This project will bring elementary and middle school teachers, administrators, and outside experts together to form a professional learning community (PLC) on computer science assessment. The PLC will explore methods, best practices, and resources for implementing benchmark computer science assessments for fifth-grade and eighth-grade students. We will focus on three types of assessment—ePortfolios, badges, and tests—and how to best use existing resources (rather than creating something new from scratch).

 
By the end of the year, participating districts will pilot a computer science assessment, aligned with the computational thinking and computing systems strands of the
MA Digital Literacy and Computer Science standards, at one or both of the targeted grade levels (depending on the expertise of the educators who participate). These assessments will give districts data they can use to ensure that all students are prepared for high school computer science, with the goal of broadening participation at the high school level.

 
This project is led by: Deborah Boisvert (CSforMA, Inc.), Tiffany Davis (CSTA Western MA), and Ruth Farmery (CSTA Greater Boston and New England), with support from Paula Moore (MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).
 
This project is funded by CSforMA and CSTA Western Mass. 
 
Participating educators must commit to:
1) Attending a full-day face-to-face meeting at WPI on Saturday, October 14th, 2023.
2) Attending monthly 1.5-hour virtual meetings October-December 2023 (weekdays, after school hours).
3) Attending a full-day face-to-face meeting at WPI in January, 2024 (weekend).
4) Piloting an assessment in your district February-March, 2024.
5) Sharing your data and reflecting on what worked and did not work in April, 2024.
6) Attending a full-day, face-to-face meeting at WPI in May or June to wrap up the project (weekend).
 
Participants will receive a stipend of $750 each.
 
Register at https://bit.ly/AssessCS-PLC.