02/05/07chris stephenson1 a csta status report chris stephenson executive director

02/05/07 Chris Stephenson 1

A CSTA Status Report

Chris StephensonExecutive Director


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


Organizational ProgressBoard 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 membersStanding 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: • We have a large volunteer base but we would like to use them more efficiently


Membership StatisticsCurrent CSTA Membership (January 1, 2007)

Total: 6882

Individual Members: 6417Institutional Members: 465

Expired: 2106Cancelled:75

U.S. Membership: 3917Canadian Membership: 133Other Countries: 668

India: 183Phillipines 60Pakistan: 35Nigeria: 28UK: 24


Membership ChallengesProviding 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: • 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.


CSTA Revenue Sources

Corporate Projects25%

NSF Grants29%

SGB17%

ACM21%

Membership Dues0%

Corporate Dues8%


CSTA 06 Expenditures

Printing & Publications24%

Public Relations13%

Travel8%

Postage, Supplies, Banking

5%

Editorial Support3%

External Evaluator1%

Meetings9%

Salaries & Benefits28%

Design2%

Workshops3%

Membership1%

Web Support3%


SustainabilityWithout 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


This YearFour new issues of the CSTA Voice30 more JETT workshops across the countryBeta testing of the new TECS introductory CS workshops11 TECS workshops across the countryDevelopment 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 educatorsDevelopment of a new edition of the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12

Computer Science with a special new forewordDevelopment of the Level III Outlines and Objectives document to support

implementation of the ACM Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer ScienceDevelopment of the “IT is all about me” poster and distribution to more than

17,000 educatorsThe 2006 Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium (130)Development of a new Member Benefits brochureWorked with The ACM Ed Board to develop and disseminate the Degrees and

Careers in Computing brochure


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)


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


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.


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


Key Partnerships ACM Groups

– 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


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)


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


Contact Information

Chris StephensonExecutive Director, CSTA Phone: 1-800-401-1799

Fax: [email protected]

02/05/07chris stephenson1 a csta status report chris stephenson executive director

Documents

membership csta

csta board

chris stephenson7 csta

membership benefits

institutional membership

computer science development

board committees

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