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The NYS Learning Standards�for�Computer Science and Digital Fluency:�Challenges and Opportunities

Western Suffolk BOCES

January 13, 2023

Robin Flatland, Siena College

Jim Matthews, Siena College

Siena CSforAll Website

bit.ly/SienaCSforAll

Work supported by NSF Grant #1923378

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Description: The NYSED timeline for the Computer Science and Digital Fluency Learning

Standards calls for Initial Implementation in academic year 2023-2024 and Full Implementation by September 2024. In this session for school administrators and other educators we will identify challenges for implementing the 9-12 standards and describe opportunities for meeting the standards including a possible partnership with Siena College’s successful CSforAll program which has been recognized with several successful grants from the National Science Foundation.

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Dr. Robin Flatland is a Professor of Computer Science (CS) at Siena College with expertise in

computer science education at both the secondary and college level. She has been involved on

three National Science Foundation grants in which she worked with in-service and pre-service

NYS math teachers to help them offer high school CS classes and broaden student participation

in CS. Currently she is the principal investigator for a $350,000 National Science Foundation

CSforAll grant. She has team-taught CS in high schools with math teachers, runs professional

development workshops for CS teachers, is a Siena dual-enrollment CS coordinator, developed

curriculum and laboratory materials for a year-long dual-enrollment CS course currently offered at

19 high schools, and led Siena College’s efforts to become the first college/university to offer a

NYSED approved initial teaching certificate program in CS.

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Jim Matthews has been a computer science and mathematics professor at Siena College for over 40 years. He has also taught the mathematics methods course for the education department and served as the subject supervisor for hundreds of students teachers. Prior to joining the faculty at Siena he was a secondary mathematics teacher in Chatham, NY. He has also worked as a consultant for many school districts and educational associations, the majority of this work for urban and rural schools.

Jim has given hundreds of conference presentations and written articles based on ideas for

improving the teaching of mathematics and computer science. He has conducted numerous

workshops for mathematics educators, directed and consulted on many grant projects, and

helped establish undergraduate and graduate programs for mathematics and science teachers at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Currently, he is a co-principal investigator for a National Science

Foundation CSforAll grant. He was the principal investigator for a recent $1.2 million NSF grant

project to prepare teachers for work in high-needs schools.

Jim has been an active participant in a number of professional associations including serving

as president of both the Association of Mathematics Teachers of NYS and the

NYS Association of Mathematics Supervisors.

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For today we plan to:

Share some information about CS in HSs

Discuss challenges to meeting

NYS CS&DF Learning Standards (9-12)

Describe and answer questions about what the Siena CSforAll group/program has to offer

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What are the five reasons for teaching computer science?

Hint1: They are the same five reasons we teach mathematics!

Hint2: They are the same five reasons we teach natural sciences.

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Reason 1: �It’s useful

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Reason 2: �It helps develop critical thinking and problem solving abilities

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Reason 3: �It helps us understand our world and universe

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Reason 4: �It’s vital for responsible citizenship in a democracy

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Reason 5:�It’s beautiful

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School Capacity Questions – page 1

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Capacity, Access and Participation Questions – page 2

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Why: CS in High School-pg 2

What percent of students take a HS math course?
100%

What percent of students take a HS science course?
100%

What percent of students take a HS CS course?
4.7%

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Only half of all US high schools offer computer science

Accessed 10/22/2022, Source

Only

51%

of US high schools offer computer science

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64% of NY high school students attend a school that offers a foundational CS course.

Only 3.4% of NY high school students are enrolled in a foundational CS course

Accessed 9/26/22, Source

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Preparing our Students for the Future Questions – page 3 – top half

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Why is it important to teach CS in high school?

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Accessed 10/22/2022, Image Source, Data Source

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Accessed 09/26/2022, Source

There are Lots of Jobs Available

Accessed 10/22/22, Image Source

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Advanced NYS Capacity Questions – page 3 – bottom half

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Who Will Teach the Students?

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A Fermi problem: How many CS teachers are needed in NYS?

How many k-12 students in NYS?
~2,600,000
How many students per grade?
200,000
If each S takes 1 course in HS, how many S per year?
200,000
How many courses needed per year if 20 Ss per class?
10,000
How many CS teachers needed if each teaches 5 classes?
2000

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A Fermi problem: How many CS teachers are needed in NYS?

How many CS teachers needed?
~2,000
How many CS certified teachers are in NYS?
~0
How many NYS universities have Math certification programs?
~90
How many NYS universities have CS certification programs?
~7
Nationally in a recent 2 year period, how many math? CS?
~11,000 math certified ~120 CS certified
SO--Who will teach CS classes for our students for the next 1 to 20 years?

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BREAK --- ??? --- ~10:15am

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A Few Words About Teacher Certification

CS Teacher Certification

Siena College - first approved to certify K-12 CS Teachers (October 2019)
Siena College applying to NYSED for Certificate Program for In-Service Teachers
Applications for the Statement of Continued Eligibility (SOCE)

File with SED on or before 09/01/24

Professional or Permanent Certified Teachers only
Must have taught at least one course coded as CS (BEDS PMF or SIRS) between 9/1/17 and 9/1/24
Must complete Child Abuse Identification and Reporting, Dignity for All Students Act, and School Violence Intervention and Prevention training if not previously completed
Must complete fingerprint clearance if not previously completed

Applies for 10 years from date of issuance only in the district where you worked when you applied
TEACH system is not accepting application as of 10/22/22

NYSED Teacher Certification Exam Framework Draft

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Advanced Local Capacity Questions – page 4 top half

Discuss questions 32-38

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Planning Questions – page 4 bottom half

Discuss questions 39-42

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Major Challenges

Scheduling

Staffing

Curriculum

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Major Challenges

Scheduling

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Major Challenges

Staffing

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Why Will Math Teachers and Tech Teachers and others be Needed?�

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So. Who Will Lead?

What subject is mostly closely aligned with CS?
Math
CS relies on numerous applications of what subject?
Math
Which teachers should uphold standards for CS courses that satisfy mathematics graduation requirements?
Math
Teachers from what subject area will most enjoy teaching CS?
Math
SO. WHO WILL LEAD?

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Computer Science

Preparing our scholars with 21st Century skills to find their place in a competitive economy.

CS IS Life!!!

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The Middletown Story!

Background

Motivation
Siena Partnership
Doing the grunt work
Partnering with the right stakeholders

Growing the Program

Choosing the right teachers
Marketing the program
Finding creative ideas
Building a foundation for growth

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Major Challenges

Curriculum

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What are the NYS Learning Standards for Computer Science?

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Five Key Concepts K-12

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Accessed 10/22/22, Source

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Concepts, Sub-concepts, and Standards

Grouped by grade-bands: K-1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-8, 9-12
Standards - All Grades
9-12 Standards
K-12 Excel Version, including examples of meeting the task
CSForNY CS & Digital Fluency Standards Resources

Standards Unpacking Documents

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When Will Students Be Required to Meet These Standards?

NYSED Implementation Timeline & Implementation Roadmap

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How can the standards be met?

Discovering Computer Science

Siena College PLC

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Discovering CS Course

High school credit course for all students grades 9-12

No experience required
Elective credit, 3rd year math or science credit

Creativity, self expression, collaboration
Course materials, optional activities, teacher’s guide
Currently offered in 22 school districts

Hands-on lab and project based

Block-based, web, and Python programming
Unplugged CS fundamentals and special topics
Career exploration; individual, community, and societal impacts
Diversity and Laws & Regulations Special Projects
Course long, reflective web-based portfolio

Striving to meet all NY CS 9-12 Learning Standards by 9/1/2024

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Discovering CS: Block Programming Sample Work

Kaleidoscope Lab

Playing with Polygons Lab

Cultural Expression Reflective Work

Sound and Animation Lab

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Discovering CS: Web Programming Sample Work

Idea Book Unit Project

Custom Calculator

Wallpaper Designs

All About Me Unit Project

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Discovering CS: Python Programming Sample Work

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CSIS110 - Intro To CS with Python & Multimedia

Has been offered since Fall 2009 at Siena
Currently being offered at 19 high schools
Curriculum map
Covers both concepts and programming
Similar in spirit to the AP CS Principles course
$200 for 3 credits, fee waived for students qualifying for free/reduced lunch

� (Siena Dual-Enrollment Course)

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Pick a card, any card!

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CSIS110 - Intro To CS with Python & Multimedia

Conceptual Topics

Algorithms
History, Societal Impact
Data representation
Boolean logic & circuits
Hardware
Assembly & machine languages
Operating systems
Artificial intelligence

Python Programming

JES multimedia library
Images
Sounds
Animations

� (Siena Dual-Enrollment Course)

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Sample Student Work

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Logistics

Full year course
Computer (or Chromebook) for each student
Uses Replit.com Teams
Labs and programming projects done primarily in class
Curriculum materials

Robin, Rachel L. and Rachel P

At the college, this course is taught in 1 semester and meets 2 hours a week for lecture and 2 hours for lab.

At the HSs, it is spread over a full year and has been taught using both daily and block scheduling.

About 5 years ago, we tried teaching this course at a HSs in half a year, but we found that that is not enough time, just like it is not enough time for AP science courses. Students were completing their programming projects outside of class time, which is a problem for beginner programmers because they have frequent questions.

With a full year, students can do their labs and the majority of their programming projects during class time, which means they have their teacher there when they have questions.

The full year also allows us to do some fun extracurricular things like preparing teams to participate in Siena’s annual high school programming contest.

Because students are doing homework during class time which is individual work, they each need their own computer.

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College Credit Details

Students can take for college credit or just high school credit
Students register after first marking period
$200 tuition fee for 3 credits
Tuition fee waived for students qualifying for free/reduced lunch

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Introduction to Java Programming

Siena College CSIS120 Intro to Software Development
Similar to the AP CS A Java course
Originally piloted at Mohonasen High School; this year offered at 5 high schools
Lab and project based

� (Dual-Enrollment Course)

Robin & Maureen

The third course we offer is an introduction to Java programming, similar to the AP CS A course. We are in the process of getting this one off the ground. Mauren piloted it at her high school last year, and this year we have 5 schools offering it. It is lab and projected based, and like our other dual-enrollment course, we provide curriculum materials that teachers can use or adapt for their class.

Different from AP course in following ways (adapted from an email from Pauline):

Of the 10 AP CS A units, CSIS-120 does not address units 9 (inheritance) or 10 (recursion). However, units 9 and 10 are only covered on part 1 of the exam (multiple choice). This means that students only know how to read and evaluate code in these units; students do not have to be able to write or design their own code.

Siena’s CSIS-120 course addresses units 1-8 (i.e., primatives, objects, conditionals, iteration, classes, array, arraylist, & 2D array). Students need to be able to read, write, and design using concepts from all 8 units. Students will do 11 labs and several assignments using these concepts, which is far above the minimum 20 lab hours requirement for AP-CS-A. The CSIS-120 course also addresses these topics not covered in the AP CS-A course.

Use of constants (I couldn't find this in the exam description, but it may be there.)
Evaluating the char datatype
Number bases
Formatted printing
switch statements
Test case creation and driver classes
Enumerated types
Non-square arrays
Basic use of try-catch; throws; throw
More extensive use of the String class, Math class, wrapper classes, and ArrayList class
StringTokenizer, Random, Scanner including keyboard and file processing, PrintWriter, classes

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Siena College CSIS180 Web Design

Design fundamentals for user friendly sites
Students build web pages with HTML/CSS
Piloted this year at Middletown and Berlin High Schools
Lab and project based

� (Dual-Enrollment Course)

Robin & Maureen

The third course we offer is an introduction to Java programming, similar to the AP CS A course. We are in the process of getting this one off the ground. Mauren piloted it at her high school last year, and this year we have 5 schools offering it. It is lab and projected based, and like our other dual-enrollment course, we provide curriculum materials that teachers can use or adapt for their class.

Different from AP course in following ways (adapted from an email from Pauline):

Of the 10 AP CS A units, CSIS-120 does not address units 9 (inheritance) or 10 (recursion). However, units 9 and 10 are only covered on part 1 of the exam (multiple choice). This means that students only know how to read and evaluate code in these units; students do not have to be able to write or design their own code.

Siena’s CSIS-120 course addresses units 1-8 (i.e., primatives, objects, conditionals, iteration, classes, array, arraylist, & 2D array). Students need to be able to read, write, and design using concepts from all 8 units. Students will do 11 labs and several assignments using these concepts, which is far above the minimum 20 lab hours requirement for AP-CS-A. The CSIS-120 course also addresses these topics not covered in the AP CS-A course.

Use of constants (I couldn't find this in the exam description, but it may be there.)
Evaluating the char datatype
Number bases
Formatted printing
switch statements
Test case creation and driver classes
Enumerated types
Non-square arrays
Basic use of try-catch; throws; throw
More extensive use of the String class, Math class, wrapper classes, and ArrayList class
StringTokenizer, Random, Scanner including keyboard and file processing, PrintWriter, classes

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Where Can Teachers/Schools Get Support?

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29 Current High School Partners

High School	Year In Program	# Students	Econ. Disad- vantaged
Bethlehem	8	1,635	10%
Mohonasen	7	946	33%
Glens Falls	5	599	43%
Chatham	5	355	37%
Middletown	4	2,157	76%
Schenectady	4	2,635	83%
Ichabod Crane	4	590	30%
Guilderland	4	1,570	17%
Columbia	4	1,280	21%
Duanesburg	4	361	28%
Schalmont	4	635	26%
Goshen	4	960	28%
Greenwich	4	500	29%
Berlin	3	413	54%
Troy	3	1,276	68%

High School	Year In Program	# Students	Econ. Disad- vantaged
Sharon Springs	3	261	62%
Greenville	3	369	37%
OESJ	2	285	56%
South Jefferson	2	560	50%
Schoharie	2	384	47%
Fallsburg	2	628	66%
Shaker	1	2038	28%
North Salem	1	355	19%
Saratoga Springs	1	2040	23%
Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake	1	1005	20%
Little Falls	1	331	66%
Manlius Pebble Hill	1	315	8%
Hudson	1	452	69%
North Warren	1	140	41%

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Siena’s Comprehensive Support for High School CS

Developed over 10 years and supported by three NSF grants
Leverages strong college/high school partnerships
Extensive PD & full curriculum support for 4 courses:

Discovering CS (high school level)
Intro to CS with Multimedia and Python (dual-enrollment)
Intro to Java Programming (dual-enrollment)
Web Design (dual-enrollment)

Tuition scholarships for in-service teachers taking CS courses for certification
Vibrant professional learning community

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Vibrant Professional Learning Community

Teachers engage regularly through

Shared CS curriculums
PD meetings
Taking CS courses at Siena
CS Teacher Association NY Capital District Chapter
Annual high school programming contest

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New High School Partners

Welcomes all high schools
Teacher qualities

Enthusiastic
Enjoys problem solving
Loves to learn
Willing to take risks and learn along with students
CS knowledge???

Talk with us today or anytime if you are interested

Robin Flatland (flatland@siena.edu)
Jim Matthews (matthews@siena.edu)
Pauline White (pwhite@siena.edu)

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Questions

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Contact Information

Dr. Robin Flatland

flatland@siena.edu

Mr. Jim Matthews

matthews@siena.edu

Mrs. Pauline White

pwhite@siena.edu

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