Aligning Theory and Practice in Teacher Professional Development for Computer Science

Since the Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles (AP CSP) course has been released, it has vastly increased the need for highly trained CSP teachers who are prepared to bring CS to a diverse group of students. We have designed professional development (PD) workshops for high school teachers learning to teach this new CSP course, basing our design and iterative refinements on effective practices from other STEM disciplines. In summers 2012-2019, we have prepared over 600 teachers to teach CSP. Our PD provides teachers with time to learn CS content and pedagogical content knowledge. A key component of our PD design focuses on professionally-relevant activities– specifically, teachers develop and lead CSP lessons and provide feedback to each other through practice-focused discussions with experienced teachers and their peers. Another key component of our PD is including opportunities for continued professional growth, where we provide opportunities for teachers to engage as leaders who mentor others, curate materials, or facilitate future PDs. Our data has shown an increase in teachers’ confidence to lead in the classroom and also shown equal accessibility and growth for participants regardless of prior programming experience. In this paper, we examine and articulate the foundational theories for our CSP PD and how we have adapted these methodologies to cultivate an inclusive and productive learning environment for teachers. We also perform a retrospective analysis to determine which PD and program activities our teachers found most meaningful and relevant to their daily teaching.