As the 2022-2023 school year comes to a close, we wanted to share with you some exciting updates regarding the Small School Districts’ Association (SSDA) CS4NorCal Research Project:
Take a few minutes to learn from our current cohorts of educators, superintendents, and schools about why they joined the CS4NorCal Project. Here are a few highlights:
Connecting with educators in rural schools because small schools are unique
CS4NorCal has been amazing in connecting me to other like-minded individuals
The training is fabulous
No coding experience is necessary
Everyone needs to know how to work and manipulate machines
All teachers can teach computer science
Computer science is integrated into our society
Problem-solving, creative thinking
Think outside the box
Why not here?
Computer science is essential
Computer science is the fastest-growing job sector
“It’s the one thing that happens every week that the kids say they don’t want to miss”
“Why should our kids be behind the eight ball because of where they live?” Rob Adams Superintendent of Redding School District
As the 2022-2023 school year is winding down, please consider planning your participation in the CS4NorCal Community of Practice offerings during the 2023-2024 school year:
Please note that these optional community of practice meetings are open to all participating educators, and they are professional learning opportunities that are in addition to the CS4NorCal workshop in which you are participating. Dates for the CS4NorCal academic year workshop will be sent to you in a separate message.
Before the 23-24 school year and as the 22-23 school year winds down, there are still opportunities to engage with the CS4NorCal project and bring CS (and AI) education to your students.
Thursday, May 18th was recognized as the Day of AI. Like the Hour of Code in December, this is an opportunity to teach AI concepts to students using relevant, rigorous resources shared by MIT and providers across the globe. These resources complement the AI-specific curriculum included in CS Discoveries and Exploring CS, two of the courses supported by the CS4NorCal project.
If you are interested in having a voice in how AI can be safely implemented within educational communities, then you might be interested in TeachAI, recently launched on May 2, 2023. Artificial Intelligence will have a transformative impact on the future of education globally. There is a pressing need for updated curriculum standards, courses, tools, and assessments to prepare students safely and equitably for an age of AI. TeachAI is committing to providing thought leadership to guide governments and educational leaders in aligning education with the needs of an increasingly AI-driven world and connecting the discussion of teaching with AI to teaching about AI and computer science.
Over the past several months, the CS4NorCal Leadership team has updated its website in order to make it easier for participants to find essential information and resources. Improvements include:
A one-click link on the home page to start the registration process for the professional learning program;
A new Educator Portal with customized links to surveys, calendars and other information based on the year teachers joined the project – June 2021 or June 2022;
A new Overview of the comprehensive professional learning program; and
Detailed information about all aspects of the federally funded project in the About CS4NorCal section.
Teachers are asked to complete end-of-year surveys to help us capture your learning and teaching experiences with CS, as well as that of your students. A HUGE APRECIATION OF THANKS to everyone who has completed/administered teacher and student surveys and curriculum logs. These data support our grant reporting and research components of the project.
If you have not had a chance to catch up, below are links to the end-of-year surveys and curriculum logs.
The UC Davis research team will also reach out to school administrators to collect student-level demographic and assessment data. School administrators who have not yet signed the Data Use Agreement, which governs the security and confidentiality of student data and provides a list of the student data to be collected, can click the embedded link and forward to romartin@ucdavis.edu.
Garrett Edwards is an 8th-grade teacher in Glenn County at Lake Elementary School --a K-8 school with almost 200 students.
Garrett joined CS4NorCal last summer and has been trained in the Computer Science Discoveries Middle School curriculum. He integrates computer science into his science class on a regular basis. Recently he was trained in and learned about Circuit Playgrounds. He was so excited about them that he will be implementing them with his class before the end of the school year.
Garrett learned about Circuit Playgrounds in the April 24-27 Science Integration workshop, an exclusive (and free) professional learning opportunity for CS4NorCal participants. The Sacramento County Office of Education has developed two six-hour computer science integration workshops, one for science and the other for math, that provide turn-key curriculum, lessons, and instructional kits for computer science instruction. Integrating CS into other subjects is a way to expose students to CS when offering a standalone course is not viable.
Click on the links below to access the slides from the Science Integration workshops to see how CS can support lessons about earthquake safety, environment monitoring, and noise awareness.
Garrett has an enthusiasm for computer science and has exciting opportunities on the horizon for his 8th-grade students now and in the future.
Garrett, like many of you, wants to lend his voice to the CS4NorCal research project and also learn from colleagues at workshops, as well as attend the advisory meetings so he can learn how best to support his students and get them ready for their next step in school and beyond.
As one of the newest chapters in CSTA, the California Far North Chapter serves teachers in Northern California counties, including Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Sonoma, Lake, Siskiyou, Modoc, Trinity, Shasta, Lassen, Tehama, Plumas, Glenn, and Butte. These counties are included in "Region 1" and "Region 2" of the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association.
The chapter was charted to serve teachers participating in the CS4NorCal research project and has expanded to serve educators across Northern California. As a new chapter, there are open leadership positions available. Please visit the Become a Chapter Leader page of the CSTA California Far North website for more information such as the leader benefits and expectations.
Is there any room in your LCAP to embed and/or integrate computer science education? Many of the CS4NorCal educators have mentioned increased student engagement and higher attendance rates when computer science is integrated into their school day. Embedding computer science into all areas of the curriculum is easy to do after attending the CS4NorCal Summer Workshops.
Technology now affects every career field, and 90% of parents want their kids to study computer science. 86% of students believe it will be important for their career as well. Let’s give them the tools they need to be successful.
If you were unable to attend the Wed, March 8th Round Table about Why Computer Science is a Fit for Rural and Small School Districts, don’t worry, you can watch it at your leisure with this link. I would encourage you to watch the whole hour. I assure you it will be worth your time.
The amazing lineup of panelists from our six-county region had a wealth of knowledge to share from a variety of different perspectives about their CS Pathway implementation and experiences. The Moderator for the event was Marie Caldwell, the Director of Siskiyou Works.
Ryan Bentz: Superintendent of Schools, Glenn County
Audra Evans: Principal/Superintendent Surprise Valley Joint Unified-Modoc County
Dede Heimbigner: Principal Diamond View Middle School-Lassen County
Susan Keeler: Principal/Superintendent Dunsmuir Elementary School District-Siskiyou County
Ray Kellar: Principal/Superintendent Dunsmuir High School District -Siskiyou County
Leo Perez: Associate Superintendent of Instructional Services, Shasta Union High School District
All the panelists answered the following questions in the order listed below. It was a very productive and positive event for all that attended.
We hope that these written updates and related action items will keep you updated on the CS4NorCal project and help you plan accordingly. As always, we appreciate your ideas and suggestions to make the CS4NorCal experience an efficient and effective one.
Wishing you a fun and relaxing summer!
Jared with Kathy, Robin, Jonathan, Taylor, Lily, and Karen
This project is funded under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Program. However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the federal government.
