Networks for CS Teacher Development: Building Robust Location Based Models of Teacher Learning and Community

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The State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany and the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) propose a project to build the capacity of local CSTA chapters to create robust communities of teachers with increased sense of professional identity as computer science (CS) teachers. Currently, CSTA coordinates a network of over 70 local chapters in 39 states and Puerto Rico, with requests to start new chapters arriving every quarter. The expectation is that these chapters are teacher-led communities supporting their members' professional development. In practice though, local chapter leadership often struggles to create a vision for their work, leaving many chapters without defined goals or a sense of ownership of their work, and many CS teachers without a pathway to evidence-based ongoing professional learning. The goal of this project is to provide local chapters with the support they need to create robust communities that meet the professional needs of their members. The project will create a "Chapter in a Box" toolkit for defining chapter visions and goals, host an annual summit to develop volunteer chapter leadership, nurture a professional learning community among local chapter leadership, and provide support to local chapters in developing evidence-based professional development that meets the needs of local teachers. It will investigate two research questions. The first question focuses at the chapter level: How do the CSTA activities support the chapters in building capacity and ownership for their local chapter development? The second, two-part question, focuses at the teacher level: What kind of professional identity do CSTA teacher members bring to their CS teaching practice? and How does the local CSTA chapter influence teachers' perceptions of their professional identity and their use of evidence-based CS programs in the classroom? Outcomes of this project will be measured through the growth of CSTA chapter capacity and CSTA members' CS teacher professional identity, the implementation of evidence based professional development programs in the chapter regions, and connections between teachers of computer science and local CSforAll movements. The improvements resulting from this project have the potential to reach tens of thousands of CS teachers nationwide and to build our knowledge on how best to support teachers as they switch into CS.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.