Education – Buchatech.com

📢 Six months ago, a coalition of esteemed technologists and educators united to establish the Minnesota’s Computer Science (CS) Working Group, embarking on a journey to develop a comprehensive Computer Science Education Strategic Plan for all public K-12 and charter schools across the state. 💻 Throughout this six-month journey, we convened for five full-day meetings and workshops, undertaking two rounds of meticulous writing to synthesize our collective insights into the plan. The journey in posts:

#1 Working group started! – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7119683894882291713

#2 Plan draft done! – https://www.linkedin.com/posts/steveabuchanan_computer-science-working-group-update-activity-7159322360435634177-DglR

#3 Plan finished! – https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7176989951132151808

Here is a summary of the effort:

📝 “Minnesota’s Computer Science (CS) Working Group developed a state strategic plan for computer science, finalized in March, 2024, which describes ten recommendations for long-term and sustained growth of computer science education across all public K-12 and charter schools in Minnesota, as outlined in the Computer Science Education Advancement Act Minn. Stat. 120B.241 [2023]. The recommendations are aligned to the requirements outlined in the legislation, such as licensure, high-quality professional development, continuous improvement, and standards, among others.”

Kudos to all of the amazing indivuduals in the working group:

Andrea Wilson Vazquez, Minnesota Department of Education
Wendy Robinson, Office of Higher Education
Katherine Anthony-Wigle, Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board (PELSB)
Alexandra Holter, Computer Science Teachers Association – MN Chapter
Steve Buchanan Microsoft, representative from the business community employing computer scientists or technologists
Greg Larson, Minnesota Technology Association (MnTech)
Mahmoud Aliamer, Science Museum of Minnesota, representative from a nonprofit organization working with students and teachers in computer science
Anthony Padrnos, Minnesota Association of School Administrators (MASA)
Tabitha Senty, Education Minnesota
Cassie Scharber, Minnesota Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (MACTE)
Jennifer Rosato, CSforAll MN
• Sheri Levasseur, Pequot Lakes Public Schools, licensed library media specialist
• Erica Allenburg, Minnesota School Boards Association (MSBA)
• Vic Dreier, SciMathMN
• Zhaawin Gonzalez, Tribal Nations Education Committee (TNEC)
• Jesse Kodet, Tribal Nations Education Committee (TNEC)
• High School Student, Under 1,000 student school
• High School Student, Over 1,000 student school
• Andy Olson, Hermantown Community Schools, K–5 teacher
• Kirsten Tetzlaff, Minnetonka Public School District, 6–8 teacher
• Indrayani LeMaire, Hmong College Prep Academy, 9–12 teacher
• Tika Kude, Wayzata Public School District, 9–12 CTE teacher

🙌🏼 It was an honor to contribute to this effort, one that will profoundly impact the youth of Minnesota for years to come. 🎉🎉 Yesterday, we partnered with the Minnesota Tech Association and the Raspberry Pi Foundation to commemorate the successful completion of this plan. Hosted at REM5 Labs in St. Louis Park, the event had great support, with a notable turnout of engaged individuals. Even had the chance to speak on a panel with Philip Colligan the CEO of the Raspberry Pi Foundation! 🌟

📰 The next milestone involves publishing the plan to the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) Legislative Reports page, followed by its journey through the legislative process, with the ultimate aim of committing it into law.

You can download a PDF of the plan here:

Computer Science State Strategic Plan

🏛️This achievement marks just the beginning of the journey. Sustained dedication and the involvement of more volunteers will be essential to realizing the goals outlined in this plan. 💻

Stay tuned for further updates on the progression of our efforts. There’s much more to come around this initiative.

MDE Computer Science page:

https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/ComputerScience/index.htm

Under the Computer Science Education Advancement Act (HF 759 and SF 757) (https://csforallmn.org/cs-ed-bill-2023/), the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) has been charged to form a working group that will develop a strategic plan to improve Computer Science for k-12 education in the state of Minnesota. 🎓

🔄 There is an urgent need to elevate Minnesota’s computer science k-12 education position. Minnesota is currently last in the United States when it comes to computer science.

An insightful article highlighting this challenge can be found here: (https://www.startribune.com/minnesotas-high-school-tech-education-is-among-the-worst-stunting-local-industrys-growth/600275879/).

🔄I am thrilled to share that, among 80 applicants, I have been chosen as a member of this new “Minnesota Computer Science Education Working Group” by MDE! 🌟 It’s an honor to stand alongside esteemed technologists and educators from our state. Together, we are committed to crafting a comprehensive statewide computer science education program.

Our mission is clear: bridge the tech education gap in Minnesota’s schools through a plan for long-term and sustained growth of computer science education in all k-12 school districts and charter schools. The working group will develop a robust plan, slated to be presented to legislative committees overseeing education in the state. Upon approval, this plan will be set to improve computer science education statewide.

I am thankful to work at an organization such as Microsoft that supports employees to engage in initiatives such as this. This is a testament to Microsoft’s mission to “empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more”.

The working group kicks off this week with our first meeting. I am excited to impact computer science in K-12 education, and I invite you to learn more about the initiative here: https://education.mn.gov/MDE/dse/stds/ComputerScience/index.htm.