Crystal Franklin
Director, K-12 CS Education, CSforCLE
Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
Why do you want to serve on the CSTA Board and what do you hope to accomplish as a member of the Board? How does this align with current CSTA activities?
Becoming a member of the CSTA Board would be, for me, a natural progression in my current work in broadening participation in computing for all students, especially those that have been marginalized. Membership would widen my resource network, as well as provide me the opportunity to work with national leaders in the industry who bring fresh ideas to the table. This work cannot and should not be done in silos, and collaboration is a necessity when responding to the needs of our students. My biggest hope is personal and professional growth, while contributing to a body of work that will shift the tenants of social justice towards equitable educational opportunities.
What leadership experiences and skills can you contribute to CSTA and its Board?
“My leadership skills and experience and skills, which would be used to advance and support the work of CSTA, include the following accomplishments: Current ECEP National Executive Board member, serving as Chairperson for the Mission and Vision Interrogating Teaching and Learning Structures in Pursuit of Equity and Social Justice, Cleveland State University, College of Education and Human Services. I also manage of federal and foundational grant awards in excess of 2 million dollars over the last 4 years. Additionally, my work has allowed me to successfully assist and support 15 teachers in obtaining computer science supplemental teaching endorsements, provide professional development opportunities to approximately 170 teachers in Northeast Ohio, create and sustain an industry and educational network of computer science education stakeholders, while being a national advocate for equitable education.”
What previous experience do you have with CSTA?
My experience with CSTA has allowed me to serve alongside CSTA Ohio leadership members on various committees, activities, and advocacy work in Ohio. CSforCLE has also provided financial support to a local CSTA National Honor Society. Currently, I provide continued support of all teachers involved in CSTA through offering professional development opportunities, Professional Learning Community participation, and overall teacher resources as needed. This includes support of school-based activities, virtually and in-person, and fully supporting the mission and learning standards adopted by the CSTA when working with and collaborating with teachers.
What experiences and perspectives do you bring to supporting equitable participation in computing education?
Supporting and creating equitable educational opportunities is the undercurrent of all our (CSforCLE) work in CS education. Personally, I do this work because it is crucial and necessary, and it provides a voice for the often-unheard voices of our most vulnerable children. Our current educational system, at its best, still fails to provide equal education on a national level, and level the playing field. My work in policy writing for CS education in Ohio gives me the chance to affect change statewide. My work with ECEP broadens my reach to a national level. However, the work is not complete. Through my work, we target teachers and students in resource-lacking and underserved districts and provide them with the opportunity to engage in activities that would be otherwise inaccessible. The work is intentional: I focus on addressing the diverse needs of students and educators and provide them with the ongoing supports for the greatest opportunity for success.
Charity Freeman
Associate Director of Teacher Training
University of Illinois – Discovery Partners Institute, Chicago, Illinois
Why do you want to serve on the CSTA Board and what do you hope to accomplish as a member of the Board? How does this align with current CSTA activities?
I was appointed a member of CSTA’s Board of Directors in October 2020, in response to the organization’s commitment to representing the diversity of CS classrooms throughout the country, as well as providing a variety of perspectives to support CSTA’s mission and goals, as well as inform the organization’s future. As a result of this systemic adjustment, although short-term, I’ve had the duty and privilege of serving on the Board’s Nominations and Elections Committee, providing strategic insights, and developing valuable revisions to CSTA’s election process. I hope to join the Board as an elected member to continue ensuring that CSTA’s leadership reflects this commitment to addressing challenges to achieving equity, inclusion, and diversity among its members and the populations they serve.
What leadership experiences and skills can you contribute to CSTA and its Board?
As Associate Director of Teacher Training at Discovery Partners Institute, a research hub of the University of Illinois, my current work focuses on building teacher capacity in CS at the K-12 and community college levels. Prior to joining DPI, I was a CS teacher at Lane Tech College Prep High School, the largest of the Chicago Public Schools. I facilitated district-wide professional learning workshops for high school CS teachers on equitable and inclusive Exploring Computer Science curricular implementation. As a Teach Plus Illinois K-12 Teaching Policy Fellow, I advocated for the recruitment and retention of teachers of color as a means to address Illinois’ teacher shortage and draw legislative attention to the lack of ethnically-relevant role models in increasingly diverse classrooms.
What previous experience do you have with CSTA?
I attended my first-ever CSTA Conference in July 2018, and I was immediately enamored with the organization, its mission and goals, its leadership team, and its efforts in supporting CS teachers and students throughout the country. I joined the inaugural cohort of CSTA’s Equity Fellowship in October 2019, and began serving as an Equity Strand Lead of CSTA’s Annual Conference Committee in July 2020. In October 2020, I was appointed as a member of the CSTA’s National Board. I’ve attended and presented in all of CSTA’s Annual Conferences since July 2019, and I am a current, active member of two local CSTA Chapters: CSTA Chicago (I work and support CS teachers in Chicago) and CSTA Chi-Sub (I live and support CS teachers in suburban Chicagoland).
What experiences and perspectives do you bring to supporting equitable participation in computing education?
Due to my prior experience as a K-12 CS teacher, in partnership with CSTA, in various capacities, I’ve designed and supported the development of professional learning experiences focused on addressing issues of equity in CS classrooms around the globe. I’ve showcased a project, “The Value of Unit Zero,” on cultivating a classroom culture that is inclusive of all students’ social identities, backgrounds, and interests. I’ve participated as a panelist on “A Critical Conversation about Racism and Computer Science;” shared various PD models designed to address equity and access to CS education. I continue to challenge K-12 CS teachers to call out inequities of access and achievement among minoritized groups in CS education through the enactment of social justice.
Christine Liebe
Research Associate, CS Education Research
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado
Why do you want to serve on the CSTA Board and what do you hope to accomplish as a member of the Board? How does this align with current CSTA activities?
As states begin to designate teacher certification and licensure guidelines, aligning higher education programs that truly support teacher education for both pre-service and in-service teachers and programs that ensure expanded access to K-12 CS education (while not impeding access) is critical for continued growth of the CS K-12 discipline. I would like to provide my experience and perspective as a licensed K-12 teacher, CS teacher educator, Colorado CSTA Vice President, and educational researcher to support teachers and improve access to CS education.
What leadership experiences and skills can you contribute to CSTA and its Board?
Through K-12 CS education research, both local and international, state-level consultation, service and evaluation, K-12 outreach program design and management, and higher education large-scale course delivery, I am involved in a number of wide-reaching CS education leadership roles. In my current role as Research Associate and Adjunct Professor at Colorado School of Mines, I teach and coordinate an introductory programming course (475 students in Spring 2022), and teach a 400-level preservice CS teaching methods course for CS majors. I manage and design informal K-12 after-school and summer camp experiences (DECtech) supervising undergraduates who deliver engaging STEM and CS learning (~180 students per semester). Recently, I participated in a stakeholder group to write Colorado CS teacher education standards. As a higher education partner, I work with CS teachers to provide relevant and needed CS professional development.
What previous experience do you have with CSTA?
I have been a member of CSTA since 2017 and served as the Colorado CSTA Vice President since 2019. I have co-presented at the national CSTA conference and quarterly gatherings, and published on a variety of K-12 CS topics. I have served on the planning committee for the Colorado statewide CS teacher conference, RockCS, for three years. During my time as a Colorado CSTA executive member, we revised our chapter by-laws to consist of a statewide network of regional chairs and chapter members. I facilitated Colorado CSTA meetings hosted by Colorado School of Mines and industry partners, such as GoGo Air.
What experiences and perspectives do you bring to supporting equitable participation in computing education?
In 2021, I co-presented on a new framework, for differentiating CS education, the CS Computer Science Instructional Continuum, with Jane Waite, a CS educational researcher at the Raspberry Pi Foundation at both SIGCSE and CSTA conferences. I’ve worked in our CS department as an NSF-funded PATHS scholarship manager and Distributed Research Experience Apprenticeships for Master’s (DREAM) educational evaluator to support programs that broaden participation in computing. I’ve led in-service teachers in research-based talks and strategies for broadening participation in computing in the CS@Mines CSTART program. I’ve published on best practices for supporting low-income and minoritized undergraduate computing students as well as successful department-wide practices for broadening participation in computing.