Developing a State-of-the-Art Secondary Cybersecurity Program
High school cybersecurity programs are still in the formative stages in the U.S. A team of researchers led by DARK Enterprises identified what is takes to grow a State-of-the-Art Secondary Cybersecurity Program. We found that schools need to focus on:
Robust Curricular & Extra-Curricular Offerings
Strong Recruitment
Successful Students
Sustainability
Articulation
Community Connections
To self-assess your school, you can use the model at https://teachcyber.org/secondary-cybersecurity-programs/. This model describes progress indicators for Developing, Proficient and State-of-the-Art cybersecurity schools. We recommend referencing this model as you build a national state-of-the-art program at your school.
Ms. Donna Woods - CTE Cyber Academic Pathway Chair
Canyon Springs High School / MVUSD / RCOE CTE/ICT Grant Facilitator
Moreno Valley Unified School District's State-of-the-Art Secondary Cybersecurity Program
State-of-the-Art programs don't happen overnight. Here we share the growth path at Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD).
2014: MVUSD began their cybersecurity program with an after-school cybersecurity program, CyberPatriot. The club had two teachers and just a few students. Today, MVUSD has a Cyber Academic Pathway that serves 593 students!
2018: Cybersecurity course pilot at two middle schools in the district. Started process to articulate the high school cybersecurity course to a local community college.
2020-present: MVUSD collaborates with local industry to offer many work-based learning opportunities (200+ Hours per year) such as:
40 Hour Externship in the Spring
Cyber safety training for local businesses
Summer Internship
Continue to a paid Apprenticeship upon graduation - with local colleges & universities (via LAUNCH)
NCTA is supported by a grant from the NCAE-C, the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity, located within the National Security Agency.
UTeach Foundations of Cybersecurity Pilot
UTeach has developed a derviative of Teach Cyber called Foundations of Cybersecurity. This highly engaging course is full of hands-on, student-centered projects and uses the Codio learning management system.
The pilot began in August 2024 and will run for this academic year. In June, the teachers in this pilot were trained by the UTeach staff on the material and the Codio platform that hosts the labs.
