CSTA Computer Science Standards 2026 Released at July National Conference

The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) has released the 2026 revision of the National Computer Science Standards. The unveiling occurred at the Associations conference in New Orleans on July 14th. The project was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Association of Computing Machines (ACM).

The new standards are the latest update from the 2018 version (VERY closely modeled by the California adopted CS Standards) and you can find them here. While lending a fresh blend of dispositions, practices, and concepts, this standard set furthers and enriches the 2017 set in foundational ways with revisions to the practices, updates to the concepts to ensure future ready learning, and a real integration of key dispositions to ensure connections between practice and concept. The online tools found at the link above are well thought out and very helpful.

Elementary teachers will be very pleased with new grade-level standards; a marked shift from the grade-band standards given before. Progression documents help underscore this transition. The middle and high school core standards have also been revised with more dedication to working with data and analysis as well as future innovations in computing. The rework of the core standards really opens up the expression of high school specialty standards; a nod to Career and Technical Education movements across the country. These new sets of specialty standards (Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Game Development, Physical Computing, Software Development) are substantially more robust than the previous set of specialty standards. Another specialty set, named X + CS, opens the possibility of true integration with other fields of study (like biology, journalism, or the arts) in a robust way. This redevelopment is a great place for site and district administrators to get ideas for potential pathways for students in their communities.

The standards have been refreshed after 4 years of research, development, and writing. Read here to gain insight into the development process and comprehensive literature reviews are available.

A note of import: This standard set has NOT been officially adopted by the state of California and BitBlast! has heard of no plans for such adoption at this time. However, we've done our own analysis of these new standards and conclude, in general, that they exceed the expectations set by the California set. Lessons and assessments should still be created using the 2018 California Computer Science Standards, but the new 2026 National set can be used to enhance that learning and help teachers and administrators make future informed decisions that would be best suited for the students they serve.