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CS Standards
In January 2018 the Pennsylvania State Board of Education endorsed the 2017 Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) K-12 Computer Science Standards. Local education agencies (LEAs) are encouraged to voluntarily adopt these standards to guide the implementation of Computer Science education.
Act 86 (signed into law on July 13, 2016) amended section 1605 of the Pennsylvania Public School Code to allow high school students to apply up to one credit towards a math or science high school graduation credit requirement upon successful completion of computer science or information technology coursework.
Are you looking to integrate Pennsylvania’s new STEELS standards into your computer science curriculum or exploring ways to incorporate CS into your STEELS instruction?
The CSinPA team created crosswalks between the CSTA K-12 CS standards and STEELS standards.
About the CS Standards
The standards are designed to:
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Introduce the fundamental concepts of CS to all students, beginning at the elementary school level.
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Present CS at the secondary school level in a way that can fulfill a computer science, math, or science graduation credit.
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Encourage schools to offer additional secondary-level CS courses that will allow interested students to study facets of computer science in more depth and prepare them for entry into the workforce or college.
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Increase the availability of rigorous computer science for all students, especially those who are members of underrepresented groups.
The CS standards are organized in grade-level bands, providing flexibility for LEAs in determining how to address them, however; it may take time to acclimate to the way that the standards are organized and named.
CS and STEELS Standards Crosswalks
The CSinPA team at PaTTAN has heard concerns from educators about how the newly adopted Pennsylvania Science, Technology & Engineering, Environmental Literacy & Sustainability (STEELS) standards impact CS instruction and learning. To support educators, PaTTAN has created crosswalks between the STEELS and CS standards.
Click here to access and learn more about the crosswalk.
These crosswalks include two sections that map the connections between STEELS and CSTA K-12 CS standards , helping you find opportunities to integrate CS concepts into your STEELS lessons, and vice versa.
Resources
CS Priorities
This document identifies areas of focus in instruction and critical standards for Computer Science instruction in grades K-2. Where applicable, potential cross-content connections are provided.
K-12 CS Framework
Learn more about the CS concepts and practices addressed by the CS standards.
CSTA
Use the “Explore the Standards” tool to find standards by grade level, CS concepts, and CS practices.
Note: A CSTA membership (basic membership is free) is required to access the standards through the CSTA website. PDF versions of CSTA resources are available here:
Supporting Research
Computer Science Teachers Association (2017). CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, Revised 2017.
http://www.csteachers.org/standards
K–12 Computer Science Framework. (2016).
http://www.k12cs.org
“Fulfilling High School Graduation Requirements with Computer Science Coursework.” Pennsylvania Department of Education, 2017.
In order to provide the best and most current resources and information, we continually revise our CSinPA Toolkits. You can contribute to the toolkit by submitting your questions, revisions, or resources using this form.