Alabama State Board of Education unanimously adopts CTE courses, textbook recommendations and proclaims Computer Science Education Week

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama State Board of Education on Dec. 8 unanimously approved a package of resolutions and administrative items and used its meeting to highlight statewide expansion of computer science instruction.

The board adopted a resolution honoring Dr. Brian Cutter, principal of Delrayda Elementary School in Montgomery County, as a 2022 Milken Educator Award recipient; approved a proclamation designating Computer Science Education Week in Alabama schools; adopted state course-of-study standards for several career and technical education (CTE) areas and accepted textbook recommendations for additional CTE clusters. The board also approved an educator-preparation program for Birmingham-Southern College, ratified the 2022–23 state superintendent evaluation and set the K–12 meeting and work session dates for 2023. Each motion passed by unanimous voice and raised-hand votes.

The actions took place early in the meeting under "new business," and board staff recorded no public speakers for the session.

Why it matters: The votes formalize curricular and instructional materials choices that guide classroom offerings statewide and affirm the board’s focus on expanding computer-science instruction from elementary through high school, a priority the superintendent emphasized during his report.

Most immediate actions

- The board approved a resolution honoring Dr. Brian Cutter, principal at Delrayda Elementary School, as the Milken Educator Award recipient for State School Board District 3. The board presented Cutter with a copy of the resolution and invited him to remain for photos.

- The board unanimously adopted a resolution designating Computer Science Education Week and received a report and a video featuring students and teachers describing classroom activities.

- The board adopted the career and technical education state course of study for the Education and Training, Hospitality and Tourism, and Cosmetology and Barbering clusters.

- The board accepted the State Textbook Committee’s recommendations for textbooks in Architecture and Construction, Information Technology, and Transportation, Distribution and Logistics CTE clusters.

- The board approved an educator-preparation program for Birmingham-Southern College and ratified the 2022–23 evaluation of the state superintendent.

Superintendent’s report and computer science update

State Superintendent Dr. Eric Mackey framed much of the meeting around computer science expansion and recognized Dr. Cutter in his remarks. He introduced a presentation on statewide computer science efforts and asked Dawn Morrison to address the board and show a short video featuring students.

Dawn Morrison (identified in the meeting as a State Department staff member) summarized recent training and enrollment figures, and said, "We currently have about 911 teachers that participated in this past summer alone in high-quality professional learning." She added that 188 teachers attended a Praxis-prep course for middle and high school teachers and that 248 elementary teachers participated in the elementary engineering/computer-science offerings led by AMSTI. Morrison also cited LEA-reported data showing 34,818 students enrolled in high-quality middle- and high-school computer-science courses for the 2022–23 year.

Morrison and the superintendent named several partners the department works with to expand computer science opportunities, including A+ College Ready, AMSTI (Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative), Auburn University, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama and regional in-service centers. The presentation included short recorded student remarks on coding and robotics and a live update on the Tinker Coding Challenge launched that morning.

What the board voted on (summary of formal actions)

All listed motions were adopted by unanimous raised-hand voice votes. The transcript records no roll-call vote breakdown by member name; nine board members were present at roll call.

- Motion to approve meeting agenda (approved, unanimous) - Motion to approve minutes of the Nov. 10, 2022 meeting (approved, unanimous) - Resolution honoring Dr. Brian Cutter, Milken Educator Award recipient (approved, unanimous) - Resolution recognizing Computer Science Education Week (approved, unanimous) - Adoption of CTE state course of study for Education and Training; Hospitality and Tourism; Cosmetology and Barbering (approved, unanimous) - Receipt of State Textbook Committee recommendations for Architecture & Construction; Information Technology; Transportation, Distribution & Logistics (approved, unanimous) - Approval of educator-preparation program for Birmingham-Southern College (approved, unanimous) - Approval of the 2022–23 state superintendent evaluation (approved, unanimous) - Approval of K–12 meeting and work session dates for 2023 (approved, unanimous)

Meeting context and next steps

Board staff recorded no public comment speakers for the meeting. Superintendent Mackey closed his report by thanking department staff and legislative partners for funding and policy support; the board will continue to monitor implementation through LEA reporting and upcoming departmental updates. The next elementary and secondary education board meeting will be held in the State Board of Education auditorium with a work session to follow in Room P103 of the Gordon Persons Building.

Ending note

At the close of the meeting board members invited Dr. Cutter to a photograph and the meeting adjourned by unanimous motion.