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Calling all High School STEM educators! Teach Your Students 21st Century Computer Science Skills

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By Topics | Learn SAS Programming Tips Students & Educators
Industries | Education Government

STEM skills are essential for many of the fastest-growing and most lucrative occupations. And SAS programmers are in high demand in all fields.

A number of reports have documented a critical talent shortage, especially for graduates with advanced degrees in math, computer science or computer engineering. (See Running on Empty, Report to the President, and various reports from the National Science Foundation).

If you’re a math or computer science teacher, SAS wants to partner with you to help solve this problem. We’re providing high school teachers with training and materials to teach SAS – for free. We are literally giving away computer science course offerings, training and materials, and I want to make sure our education community is aware.

Participating teachers will join a growing network of educators who are providing students with an advantage for their college and career aspirations. By participating in either of the two summer workshops described below, teachers will be qualified to teach a full course in SAS programming, a highly sought-after skill that students can apply in college courses and in many job situations.

 

SAS® Programming Institute for High School Educators Apply Now

This train-the-teacher model teaches teachers how to prepare data for analysis and write SAS programs to solve problems. Ultimately, they will be equipped to teach the following high school courses:

SAS Programming 1 for High School – this course teaches students basic SAS programming concepts and tasks, including accessing and manipulating data; producing basic list, summary, and statistical reports; creating SAS data sets; combining SAS data sets; creating basic graphs; and querying data using the SQL procedure.

SAS Programming 2 for High School – this course covers comparisons of manipulation techniques and resource cost benefits designed to help student programmers choose the most appropriate technique for their data situation. This course also teaches students how to process SAS data using Structured Query Language (SQL) and how to use the components of the SAS macro facility to design, write, and debug macro systems that are reusable and dynamic. Emphasis is placed on understanding how programs with macro code are processed.

Institute Dates: June 23-27, 2014
Location: SAS World Headquarters, Cary, NC

Through this five-day program, teachers will receive:

  • All teaching materials,      exercises, data sets and assessments needed to teach a 15 week block      schedule course or a year-long traditional period length course.
  • Use of SAS software at no cost      for classrooms.
  • Support from SAS software      trainers and curriculum designers.
  • Opportunities to foster      relationships with other SAS programming instructors nationwide.

Prerequisites:

  • Teacher or school offers at least one other programming language in addition to SAS (C++, Java, Python, Visual Basic)
  • Students have taken on other programming class before SAS (C++, Java, Python, Visual Basic)

AP Statistics using SAS® Apply Now

AP Statistics teachers will learn how to reinforce the concepts needed for the AP exam using SAS® Enterprise Guide®, a point-and-click interface to the power of SAS. This technology will illustrate and expand upon the statistical concepts taught through hands-on, interactive exercises.

Workshop Dates: August 4-6, 2014
Location: SAS World Headquarters, Cary, NC

By attending this three-day workshop, teachers will receive:

  • All teaching materials, exercises, data sets and assessments used in the workshop.
  • Use of SAS software at no cost for classrooms.
  • Support from SAS software trainers and curriculum designers.
  • Opportunities to network with other AP stats instructors.

You can’t commit to three or five days for these workshops? Check out other ways to take advantage of SAS’ education philanthropy here.

Tags 21st century skills computer science education SAS sas programming for high school skills gap stem stem education
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About Author

Nadja Young

Senior Manager, Education Consulting

Hi, I’m Nadja Young. I’m a wife and mother of two who loves to dance, cook, and travel. As SAS’ Senior Manager for Education Industry Consulting, I strive to help education agencies turn data into actionable information to better serve children and families. I aim to bridge the gaps between analysts, practitioners, and policy makers to put data to better use to improve student outcomes. Prior to joining SAS, I spent seven years as a high school Career and Technical Education teacher certified by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. I taught in Colorado’s Douglas County School District, in North Carolina’s Wake County Public School System, and contracted with the NC Department of Public Instruction to write curriculum and assessments. I’m thrilled to be able to combine my Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing Management and Master of Arts degree in Secondary Education to improve schools across the country.

4 Comments

  1. Claire Primrose on

    I am a MAT-Middle Grades Education candidate at UNC Wilmington and plan to teach math and science upon graduation (December, 2014!!). I understand completely the importance of STEM education for our students. I have worked with the City of Wilmington Parks and Recreation Department to host STEM activity days each nine weeks this school year-one day each nine weeks devoted to one of the STEM areas. We had Science in September, Technology in November, Engineering in January and we will have our Math Day this Saturday, April 26. I am disappointed that your SAS Programming Institute is not open to middle grades teachers. I know I could benefit from it-and incorporate it in our STEM Activity days next year.

    Reply
    • Nadja Young on

      Hi Claire,
      Thanks for your comment. You are correct that these offerings are not geared toward MS students due to the need for Algebra I and some computer science as a prerequisite. However, I would to direct you to some of our other no-cost STEM resources through SAS Curriculum Pathways. We have 200+ individual resources in Science (including a wealth of virtual labs) as well as 300+ individual resources in Math, including a full Algebra 1 course. Data Depot is another resource within SAS Curriculum Pathways that allows students to manipulate data sets and become more data literate. All of these resources support STEM, while also developing higher order thinking and critical thinking skills through the use of technology to engage students.
      http://www.sascurriculumpathways.com
      I hope they can be useful as you enter the classroom upon graduation. Congratulations!

      Reply
  2. Dina Picou on

    I am an AP Statistics teacher, and would love to come to the workshop, except you have it in August and that is the only time I have for a vacation. I missed it last year for the same reason. Just in case there is someone reading who would consider offering one in June or July next year or at another time! Thanks for having it - I just am sad I cannot attend!

    Reply
    • Trent Smith
      Trent Smith on

      Hello, Ms. Picou. Thank you for reading Nadja's blog and commenting. I edit the State and Local Connection and while normally Nadja would reply to you, in the interest of time (and since I actually know the answer to something!), please allow me to help. You can suggest alternate dates for the AP Stats course here: http://support.sas.com/training/forms/int_crs.hsql?ccode=gaapstat

      It may be too late to add or change the schedules this year, but we certainly value your feedback and will do our best to accommodate you in the future.

      Reply

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