Workshop on The State of High School Cybersecurity Education for Preparing a Cybersecurity Workforce

在美国，网络安全劳动力短缺是一个关键、紧迫且日益严重的问题。增加追求网络安全学位和职业的年轻人的数量需要一个多层次的战略。实现这一目标所需的一些步骤包括：使中学的网络安全教学严格、有吸引力和相关性；为年轻人提供学习网络安全作为学习和职业选择领域的机会，并通过额外的学习或劳动力安置，使他们顺利过渡到高等教育后的成功。一些州已经开始将网络安全内容纳入其K-12计算机科学和/或职业技术教育（CTE）标准，并提供网络安全课程；然而，广度、深度和实现因州而异。在许多州，将网络安全纳入K-12课程仍然强调学生的在线安全，例如安全密码、网络欺凌和身份保护。这个项目将实施一个工作坊来分析高中网络安全教育的现状。研究结果将在关键时刻促进对美国K-12网络安全教育状况的认识和理解。这个项目旨在实施一个研讨会来分析美国高中网络安全教育的现状。来自六个州的大约30名参与者（教育工作者、政策制定者和行业领袖）将参加研讨会，这些州在实施网络安全教育标准和在高中创造职业道路方面取得了良好进展，他们将撰写一份关于高中网络安全教育状况的报告，以培养网络安全劳动力。研讨会的目标是：1)了解这些标准的预期有效性，及其相应的课程和途径，以产生有意义的网络安全学习和满足劳动力需求；2)识别促进或阻碍跨学区实施网络安全标准的因素，特别关注涉及不同社会经济和种族/民族特征的因素；3)了解在高中有效教授网络安全所需的发展支持；4)总结挑战，并在解决网络安全劳动力短缺的背景下，为推进高中网络安全教育提供建议。研讨会将提供有关各种教育标准的有效性的及时和有用的信息，以填补网络安全劳动力缺口，并为正在寻找创建自己的网络安全链和途径的国家提供蓝图。该项目部分由美国国家科学基金会的发现研究PreK-12 （DRK-12）项目支持，该项目隶属于教育和人力资源理事会。DRK-12旨在通过研究和开发创新资源、模型和工具，显著提高pre -12学生和教师对科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）的学习和教学。DRK-12计划中的项目建立在STEM教育的基础研究和先前的研究和开发工作的基础上，为拟议的项目提供了理论和实证依据。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The cybersecurity workforce shortage is a critical, immediate, and growing problem in the United States. Increasing the number of youth pursuing cybersecurity degrees and careers will require a multilayered strategy. Some of the steps needed to achieve this goal include: making cybersecurity teaching and learning in secondary schools rigorous, engaging and relevant; providing opportunities for youth to learn about cybersecurity as a field of study and career options, and smoothing the transition to postsecondary success by including additional studies or workforce placement. Some states have begun integrating cybersecurity content into their K-12 computer science and/or Career Technical Education (CTE) standards and are offering curriculum in cybersecurity; however, the breadth, depth, and implementation varies from one state to another. In many states, integrating cybersecurity into the K-12 curriculum still emphasizes students’ online safety, e.g. secure passwords, cyberbullying and identity protection. This project will implement a workshop to analyze the current state of cybersecurity education in high schools. The results will advance knowledge and understanding about the state of K-12 cybersecurity education in the United States at a crucial time. This project aims to implement a workshop to analyze the state of the art of cybersecurity education in the U.S. high schools. Approximately 30 participants (educators, policymakers, and industry leaders) from six states — which have made good progress in implementing cybersecurity education standards and creating career pathways in high schools — will attend the workshop and produce a report on the state of high school cybersecurity education for preparing a cybersecurity workforce. The goals of the workshop are to: 1) understand the prospective effectiveness of these standards, and their consequent curricula and pathways, for generating meaningful cybersecurity learning and meeting workforce demands; 2) identify factors that enable or thwart the implementation of cybersecurity standards across school districts with a specific focus on factors involving different socioeconomic and racial/ethnic profiles; 3) Understand the developmental support needed to effectively teach cybersecurity in high schools; and 4) summarize challenges and provide recommendations for advancing cybersecurity in high school education in the context of addressing the cybersecurity workforce shortage. The workshop will produce timely and useful information about the efficacy of various educational standards to fill the cybersecurity workforce gap and provide a blueprint for states that are looking for creating their own cybersecurity strands and pathways.This project is partially supported by NSF's Discovery Research PreK-12 (DRK-12) program, in the Directorate for Education & Human Resources. DRK-12 seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.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.