The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
Proposed Digital Literacy and Computer Science Standards
At the meeting of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on January 26, 2016, I will ask the Board to vote to solicit public comment on the proposed Digital Literacy and Computer Science (DLCS) Standards. This request follows initial discussion of the draft DLCS standards at your meeting on December 15th. As we discussed in December, these standards would be voluntary for school districts. With the Board's approval, we will invite broad public input through early April, make any necessary edits, and then bring the final revised DLCS standards to the Board for adoption in June 2016.
Anticipated Timeline
We will use a statewide survey to collect public input from late January through mid-April. During this time, Department staff and the DLCS Review Panel will also consider the two issues the Board raised during your initial discussion of these standards in December 2015:
- Ensuring that the standards refer to the consequences of personal behavior and the permanence of digital communications; and
- Providing guidance on pathways for students who wish to pursue a career in computer science.
Enclosed please find the proposed survey questions and list of review panel members.
We will reconvene the DLCS Review Panel in late April to review public comment and make necessary edits. I anticipate bringing the final revised DLCS standards to the Board for an adoption vote by June. At that time, we will also have a draft of the full DLCS Curriculum Framework for your review. Final copyediting and publication of the proposed DLCS Curriculum Framework would be completed by late summer 2016.
To support district implementation of the DLCS standards, the Department will continue to collaborate with Massachusetts Computing Attainment Network (MassCAN) on professional development, course development, and implementation. The Department is also partnering with the Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) on a National Science Foundation STEM+C Design and Development grant. This $2.1 million award (over three years) aims to develop elementary school curriculum modules that integrate computational thinking in mathematics and science lessons in grades 1-6.
Senior Associate Commissioner Brooke Clenchy, Associate Commissioner Cliff Chuang, and other members of the Department who have been engaged in this work will be at the Board meeting to answer your questions.
Enclosures:
