Terms

Computer Science

• Computer Science (CS) is defined here as “the study of computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their hardware and software designs, their implementation, and their impact on society” (Tucker et al., 2003).

Computational Thinking

• Computational thinking (CT) is defined here as “the thought processes involved in expressing solutions as computational steps or algorithms that can be carried out by a computer.” (Cuny, Snyder, & Wing, 2010; Aho, 2011; Lee, 2016).

PLN

• Professional Learning Network: a group of educators collaborating with those outside their everyday community to improve their teaching and learning (Brown and Poortman, 2018)

District Teams

District CS Leads (2-3 people)

• Purpose: make decisions about strategic directions, get others involved, likely involvement in long-term district CS efforts

• Meets: monthly with the Grant Core Project Team

District PLN Team (5-7 people)  

• Purpose: specific team for this grant; includes District CS Leads as well as district staff that can contribute to achieving specific grant goals through knowledge of school systems and grant-specific student populations

  • administration, counselors, special education, Native American, ES/MS/HS

• Meets: quarterly with the grant team and other districts

District CS Champions (varies by district)

• Purpose: work on developing and maintaining CS pathways, often by teaching in the classroom; this may change over time and is likely broader and larger than the District PLN Team

• Meets: monthly, convened by District CS Leads 

  • CS teachers attend regular monthly meetings

  • Administrators, counselors, special education specialists from the PLN meet with this group as needed