What professional development do you provide?
We have a week of in-person PD in August at Siena for teachers planning to offer either the high school level Discovering CS course or the dual-enrollment CSIS110 Introduction to CS with Python and Multimedia. Discovering CS teachers have monthly meetings during the school year and two Saturday half day meetings online. The school year meetings are held on-line. The best way to prepare for teaching a dual-enrollment course is to take it for credit at Siena. For teachers whose schools are offering one or more of the Siena supported CS courses, tuition and fees are either paid through grant support or waived by the university. We regularly offer the dual-enrollment courses at Siena in the late afternoons with a remote option for teachers. For the CSIS110 dual-enrollment course, many teachers take it at Siena in the fall while they are offering it for the first time at their high school. The 14 week college level course quickly gets ahead of the year-long high school offering of the course, so teachers are well ahead of their students.
How can my school partner with Siena?
A partner school is any school that is teaching a Siena supported CS course, or that is intending to teach one in the upcoming or following school year. If you are interested, reach out to Robin Flatland (flatland@siena.edu) or Jim Matthews (matthews@siena.edu). We would be happy to work with you!
What CS courses are available for teachers to take for credit at Siena?
For teachers at schools partnering with us, we offer four CS classes in the late afternoons with a remote option for teachers. They are:
CSIS110 Introduction to CS with Python and Multimedia (3 credits)
CSIS120 Software Development (which is an introduction to Java programming) (4 credits)
CSIS180 Web Design (3 credits)
CSIS207 Exploring Data, Cybersecurity, and Networking (3 credits)
CSIS110 and CSIS180 are normally offered in the fall; CSIS120 is normally offered in the spring. We expect that CSIS207 will be offered in the spring every other year.
If you need full course descriptions, You can get catalog course descriptions here.
Enter CSIS for the Prefix and Enter 110, 120, 180, or 207 in the Code or Number box for the course you want.
Will taking the four courses above qualify me for a supplementary certificate in CS?
In NYS, teachers need 12 credits of computer science to qualify for a supplementary certificate in CS through the NYSED individual evaluation pathway. To assist with this, each semester we offer Siena CS courses in the last afternoon (with remote learning options). NYSED provides examples here of the types of courses that can be used towards the 12 credits. Other requirements for a supplementary certificate in CS include holding a valid NYS classroom teaching certificate (in another subject area), three workshops, fingerprint clearance, and a recommendation from the school district. A CS content specialty test (CST) is being developed; until it is ready, the requirement of passing the CST is being waived. Note that although Siena University can help you get 12 credits of CS, it does not have a NYSED approved supplemental CS teaching certification program. Only NYSED can evaluate and determine if your completed application meets their qualifications, although teachers applying with the four Siena CS courses above have been approved by NYSED in the past. For a full list of what is required to qualify for a supplementary teaching certificate in CS, use this NYSED web site on certification requirements.
What is the cost for teachers to take these CS courses?
From 2019-2022, an NSF CSforAll:RPP grant covered the tuition costs for teachers to take these courses. When the grant ended in 2022, Siena University agreed to provide support for this sucessful program -- the university waives tuition/fees for teachers at schools partnering with us to offer Siena supported CS courses, as long as there are empty seats available in the class. If there are not enough empty seats to accomodate all teachers interested, some teaches may need to wait a year to enroll in the class. Teachers will need to purchase their own textbooks and any software. Taking these courses is a great way to prepare for offering a dual-enrollment course at your school.
Am I allowed to teach CS courses at my high school?
The answer is yes. Here are three options:
(1) If you hold a SOCE to teach computer science, you are eligible to to computer science courses in the district in which you applied for ten years from the date the SOCE was issued. If you leave the district in which you applied for your SOCE to teach computer science, your SOCE will automatically expire. More information can be found here and here.
If (1), above, does not apply to you, ...
(2) If you have at least 12 credit hours of college level computer science courses at the 100 level or above on your transcript(s), you can apply for a Supplementary Certificate (Computer Science Pre K-12 - All Grades Classroom Teacher) now. You should do this through an individual review of experience. More information can be found in number 7 in the table on this page. Note: For computer science, you need 12 credit hours (not 30). The NYS Content Specialty Test (CST) is expected to be available for testing in the fall of 2025. Those applications submitted before the exam is available will not be required to take the CST for certification. More information about the CST in compter science can be found here.
If (1) and (2), above, do not apply to you, ...
(3) You may still teach CS courses without certification in the following ways.
(a) In NYS, a teacher can teach up to five classroom hours per week outside of the teacher's certification area which should mean that you can teach one class. Here is a link with more info (from a nysut site) that contains this relevant text: Incidental teaching, governed by Part 80.5-3 of Commissioner's Regulations, occurs when a teacher is assigned to teach a subject outside of the teacher's certification area for a period not to exceed five classroom hours a week. Such an assignment may only take place when the district can document that no certified or qualified teacher is available after extensive recruitment. In addition as indicated in Appendix B, the district must obtain approval for an incidental teaching assignment through the BOCES District Superintendent (or in New York City, through the Chancellor of the NYC Department of Education) acting on behalf of the State Education Department.
(b) If the CS courses you would like to teach are NOT on the list in this document, you can teach the courses without the NYSED CS Teaching Certification. You can find the codes we recommend for our 4 Siena HS/Dual Enrollment courses here. If your district uses the codes we recommend, currently, you do NOT need to hold a NYSED CS Teaching Certificate to teach these courses. However, this is likely to change in the future, so it is a good idea to work towards certification.