THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

TO: FROM: SUBJECT:

DATE: AUTHORIZATION(S):

P-12 Education Committee

Kimberly Young Wilkins

Conditional Approval of the Learning Standards for Computer Science and Digital Fluency

January 7, 2020

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

Should the Board of Regents provide conditional approval of the attached Learning Standards for Computer Science and Digital Fluency?

Reason for Consideration

Required by State statute (Part R of Chapter 56 of 2018). Additionally, to ensure successful implementation of the new standards, the timeline and rollout strategy will allow for professional development and curriculum development before full implementation of the new learning standards.

Proposed Handling

The Computer Science and Digital Fluency learning standards are presented to the P-12 Education Committee for conditional approval at the January 2020 meeting of the Board of Regents (Attachment A).

Background Information

Technology knowledge and skills are vital for full participation in 21st Century life. To comply with the 2018 statute requiring the development of Computer Science Standards, and to fulfil the expectation outlined in the 2010 USNY Statewide Technology Plan that "students, teachers, and leaders will have clear standards for what students should know and be able to do with technology," the Department has engaged with workgroups of stakeholders to create new Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards.

P-12 (A) 4

Overview of the New Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards

The NYS K-12 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards are organized into five Concepts: Impacts of Computing, Computational Thinking, Networks and Systems Design, Cybersecurity, and Digital Literacy.

Each Concept contains two or more Sub-Concepts. Within the Sub-Concepts are a number of standards. The standards are grouped into grade-bands: K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Students are expected to master the standards by the end of the last year of the grade band (i.e., end of second grade for the K-2 grade band).

Guiding Principles

In September 2018, the New York State Education Department (NYSED) convened a group of statewide experts on computer science and educational technology to assist in thinking through matters related to the creation of computer science and digital literacy standards for New York State. The group of experts recommended NYSED combine computer science and digital literacy under one "umbrella," as has been done in several other states. The group also developed Guiding Principles for the development of the new standards:

1. Equity and Access: Equity and diversity should be attended to, allowing for engagement by all students and flexibility in how students may demonstrate proficiency. The standards support a cultural view of learning and human development in which multiple expressions of diversity are recognized and regarded as assets for teaching and learning--otherwise referred to as Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-S).

2. Interdisciplinary Connections: The standards will complement and promote learning across disciplines.

3. Coherence: The standards will be focused on the most important knowledge and skills that all students need to know. The standards will be clearly written, demonstrate vertical and horizontal alignment, and articulate a clear learning progression.

4. Relevance and Engagement: The standards will motivate and empower students, allow for a focus on appropriate real-world challenges, and will prepare students to adapt and prosper in a world that is increasingly influenced and shaped by technological advancements.

In October 2018, the Department sent requests to the field for individuals with expertise in computer science and educational technology to assist the Department in writing and reviewing the standards. An Authoring Workgroup and Review Panel were formed to ensure representation from all NYS regions and community types. Workgroup members include teachers; administrators; business and industry experts; parents; representatives from higher education, BOCES, Big 4 school districts, and the NYC

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Department of Education; and members of various professional organizations, including New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), the Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), and the NYS Association of Computers and Technology in Education (NYSCATE). NYSED also formed an Executive Standards Committee to provide final recommendations to NYSED Senior Leadership.

Authoring Workgroup

From October 2018 through March 2019, the Authoring Workgroup worked to produce a first draft of the new standards. In April 2019, the Authoring Workgroup members cross-reviewed standards written by colleagues and provided feedback to the Department. The Department also requested feedback on the first draft from consultant Dr. Kathi Fisler, a national expert in computer science education. Department staff, with assistance from the Northeast Comprehensive Center, compiled and synthesized the feedback, and then met with Workgroup Leads to discuss. The Workgroups then utilized the feedback to do a revision of the standards to produce the second draft.

Standards Review

The second draft of the Standards was then provided to the Review Panel. Each member of the Review Panel was asked to fill out a survey as a high-level review of all standards, and then was asked to do an in-depth review of the standards through one of the following "lenses" (perspectives):

Lenses

Description

Clarity and Focus

Standards should be limited in number and should be focused on the most important concepts and skills that should be acquired by students. High-quality standards are clearly written and presented in an error-free, legible, easy-to-use format that is accessible to both the targeted instructors and the general public.

Coherence and Progression

Standards should be organized as progressions that support student learning of content and practices over multiple grades. Coherence refers to how well a set of standards conveys a unified vision, establishing connections among the major areas of study, and shows a meaningful progression of content across grade spans.

Equity

Equity and diversity should be attended to, allowing for engagement by all students and flexibility in how students may demonstrate proficiency. The standards support a cultural view of learning and human development in which multiple expressions of diversity are recognized and regarded as assets for teaching and learning-- otherwise referred to as Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education (CR-S).

Interdisciplinary The standards should complement other NYS Learning Standards and Connections promote learning across disciplines.

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Lenses Rigor

Relevant and Engaging

Specificity

Description

Standards should establish and articulate the appropriate level of rigor to prepare all students for success in college and careers. "Rigor" in this context can be understood as "challenge;" a rigorous standard should challenge students to increase their knowledge and skills.

Standards should be connected to appropriate real-world challenges, should motivate and empower students, promote individual growth and life-long learning, and prepare students to adapt and prosper in a world that is increasingly influenced and shaped by technological advancements.

Standards should be neither too broad nor too specific, and the "granularity," or the degree of specificity, should be consistent across the standards. High-quality standards are precise and provide sufficient detail to convey the level of performance expected without being overly prescriptive or limiting.

Once the review was complete, the Northeast Comprehensive Center compiled the comments and recommendations into a report, which was provided to Department staff and the Executive Standards Committee.

First Revision

In July and August 2019, Department staff and a computer science education consultant revised the standards to address the Review Panel feedback and Department policy and expectations. The draft was presented to the Executive Standards Committee and Department Senior Leadership in September. Revisions were made based on their input, and the draft was finalized for release for stakeholder feedback.

Stakeholder Feedback

The draft standards were then published to solicit broad stakeholder feedback from October 15 to November 15, 2019. NYSED received 410 survey responses representing 839 individuals and members of organizations across New York, with 564 leaving specific comments. The majority of responses were from K-12 educators and administrators; feedback was also received from higher education, advocacy groups, business/industry, nonprofit organizations, parents, students, and school board members. Approximately 60 percent of respondents indicated that they either moderately or strongly supported the standards overall; however, several themes clearly emerged as priorities for immediate revision.

Second Revision

NYSED convened a workgroup on December 4 and 5, 2019, to address the stakeholder feedback priorities and revise the standards accordingly, while still adhering to the Guiding Principles and ensuring the standards are rigorous and focus on the most important knowledge and skills.

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Below is a list of the stakeholder feedback priorities for revision and the actions that were taken by the revision workgroup in response.

Priority for Revision

Actions Taken by Revision Workgroup

1. Too many standards overall, and some standards are redundant.

? Reduced number of standards from 45 to 35 by combining redundant standards and focusing on the most important knowledge and skills.

2. More attention needed in the K-2 band, specifically looking at developmental appropriateness, ability to meet the standards without the use of a device, and ensuring clarifying language and examples are relevant to K-2 classrooms.

? Revised K-2 standards to focus on thinking, creativity and problem solving, and ensure almost all standards can be met without the use of a device.

? Revised 3-5 standards to ensure many standards can be met without the use of a device.

? Revised standards, clarifying language, and examples.

3. Limit references to specific technologies to ensure specific technologies are not needed to address a standard, as well as to help ensure standards remain relevant in years to come.

? Standards, clarifying language, and examples were revised to eliminate references to specific technologies.

4. More examples of interdisciplinary connections should be identified.

? Examples were revised to include more interdisciplinary connections, and an additional Appendix was created to highlight additional examples.

5. More emphasis should be placed on Computational Thinking; important concepts such as abstraction and modeling are absent.

? The standards were reorganized and revised; Computational Thinking was elevated to its own concept area.

? Standards in abstraction and modeling were added.

After the above work was completed, it was recommended to the Department that the K-2 band of the new standards needs additional review. The Department is committed to ensuring that this is the best possible set of standards for NYS students, and, as this is the foundation that will support further learning in this area, the program office concurs with this recommendation from the field. The Department would like additional time to work with the field and consider revisions to this area of the standards.

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Immediate Next Steps

Tremendous effort by New York State Educators and Stakeholders has been made to date to ensure the new Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards presented to the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of Education are of high quality, rigorous, and align to the Guiding Principles.

In order to ensure the new standards meet the needs of all students and align to the Board of Regents' ESSA Mission that every child has equitable access to the highest quality educational opportunities, services, and supports in schools that provide effective instruction aligned to the State's standards, as well as positive learning environments so that each child is prepared for success in college, career, and citizenship, NYSED staff have identified the following next steps:

? Engage further with early learning experts to ensure the K-2 grade band standards are developmentally appropriate, and that both the clarifying statements and provided examples are helpful and relevant to K-2 teachers.

? Return to the Board of Regents for final adoption of the standards in spring 2020.

? Begin to develop resources and guidance to aid the field in implementing the standards in accordance with the following proposed implementation timeline.

Timetable for Roll-out and Implementation

Upon approval by the Board of Regents, the projected timeline for implementation of the new Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards is as follows:

Dates

Adoption ? Aug. 2021

Phase

AwarenessBuilding

Activities

Roll-out and building awareness of the new standards and timeline for implementation

Sept. 2021 ? Capacity-Building Focus on curriculum development, resource

Aug. 2023

acquisition, professional development

Sept. 2023 ? Year 1 Aug. 2024 Implementation

All credit-bearing Computer Science courses will be aligned with NYS CS&DF Standards

September Full

2024

Implementation

CS&DF Standards implemented in all grade bands K-12

Related Regent's Items None.

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Recommendation It is recommended that the Board of Regents take the following action: VOTED: That the Board of Regents conditionally approves the learning standards

for the new discipline of Computer Science and Digital Fluency, with the requirement that Department staff take the immediate next steps as outlined above. Attachment

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Appendix A

2018 ? 2020 Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards Workgroups

Thank you to all the individuals involved in the authoring, review, and revision of the New York State Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards. Additional thanks to all the individuals who provided feedback through NYSED's Stakeholder Feedback Survey.

Executive Standards Committee

Dr. Leigh Ann DeLyser Co-Founder and Executive Director CSForALL

Dr. Cameron Fadjo Assistant Superintendent for Instructional Services Pleasantville Union Free School District

Dr. Kathi Fisler Professor (Research) and Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies Brown University

Dr. Jeffrey Matteson District Superintendent Tompkins-Seneca-Tioga BOCES

David Rothfuss Associate in Research & Educational Services NYSUT

Ellen Sullivan Assistant in Educational Services NYSUT

Ronald Summers Senior Director of Computer Science Education Policy & Implementation New York City Department of Education

Authoring Workgroup

Peter Apps

Science Teacher

York CSD

Christine M. ArmstrongGabler Mark Belden

Gregory Benedis-Grab

Lionel Bergeron

5th Grade Teacher

Olean CSD

Technology Teacher

Schuylerville Middle School

Head of Academic Technology and Computer Science

Packer Collegiate Institute

Director of Elementary Computer Science

NYCDOE

Lisa Blank

Director of STEM Programs

Watertown CSD

Aimee Bloom

Staff Development Specialist

Erie 2 BOCES

Stacy Bressette

Program Instructor/Curriculum Designer

Albany Can Code

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