Rutgers Computer Science Education Professional Learning Hub

Rutgers CESP and the Rutgers Department of Computer Science established and maintained a professional learning hub in the central region of New Jersey with the goal of providing educators access to differentiated and sustained CS Education professional learning opportunities. They aimed to further build capacity in NJ to provide high-quality, rigorous, and engaging CSE that emphasized computational thinking and interdisciplinary problem-solving for all students across the K-12 spectrum. They also purposefully catered professional learning to partnered districts through needs assessments and reviews, the creation and implementation of district visions, and worked closely to increase intentional inclusion and expansion of CSE in new grade bands. All participating educators took part in a virtual community of practice and received coaching, weekly office hours, peer-led teacher working groups, and attended periodic community meetings. CESP worked in concert with sister hubs at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Kean University to coordinate efforts and maximize the impact of this project. The non-profit organization CS4NJ also collaborated closely with project staff to coordinate and disseminate professional learning opportunities to actively recruit and engage new educators in the hub.