Building a partnership for computer science education

The University of California San Diego (UCSD) piloted a new undergraduate introduction to computer science (CS) principles in fall 2010. The course was contextual, conceptual, and constructivist in its approach to programming; building interest and enthusiasm for the "magic" of computing; and designed to become a new high school AP Computer Science Principles course (to precede AP CS A)[2]. This paper describes a set of activities that set the stage to introduce the new CS Principles course into San Diego area high schools -- a region with many districts and a highly diverse student population -- truly a significant challenge. This exploratory project conducted by the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at UCSD identified essential decision makers and stakeholders, and built and/or strengthened the strategic collaborative networks necessary to support sustainable change in the region's K-12 computer science education programs. SDSC identified core leadership partners from UCSD, from San Diego State University (with the largest teacher preparation program in the region), the San Diego County Office of Education, and the San Diego Computer Science Teachers Association. With guidance and introductions from these core leadership partners, project PIs met with district administrators, technology specialists, and high school teachers who shared the project goals. In turn, these contacts provided introductions and opportunities for project PIs to present the case for the course to elected officials and key district decision-makers. Guided by input from these meetings, the core leadership partnership developed and achieved an agenda of objectives to build the collaborative networks needed for sustainable regional implementation of the course. Those strategic objectives included: • Identify protocols, processes, and decision criteria in each school and district; outline strategies for their effective use; • Gain endorsements needed for district-wide implementation; • Identify leaders within each district (teachers, professional development specialists, technology specialists, and administrators) willing to become advocates/ambassadors for the new (and not-yet AP) CS Principles course; and • Recruit and train a Teacher Leadership Team to pilot test the "Computer Science Principles" course content and pedagogy in their own high school classrooms, and provide formative feedback to guide wider professional development and course implementation.