Mission EDC Teams Up for Educator Training

Summer initiative expands access to a critical 21st century skill

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Mission EDC Teams Up for Educator Training

computer science professional developmentMore than 100 teachers and counselors in Mission will receive computer science professional development this summer thanks to a local partnership. Mission EDC, Code/Interactive and the Mission Consolidated Independent School District are joining forces with Google to offer the training to 100 teachers and 20 counselors in elementary and junior high schools.

One teacher from every grade level in Mission CISD’s 14 elementary and four middle schools will receive training. The training will prepare them to teach computer science and integrate it across all core content areas. Code/Interactive’s model to train in-district facilitators who provide professional development to teachers will build local expertise and capacity that will power a sustainable program capable of training even more teachers in the future.

Code/Interactive will train all 100 teachers in Scratch and ScratchJr, MIT-created visual block-based programming languages used to build animations, stories, and games. Junior high schools will also receive memberships for Mouse Create. The online learning platform builds the skills they need to apply design and technology creatively to the world around them. In addition to the nine full days of professional development throughout the school year, teachers will be part of a community of practice. Here they can seek and provide support, share and pool resources, collaborate on content and instruction, and field questions.

The program is funded by grants from Mission EDC and Google to support teachers in schools where 83.34 percent of students qualify as economically disadvantaged.

“We are breaking down the access barriers to computer science education. The Mission Economic Development Corporation and Google grants will broaden participation across all student groups. Through these grants and our programming, we will create digital equity and forge a district where all students have access to a rigorous computer science education,” said Code/Interactive’s Associate Director of Programs Julia Barraford-Temel.

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