Things have been moving right along in New Hampshire. First we developed CS teacher certification (a joint effort with the department of education and a team of computer science educators). Now we have CS included in the legal definition of an adequate education as of earlier this summer. A set of CS standards, based on the CSTA Standards and K12 CS Framework have been adopted officially this week. Implementation plans are in the works. The latest announcement I received follows:
On June 18, 2018, NH House Bill 1674 was signed into law. https://legiscan.com/NH/text/HB1674/id/1656822
This bill renames our "ICT Literacy" program to "Digital Literacy," and adds Computer Science (CS) as a core K-12 subject area.
The NH Department of Education is currently working on the program rules (ED306) that will implement this law, as well as a timeline for developing CS programs.
We are looking at a two-year implementation timeline, with a target date in 2020 for districts to have programs in place.
There will be additional opportunities for educators and the broader public to provide feedback, with information posted on this group and on the Department website.
Additionally, the NH State Board of education today (August 8, 2018), voted unanimously to adopt the NH Computer Science academic standards. Part 1 of these standards, "Context and Guidance," provides additional clarification about the relationship between digital literacy and computer science, how CS relates to STEM and other disciplines, and recommendations for developing or strengthening programs. Part 2 is the grade-band standards.
The standards, and additional resources, are available here: https://www.education.nh.gov/instruction/computer-science/
The policy tour slides provide a concise overview of our computer science policy efforts.
The Department of Education will continue to support implementation of these policies through federal and state grant programs, partnerships, and guidance and support.
Awesome!
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