachers who will receive year-long professional development training to teach the CS Principles course; students of those teachers, who will participate in summer camps, weekend study sessions, and statewide competitions; and college students from secondary education and computer science majors who will assist with project tasks. Partners include A+CR and the Alabama State Department of Education, which has committed support and needed resources (e.g., ACCESS) to the project.
To address scalability, NMSI will recommend the model developed in this project to six partner states across over 320 high schools (in 2011-2012, NMSI supported 75,000 students). To address sustainability, all teachers will be supported after project completion by A+CR under its operations as a NMSI partner. The results of the project will be submitted for publication in journals, and a Moodle website will be created to serve as a repository for disseminating the results of the project, including developed curricular materials. The PI has conducted one of the College Board's CS Principles pilots and leads several K-12 outreach and broadening participation in computing activities in Alabama.
