Computer Science (CS) education is important, as computing is ubiquitous in many aspects of our daily life and having computing skills beyond the simple use of applications is essential for todays problem solving. Over the past two decades, as part of a tremendous effort to broaden participation in computing, there have been many programs providing professional development (PD) for K-12 teachers to learn and improve their skills to teach K-12 CS. 

Similarly, the National Science Foundation has committed to broaden participation in computing and funded more than 200 projects through its CSforAll and STEM+Computing programs. However, most of these efforts and projects have focused on training in-service teachers and not undergraduate pre-service students studying to become K-12 teachers. 

Recent years have seen a growing shortage of in-service teachers in critical STEM areas and career and technical education. These shortages have a direct impact on educational opportunity for students, and research shows that educator shortages disproportionately impact students of color, students from low-income backgrounds and rural communities and students with disabilities. 

There is a challenge to recruit and engage in-service teachers to teach K-12 CS. This challenge is further exacerbated by the trend of increasingly more states — including Nebraska — encouraging or requiring courses in CS for high school graduation, resulting in a shortage of teachers qualified to teach K-12 CS to meet state requirements or improve access to computing for all students, and a critical opportunity to study how states can meet the demands of such policy by improving recruitment and development of teachers through statewide collaboration.