By Dr. Rosabel Deloge, chair, CS4NH Initiative
CS4NH (Computer Science for New Hampshire) is an initiative of the NH Tech Alliance through its Workforce Development Committee. The mission of CS4NH is to advocate for computer science education in New Hampshire and to support stakeholders, including policy makers, educators, business and industry and non-profits in that effort. CS4NH ensures that all NH students have access to and can participate in high-quality computer science educational opportunities and can acquire good computational skills before they graduate from high school.
Many in New Hampshire are working towards this goal in a variety of ways. The NH Computing Education Landscape Study Report, soon to be published, found 12,446 high school students enrolled in computing related courses in 86 high schools, career and technical centers and an online charter school that’s being taught by 242 teachers. Curriculum guidance for these courses has been found from other states, national organizations and online resources.
Two significant accomplishments now provide New Hampshire teachers, schools, school districts and business and industry professionals with a common foundation from which to build upon.
On June 18, 2018, Governor Sununu signed into law HB1674 which has revised the educational content of an adequate education. Technology education, information and communications technologies (described in department rules Ed 306.42 and Ed 306.47) has been replaced with two separate content areas of engineering and technologies and computer science and digital literacy. The associated Ed rules are in the process of revision and will be ready for review soon.
On August 8, 2018, the State Board of Education approved the New Hampshire K-12 Computer Science Standards, which are available here and here. New Hampshire teachers, schools and school districts as well as business and industry now have their own state standards in computer science. These standards are aligned with CSTA K-12 Computer Science Standards available here and K-12 CS Framework here. With these standards in place, teachers of grades K-12 now have guidance for integrating computer science and computational thinking into their already on-going class curricula.
New Hampshire’s K-12 Computer Science Standards can serve as a basis for common discussion with business and industry and education to ensure that business needs are being met and that New Hampshire students graduate career and/or college ready with the technology skills important and essential for all NH students.
CS4NH Membership
Rosabel Deloge: CS4NH, chair, educational consultant, NSF grants manager
Terry Wolf: CS4NH, vice chair
Judy Burrows: CS4NH, notetaker, director of student aid, NH Charitable Foundation
Beth Doiron: CS4NH, representative to NH Tech Alliance-Workforce Development Committee, director of college access and DOE Programs and Initiatives, Community College System of NH
Dave Benedetto: researcher, doctoral student in STEM Education program at Tufts University
Bill Church: executive director, White Mountain Science, Inc.
Matt Cookson: executive director, New Hampshire Tech Alliance
Lisa Danley: career & technical director, Dover Career Technical Center
Heather Drolet: technology integrator, Concord, NH School District
Lori Langlois: director, North Country Education Services
Laura Nickerson: director, STEM Teachers’ Collaborative, UNH
Mihaela Sabin: associate professor and department chair, UNH-Manchester and director of NSF/Google grants
Representative:
Nate Greene: science education consultant (includes Computer Science), NH Department of Education
For more information, please visit nhtechalliance.org or email [email protected].