K-12 Standards Revision
CSTA is conducting a comprehensive revision to its K-12 Standards with an anticipated release in summer 2026. A three-year process will result in a thoughtful, comprehensive, and evidence-based revision to these standards, taking place across three stages: (1) Research, (2) Writing, and (3) Implementation. Wide community participation will be necessary to ensure a high-quality output. CSTA seeks well-qualified community members to join this revision process.
The CSTA K–12 Computer Science Standards delineate a core set of learning objectives designed to provide the foundation for a complete computer science curriculum and its implementation at the K–12 level. The Standards, last published in 2017, were designed by educators to be coherent and comprehensible to teachers, administrators, and policymakers. The Standards are a primary resource for state and local education agencies (SEAs and LEAs) when determining what K-12 students need to know and be able to do in computer science. The near universal adoption of these standards promotes coherence across the U.S., impacting millions of students through their impact on state policy, curriculum development, teacher certification, and teacher preparation and professional development.
It’s Time to Update!
It is important to revise the CSTA K-12 Standards for several reasons:
- It’s been a while: When we publish these proposed Standards in 2026, it will have been nearly 10 years since the last set, making it the longest gap between revisions.
- Research has evolved: There is now far more CS education research, and this enables us to examine the latest literature to develop evidence-driven Standards.
- Implementation has surged: Far more K-12 students are learning CS than ever before. We can learn from trends in implementation to identify strengths, gaps, and issues with the current Standards.
- Great advances in emerging fields: AI, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and data science have had tremendous advances in recent years, but these are mostly absent from current standards. There is a need for clarity on whether and how to incorporate these related disciplines in grades K-12.
- States have revised standards: As nations and states have adopted K-12 CS standards in recent years, many have made thoughtful revisions. We can learn from and incorporate some of this work.
In response to these shifts, CSTA is conducting a three-year CSTA K-12 Standards revision process. Research began in fall 2023, and writing will kick off in late summer 2024. A target timeline for the revision process can be found below, with a target of summer 2026 for publishing the updated Standards.
We Need You!
CSTA used an open application process to select individuals interested in serving as writers, advisors, and/or reviewers during the upcoming revision of the CSTA K-12 Standards between August 2024 and July 2026. Details by role, including time commitment, are summarized in the following table and detailed below.
Applications were due Monday, June 17. Writers will be notified of selection status by Monday, July 15. Advisors and reviewers will be notified of selection status by Wednesday, July 31.
| Writers | Advisors | Reviewers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Responsibilities | Create rigorous, relevant, vertically aligned, and evidence-based standards and supporting resources. Iteratively improve using community feedback. | Provide insight and expertise to inform the overall revision process and direction. Provide regular feedback, and help resolve outstanding questions. | Read drafts of revised standards at key intervals, and provide detailed feedback to help improve the quality. |
| Time Commitment | high: about 2 hours per week, plus 5x 2-day, in-person meetings | medium: about 2 hours per month | low: about 2-3 hours during each of 3 review periods |
| Compensation | $4,000 stipend provided to educators | N/A, voluntary work will be acknowledged in products | N/A, voluntary work will be acknowledged in products |
Contact jacob.koressel@csteachers.org with questions about the Standards revision process.
Standards Writers
Writing teams will propose the overall structure of the revised standards, as well as specific content of standards within each grade or grade band. Writers will meet regularly to collaboratively develop content and incorporate ideas from community feedback.
Writing teams will consist primarily of K-12 educators and will also include representation from other roles such as K-12 administrators, state departments of education, CS education-focused organizations, higher education faculty, researchers, and curriculum experts. Selected writers will have a strong background in CS teaching, a demonstrated knowledge of K-12 CS education, and/or a background in areas such as education research and CS implementation support. We expect to assemble a writing team that represents the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of K-12 educators across the U.S. and beyond.
Standards writers will receive a stipend of $4,000 ($2,000 in 2024-25 and $2,000 in 2025-26) in exchange for active and full participation throughout the standards revision process. All travel expenses will be covered by CSTA.
Time Commitment
Regular virtual meetings and asynchronous work, estimated at two hours per week between Sept. 2024 and June 2026
Five in-person meetings (locations TBD, travel expenses paid) on:
- September 9-10, 2024
- November 7-8, 2024
- March 24-25, 2025
- July 2025 (co-located with CSTA Annual Conference on July 7-11)
- November 10-11, 2025
Advisors
Advisory Board members are tasked with providing insight and expertise to inform the overall standards revision process and direction. They review work products at regular intervals to validate and provide feedback. Advisors will consult with writing teams to provide their specific expertise and help resolve outstanding questions.
Selected advisors will have strong connections to the CS education community, a demonstrated track record of thought leadership, and/or specific areas of expertise that are needed to inform the process at a high level.
Serving as an advisor will be unpaid, voluntary work. CSTA will prominently acknowledge advisors in products.
Time Commitment
Approximately two hours per month:
- Bimonthly virtual Advisory Board meetings
- Consultations with writing teams to provide specific expertise, estimated at 1-2 hours per quarter
- Asynchronous reviews of draft products, estimated at 2-3 hours per quarter
Reviewers
Reviewers will provide detailed feedback at key intervals throughout the revision process. Reviews will take place asynchronously and require approximately 2-3 hours during each of three review periods. Additionally, they will be consulted as needed to provide their particular expertise.
Selected reviewers will have experience teaching, researching, or developing content for K-12 computer science education.
Serving as a reviewer will be unpaid, voluntary work. CSTA will acknowledge reviewers in products.
Time Commitment
Approximately 2-3 hours during each of three review periods tentatively scheduled for:
- winter 2025
- summer 2025
- winter 2026
Acknowledgements
OUR CATALYST PARTNERS
ADDITIONAL PARTNERS
Thank you to the following partners for supporting this CSTA K-12 Standards revision project:
- Association for Computing Machinery
- Microsoft
REIMAGINING CS PATHWAYS
The Reimagining CS Pathways: High School and Beyond project convened representatives from K-12 ed, higher ed, and industry in the U.S. to develop community definitions of (1) what CS content is essential for all high school graduates and (2) pathways for continued CS learning. This project was co-led by the Institute for Advancing Computing Education (IACE), and organized collaboratively with the following partners:
- Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- Code.org
- College Board
- CSforAll
- Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance.
This project and resultant material is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. 2311746. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.