Harvard team to lead professional development

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Department of Education Office of Computer Science recently announced the Harvard CS50 AP will travel to Arkansas to provide its College Board Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles endorsed professional development away from its home campus for the first time.

“CS50 is very excited to be working with Arkansas this summer to help

train teachers and help bring computer science to students across the state,” said David Malan, professor of the practice of computer science at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.

The professional development session will be available at no cost to any Arkansas teacher. However, space is limited.

The training will take place next summer at the Arch Ford Education Service Cooperative in Plumerville. The weeklong training will include the three-day Harvard CS50 AP endorsed training and two days of computer science and PRAXIS preparation training provided by Arkansas computer science specialists.

“This is another example of Arkansas leading the nation as we partner with a respected, high-profile organization to advance Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s coding initiative and benefit students and teachers in Arkansas,” ADE Commissioner Johnny Key said.

The Harvard CS50 AP program is classified as an endorsed provider of training and curriculum by the College Board for its AP Computer Science Principles course. Teachers completing the full five-day training will be eligible to immediately receive the necessary temporary approvals to teach AP Computer Science Principles and various other ADE-approved computer science courses.

During the training, teachers also will receive additional support in preparing for the Computer Science PRAXIS exam. Passing the exam is necessary to gain the Computer Science (528) endorsement on their Arkansas educator’s license, which will be required for all high-school level computer science teachers beginning in the 2021-22 school year.

Date selection is taking place and will be announced via ADE Commissioner’s Memo and posted as finalized.

The Harvard CS50 AP program is an extension of the nationally-recognized Harvard CS50 course program, which is the most popular fall course for “graduate students, nondegree students, cross-registered students, visiting undergraduates and Harvard employees” at Harvard University, according to The Harvard Crimson.

The Harvard team hosted a CS50 Fair broadcast live on Dec. 8.