Mississippi State University’s Research and Curriculum Unit (RCU) was recently on the receiving end of a $35,000 grant from Google, which will fund training for an additional 70 computer science teachers this summer.
As part of the Mississippi Department of Education’s Computer Science for Mississippi (CS4MS) initiative establishing a pipeline of computer science curriculum and instructors to all schools by 2024, the RCU was previously set to provide professional development to two cohorts — about 60 teachers — this summer through a partnership with Code.Org.
The recently-awarded Google Grant for Educators will allow the RCU to train additional cohorts of middle school teachers ahead of the 2018-2019 academic year.
Google’s yearly grant program provides localized professional development to computer science educators. Since 2008, more than 40,000 teachers across the world have participated in the program and, in turn, have impacted more than 1 million students.
Shelly Hollis, the RCU project manager leading the organization’s CS4MS efforts, expressed excitement over the support from Google, but said they weren’t sure how to meet the demand of all the middle school teachers requesting training.
Funding from this grant will go toward solving that problem.
“With Google’s help, we can train these middle school teachers and help them better offer computer science content in their classroom,” Hollis said. “As a regional partner of Code.org, we will be providing training to teachers in the Computer Science Discoveries course.”
The grant will also help establish a community of practice in which teachers receiving professional development in computer science will be able to network and share ideas throughout the process.
The RCU says approximately 75 school districts have participated in the three-year CS4MS pilot program, offering computer science courses and materials to their teachers and students.
New computer science standards will be in place for the upcoming academic year. After this summer’s professional development sessions end, more than 800 teachers will have received training through the program.
Approximately 700 teachers are expected to receive professional development in computer science in the next three years.