March 19, 2018 – Dr. Cindy Blitz, Executive Director at the Center for Effective School Practices, Rutgers University (RU-CESP), Dr. Thu Nguyen, Professor and Chair for the Department of Computer Science, and Dr. Fran Trees, Director of Undergraduate Introductory Instruction for the Department of Computer Science have been awarded a grant of $250,000 for their project entitled, “The CS Teaching and Learning Collaboratory (CS-TLC): Building Capacity, Rigor, and Equity in Computer Science Education” submitted in response to Proposal # 7776771.

The growing demand for professionals with computing experience in the workforce and the strong interest from young adults in pursuing computer science (CS) careers has been driving a major social investment in expanding CS education in recent years. However, there is a shortage of teachers who are adequately trained to teach students computing and computing related topics.
The CS-TLC project aims to close this gap by leveraging and expanding an established research practitioner partnership (RPP). By bringing together educators and CS researchers from Rutgers, and teachers and administrators from several diverse and geographically dispersed school districts in New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, as well as an industry partner (Problem Solutions) to commit to broadening participation and increasing the number of districts in the region with the capacity to deliver rigorous and engaging CS and CT education for all of their students, and to strengthen the CS programs within the districts/schools already possessing this capacity. The external evaluation will be conducted by Deacon Hill Research Associates under the direction of Teresa Garcia Duncan, PhD, President and Founder.