A survey on computer science K-12 outreach: Teacher training programs

The decline of student enrollment in computer science (CS) is a pressing issue for computing educators. One of the solutions is to provide K-12 teachers with CS related training. K-12 teachers play an important role in preparing students for college and helping them thrive in the 21st-century global workforce. This paper presents a comprehensive study of K-12 teacher training programs that target improving CS education. These outreach programs are provided by universities, mostly by computer science faculties. The paper first describes each individual training program with highlights for its particularities and contributions. Then it provides a side-by-side comparison of the programs based on different categories such as targeted K-12 teachers, workshop durations, curriculum development information, training tools, etc. At the end, summaries of these programs are presented. The successful strategies and lessons learned from these programs could be beneficial for future K-12 teacher training program development.