Skip to main content
EPIC
Go to the University of Texas Website
Go to the University of Texas Website
Go to UTakeIT home
Please see individual pages for upcoming WORKSHOPS & EVENTS for format (in-person or virtual). If it is unsafe and/or unallowable to host in-person trainings, we will transition to virtual workshops. Best browser to register: CHROME.

WeTeach_CS Rural Certification Collaborative

The WeTeach_CS Rural Certification Collaboratives consists of in-service educators from rural communities that will work together to deepen their CS content knowledge in order to challenge and pass the CS 8-12 TExES 241 exam.

Students living in rural areas are less likely to attend schools that offer computer science (CS) courses largely because educational institutions in these remote areas lack the resources to staff teaching positions for these courses. 

  • Thanks to the generous support of Jobs for the Future and the US Department of Education, the WeTeach_CS Rural Certification Collaborative will recruit educators from rural communities to become certified high school computer science teachers and thus increase capacity for students to access a full pathway of computer science courses.
  • This collaborative will consist of rural in-service Texas-certified teachers who will work within a community of practice as they deepen together their CS content knowledge, pedagogical skills, and equitable strategies and are supported to obtain their high school CS teacher certification.

ANY APPLICANT MUST BE A CERTIFIED TEACHER IN TEXAS TO BE ELIGIBLE.

Rural Collaborative Program Components

Selected applicants must take part in a variety of in-person workshops and online courses including:

  1. Introduction to Programming Course (virtual/synchronous)
  2. Foundations to CS for Teachers Course (online/self-paced)
  3. WeTeach_CS Certification Test Prep Days (in person - Austin)
  4. Monthly Support Sessions (virtual/synchronous)
  5. Physical Computing in Python (virtual/synchronous)
  6. WeTeach_CS Summit 2024 (in-person - Fort Worth)
All teachers in the WeTeach_CS Rural Certification Collaborative project are expected to challenge the TExES 241 Computer Science Competency Exam no later than May 2024.

Upon successful completion of the professional development portion of the program, each participant will receive a stipend of $1,500.

Certification Incentive Program (CIP) - Additional $1,000 Stipend opportunity! As you prepare to take the test, apply for the CIP stipend at https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/epic/weteachcs/certification

 

Apply now to join the 2023 Rural Certification Collaborative! 

 

This program is contingent on final funding approval from the US Department of Education.

 

Questions?
Please contact the WeTeach_CS Rural Certification Collaborative project coordinator Amy Carrell at acarrell@tacc.utexas.edu. 

 

Sign up for our WeTeach_CS Newlsetter here!