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

位于奥尔巴尼的纽约州立大学(SUNY)和计算机科学教师协会(Csta)提出了一个项目，旨在建设当地CSTA分会的能力，以创建强大的教师社区，增强作为计算机科学(CS)教师的职业认同感。目前，Csta协调由39个州和波多黎各的70多个地方分会组成的网络，并要求每季度开始新的分会。期望这些分会是教师主导的社区，支持其成员的专业发展。然而，在实践中，地方分会领导层往往难以为他们的工作创造一个愿景，导致许多分会没有明确的目标或对他们的工作的主人翁意识，许多CS教师没有一条以证据为基础的持续专业学习的途径。该项目的目标是为地方分会提供所需的支持，以创建满足其成员专业需求的强大社区。该项目将创建一个用于确定分会愿景和目标的“分会”工具包，主办一年一度的峰会，以发展志愿者分会领导力，在地方分会领导层中培育一个专业学习社区，并为地方分会发展以证据为基础的专业发展提供支持，以满足当地教师的需求。它将调查两个研究问题。第一个问题集中在分会一级：科技咨询机构的活动如何支持分会为地方分会的发展建设能力和自主权？第二个问题由两部分组成，集中在教师层面：CSTA教师成员给他们的CS教学实践带来了什么样的职业认同？当地CSTA分会如何影响教师对其职业身份的认知以及他们在课堂上使用循证CS课程的情况？该项目的成果将通过以下方面来衡量：Csta分会能力的增长和Csta成员的CS教师职业认同、各分会地区基于证据的专业发展计划的实施情况，以及计算机科学教师与当地CSfor All运动之间的联系。这一项目带来的改进有可能惠及全国数以万计的CS教师，并建立我们关于如何最好地支持教师转到CS的知识。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.