Building on the Wolf Administration’s efforts to prepare students for a lifetime of success, the Department of Education is announcing the availability of the Computer Science Certification Test for educators seeking to become certified computer science instructors for grades 7-12.
“More than 300,000 jobs in Pennsylvania require STEM-related skills and there are at least 13,000 unfilled computer science related occupations,” said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. “In an effort to prepare our students to meet these demands, we need more educators trained in STEM and computer science instruction. The program framework guidelines will allow our educator preparation programs to increase the number of certified teachers who will be able to prepare our students to pursue careers in STEM industries.”
Computer science courses are currently taught by teachers with certificates in Math, Science, Technology Education, Business, and Computer and Information Technology. Educators are now able to complete a program that leads to Computer Science 7-12 certification. This new certification pathway, built on newly developed program framework guidelines released in December 2018, includes subject-specific competencies student teachers are expected to master and demonstrate as they begin their careers, including algorithms and programming, data and analysis, network communication and cybersecurity.
Certified educators can also add-on the Computer Science 7-12 certification by test and application. This provides for an immediate impact in the number of new computer science certified educators available in the workforce.
Click the following to view the program framework guidelines.