MissionStatementBrainstorming

Please feel welcome to add to both lists. With regard to the GOALS list, please feel free to add "pie in the sky" ideas. This is supposed to be a brainstorming page. Along the same line, please refrain from criticizing anyone's ideas on this page. I will consolidate the information here and put it on a separate page; at that point I will invite criticism and comment. Thanks! Steve C.

ACTIONS
 * 1) Hold Breakfast Forum to provide a place for people with our common interests to hear speakers and get to know each other a little
 * 2) Recommend ISTE session
 * 3) Published the JCT
 * 4) Evaluate submissions to the NECC conference for the themes of computer science and for computer use & skills/ICT/CTE
 * 5) Solicit and recommend a SIGCT-sponsored workshop at NECC
 * 6) Solicit volunteers among the SIGCT membership to work on ad hoc committees such as CT-Top, SIGCT Forum, NCWIT Collaboration
 * 7) Publish a monthly newsletter with information about SIGCT activities, about activities in related organizations and links to ideas and materials available on the Web
 * 8) Have begun discussions with several ISTE SIGs to work together on a project, including SIGAdmin, SIGTC and SIGGS
 * 9) Have supported the many CSTA CS&IT Symposia with program committee membership, marketing and presenting
 * 10) Worked toward standardizing guidelines for ISTE SIGs resulting in the SIG Handbook

GOALS
 * 1) To provide a forum for people to discuss the state of computer-science education
 * 2) To educate teachers and administrators about the importance of computer science in education
 * 3) To collect and disseminate information on computer-science education
 * 4) To collect and disseminate best practices
 * 5) To support the IT Career Cluster originally developed by the US Dept of Education, Business leaders and others and now supported by CompTIA; SIGCT involvement includes support for each of the 4 pathways as defined in the documenataion: progamming and software engineering, interactive media, network systems and information support & services
 * 6) To provide a framework for ISTE support of STEM initiatives and augment STEM with CS/IT concepts, careers and post-secondary education
 * 7)  Represent the needs of computing teachers, Grades K-16, as they relate to the preparation of students for computer mastery.
 * 8)  Work towards the standardization of computing essential skills and knowledge from state to state on a grade by grade basis.
 * 9)  Establish our identity as educators and to clearly define those terms used to describe our profession, including IT, C/S, and other sometimes confusing acronyms.
 * 10)  Work with state education agencies, legislatures, and other entities to improve the dissemination of knowledge relating to the use of a computer and seek a better understanding of what is needed to accomplish our goals
 * 11)  Establish the relevance of computing teachers in relation to those for other disciplines.
 * 12)  Work with NCWIT, CSTA, TCEA, and other established organizations for the accomplishment of common goals and objectives.
 * 13)  Work with SIGAdmin, and other ISTE SIGs to help provide the proper environment for teaching and learning computer skills in our schools
 * 14)  Ensure that all students, regardless of social or economic status, are given both the opportunity to learn and the access to equipment and textbooks needed for comprehensive studies.
 * 15)  Promote computer skills as an integral part of a student’s education on a par with reading, math, and other core curriculum subjects and to integrate these skills into all aspects of education
 * 16)  Work to create short and long range projects on topics that will engage students’ interest on both an academic and emotional level and to promote participation in these projects as a means to insure student participation.
 * 17)  Seek out and encourage the participation of students in traditionally underserved or under represented, areas including gender and socio-economic status, encouraging those with inherent abilities to seek careers in Engineering, Math, Teaching, and Science.
 * 18)  Work with SIG 1 to 1 and others to encourage states to provide low-cost, interest-free loans for computer equipment to families at or below the poverty level.
 * 19)  Create “out-of-the-box” innovative programs for learning computing to help take the pressure off of classroom teachers. This could include extra-curricular activities that run concurrently with and parallel to normal studies but which are more akin to athletics, clubs, and para-eductional organizations such as FFA.
 * 20)  Work with publishers, large corporations, and small businesses, to create teaching materials that are truly representative of what students will need to know to be successful in the business world or in specific fields of study that have been drained from our economy by outsourcing.