Alaska's State Plan for CS Education

On June 8, 2023, the Alaska State Board of Education adopted the first Alaska Computer Science State Plan.
 
 
Computer Science (CS) is driving innovation in almost every sector of the US economy. Findings show that over 80% of software engineers are currently working remotely full time and working from home is becoming the new normal work arrangement. All of these present to our Alaska students tremendous career opportunities with competitive pay while they continue to live and thrive in the communities that they and many generations before them grew up in.

Alaska’s Education Challenge identified increasing career, technical, and culturally relevant education to meet student and workforce needs as one of its five strategic priorities. Computer Science education in K-12 is an essential part of this strategic priority.

A state plan is invaluable for strategically thinking through complex CS policies and program implementations. A well-designed state plan provides coherence to the overall CS expansion effort, links individual policy with consistent purposes, and ensures an organized approach to all program implementations. 

DEED initiated the effort on the Alaska Computer Science State Plan in October 2022 and went through the following major milestones:

  • Completed the initial draft of the plan in December 2022.
     
  • Established the CS State Plan Review Committee comprising representatives from school districts, school administrators, State Career and Technical Education (CTE) program, CS teachers, postsecondary CS and Education programs, indigenous education organizations, CS staff development agencies, and other CS support groups in the state.
     
  • Led the CS State Plan Review Committee’s review of the initial draft of the CS State Plan offline in three one-hour virtual meetings and incorporated the committee’s comments and recommendations into the revised CS State Plan.
     
  • Announced the CS State Plan in its annual Perkins Application Workshop during February 8-9, 2023.
     
  • Presented the CS State Plan on February 18, 2023, during the Education Rewired ASTE 2023 Conference and held a Q&A session.
     
  • Presented the CS State Plan on March 29, 2023, in the State Board CTE Committee meeting and revised the CS State Plan to address all the comments from the meeting.
     
  • Published the CS State Plan on the Online Public Notice (http://notice.alaska.gov/210495) for public comments from Friday, March 31, 2023 to Monday, May 1, 2023, at 5:00 PM; Revised the CS State Plan to address all the comments and responded to each comment individually.
     
  • Completed the final draft of the CS State Plan on May 5, 2023.
     
  • Presented the CS State Plan on June 8, 2023 to the Alaska State Board of Education during the Board’s regular Quarterly Meeting (June 7-8, 2023) in Soldotna, Alaska.

On June 8, the Alaska State Board of Education adopted the first Alaska Computer Science State Plan.