The State Board of Education took up and approved two computer science-related issues on April 8. The details of both issues were included in an earlier blog post. One of the changes made permanent the current list of computer science courses that can substitute for two LOTE (Languages Other Than English) graduation credits. The three courses are Computer Science I, Computer Science II, and Computer Science III. The SBOE also voted to add AP Computer Science Principles to the Technology Applications curriculum strand. TEA has indicated that they will have a PEIMS number for this course available sometime in July. After a year of implementation, TEA will receive feedback from districts before recommending the placement of AP Computer Science Principles in an endorsement.
On April 7, the Committee on Instruction had a brief discussion about why there are two curriculum strands that teach technology-related subjects. The board members wanted to know if there had been any discussions about combining these two strands. TEA informed the members that CTAT and TCEA had been working on this for several years. Surveys that we have conducted in the past have indicated that our members are in agreement with this concept. We will be working on some draft legislation that will accomplish this merger.
