Supplementary Authorization Program

Earn Your Supplementary Authorization in Computer Science

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is creating a computer science (CS) supplementary authorization program in partnership with SFUSD. This new authorization can be added onto a multiple subject or any single subject credential To earn the authorization, teachers must complete 10 upper division units in computer science, including: computational thinking, programming, computing systems, and impacts of computing. (See more details.)

We plan to offer a sequence of courses at SFSU that will meet these requirements:

    • summer 2018: 2 units (summer institute, one intensive week) -- see more information about ITEC 899
    • fall 2018: 3 units (course at SFSU, one 3-hour evening class per week) -- see details below
    • spring 2019: 3 units (course at SFSU, one 3-hour evening class per week) -- details TBD by October 2018
    • summer 2019: 2 units (summer institute, one intensive week)

Support from an NSF Grant

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is soon awarding SFUSD and SFSU a $1M, three-year grant to create a pipeline of well-qualified and authorized computer science teachers in San Francisco. We expect to receive funding around January 2019, and the grant will provide the district funds to reimburse participating SFUSD teachers for tuition, plus a modest stipend.

SFSU and SFUSD planned to begin the program in January 2019, but we decided to start early so that we can involve more teachers in the planning process. As such, if you choose to participate this year, please be patient as we sort out details of a new program and also vocal in providing feedback. We want and expect our inaugural cohort to give input and help shape the program.

Fall 2018 Course Details

We plan to adapt a course in fall 2018 to meet the needs of this program. While in future years we plan to create teachers-only courses, this fall course will be enrolled by both undergraduate students and teachers. The course title is Computational Thinking and Quantitative Reasoning and is taught by Professor Ilmi Yoon. Course objectives include:

    • Learn program building blocks (variables, conditional statements, loops, procedures/functions, arrays).
    • Use the building blocks to develop programs manipulating mathematical models as formulae, graphs, and tables.
    • Learn tools and libraries to develop programs extending the building blocks to read in data from physical sensors or diverse social and scientific contexts, visualize them, and draw conclusions.

Class sessions will take place in Thorton Hall 429 on Thursdays from 4:30 to 7:15 PM throughout the fall semester (August 30th to December 20th, 2018). Please note that the course will require 3-6+ hours of homework per week. See the syllabus and sample assignments for more details.

Inaugural Cohort in 2018-19

We invite you to join our inaugural cohort of SFUSD teachers who will earn their CS supplementary authorization at SFSU. Upon successful completion of the courses (grade of A or B), participants will receive:

    • reimbursement of all tuition costs ($395 per unit)
    • stipend of approximately $1000
    • excellent learning and professional development opportunities
    • a supplementary authorization in computer science

The district will provide two stipends to reimburse tuition costs and provide modest compensation: the first around January 2019 after completion of the summer and fall courses (5 units x $395 each for tuition + $500 stipend = $2,475 total) , and the second around September 2019 after completion of the spring and summer courses.

Participant Commitments

We can only accommodate a maximum of 10 participants this year. To secure your place in this inaugural cohort, we ask you to commit to the following:

    • successfully complete the fall 2018 course (attend Thursday evening classes and complete homework)
    • successfully complete the additional courses in the program, to earn your supplementary authorization
    • provide feedback and input to shape the program for future years