About the CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards
Computer science and the technologies it enables rest at the heart of our economy and the way we live our lives. To be well-educated citizens in a computing-intensive world and to be prepared for careers in the 21st century, our students must have a clear understanding of the principles and practices of computer science. The CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards delineate a core set of learning objectives designed to provide the foundation for a complete computer science curriculum and its implementation at the K–12 level. To this end, the CSTA Standards:
  • Introduce the fundamental concepts of computer science to all students, beginning at the elementary school level.
  • Present computer science at the secondary school level in a way that can fulfill a computer science, math, or science graduation credit.
  • Encourage schools to offer additional secondary-level computer science courses that will allow interested students to study facets of computer science in more depth and prepare them for entry into the work force or college.
  • Increase the availability of rigorous computer science for all students, especially those who are members of underrepresented groups. 
The standards have been written by educators to be coherent and comprehensible to teachers, administrators, and policy makers. 

This site provides access to the revised 2017 CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards, which were released at the CSTA Annual Conference in July 2017. These standards are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.


Connection to the K-12 Computer Science Framework
The K–12 Computer Science Framework provides overarching, high-level guidance per grade bands, while the standards provide detailed, measurable student performance expectations. The Framework was considered as one primary input for the standards development process. 

The Framework, led by the Association for Computing Machinery, Code.org, Computer Science Teachers Association, Cyber Innovation Center, and National Math and Science Initiative in partnership with states and districts, informed the development of this work. The CSTA Standards Revision Task Force crafted standards by combining concept statements and practices from the Framework. The Task Force also used descriptive material from the Framework when writing examples and clarifying statements to accompany the standards.

How to Use the Standards
When CSTA first designed the computer science standards, we expected that educational governing bodies (such as departments of education) would use them to create state and national standards for computer science education in schools. What we learned from our members, however, is that educators use the standards in a wide variety of creative ways. This document consists of direct quotes from educators on the ways in which they have been able to use the CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards above to support a wide variety of professional goals.

 Prior to claiming alignment with the CSTA K-12 CS Standards, you must have your content approved by the CSTA Curriculum Task Force. The Task Force will conduct a crosswalk to determine if your content, product, or curriculum is aligned with the Standards.

States may use the Framework as an organizing structure or foundation to create their own standards by using or adapting specific examples of standards from CSTA and other states. A state will decide how much of any input they use, and is not necessarily expected to adopt any set of standards as a whole. States should consider their own factors such as their local economy, history of CS implementation, and education system’s goals.