UTA joins effort to address Texas' critical shortage of certified K-12 computer science teachers

Thursday, Apr 23, 2026 • Greg Pederson :

Teachers participating in the WeTeach_CS Secondary Certification Preparation Hub are shown during an orientation session at UTA in February.

A new program at The University at Texas at Arlington is under way to help address the urgent need for more teachers with computer science certification in K-12 schools in Texas.

UTA was selected to participate in a statewide program to provide training for Texas K-12 teachers so they can implement computer science education in their classrooms. The program, WeTeach_CS Secondary Certification Preparation Hub, is run by the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at UT Austin.

WeTeach_CS received funds this year from the Texas Legislature through the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for the project and funded several hubs around the state. Greg Hale, UTeach Arlington co-director and professor of instruction in chemistry, is the principal investigator for a $289,731 subaward received for the WeTeach_CS Secondary Certification Preparation Hub at UTA. Co-PIs are Carter Tiernan, assistant dean for student activities in the College of Engineering; Lauren Weisberg, assistant professor in the College of Education; and Erdogan Kaya, assistant professor with a joint appointment in the College of Education and the College of Science.

From left, Greg Hale, UTA; Leonardo Painevilo, Garland ISD; Erdogan Kaya and Lauren Weisberg, UTA; and Ibrahim Mohamed, Dallas ISD.

UTA’s UTeach Arlington program has trained hundreds of highly sought after science and mathematics teachers since its launch in 2010, and now UTA is partnering with WeTeach_CS to address the statewide lack of qualified, certified computer science teachers.

“The Texas Legislature recognized that the shortage of computer science classes in public schools is a real problem, and the WeTeach_CS program is working to address that problem,” Hale said. “Less than half of all Texas high schools have a computer science course, so the need is great.”

The WeTeach_CS program partners with universities to train teachers in the pursuit of adding teaching certificates in computer science for grades 8-12 or in technology applications for early childhood through 12th grade. Technology applications include programs such as digital forensics, animation, robotics, web design, and digital communications.

UTA’s program is under way and includes 27 certified teachers, including four UTeach Arlington alumni who work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Twenty-two of the teachers are on the computer science track and five are on the technology applications track.

One participant in the computer science track, Nicholas Prasatporn, is a mathematics teacher at L.D. Bell High School in Hurst. As a middle schooler he was a camper at the first ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp held at UTA in 2008. He went on to earn an engineering degree from UTA and a teaching certification.

“I think this program is really important in the continuing education of students for a more technologically advanced world,” Prasatporn said. “Even if they won’t be the ones coding all of the AI algorithms, they will still need to have a grasp of how integrated computer science is with their lives. I got involved as I wanted to diversify the subjects I could teach and perhaps find better opportunities in employment.”

The training includes online courses taught by staff from TACC, as well as several in-person training sessions at UTA. An orientation was held at UTA in February and more on-campus visits will follow this summer. The grant includes funds to pay the teachers for the professional development and for taking the online courses.

In addition, UTA faculty are providing mentoring for the teachers. Weisberg is supervising the mentoring for the computer science group, and Kaya is in charge of mentoring for the tech app group.

UTA has also hired three consultants to help provide support for the teachers: James Hovey, Martin STEM Academy computer science teacher, and Ibrahim Mohamed, Dallas ISD teacher, in computer science; and Leonardo Painevilo, Garland ISD teacher, in technology applications. Their contributions will be vital to the success of the participants in the hub at UTA.

The teachers will take the certification exams in August; those who do not pass will continue with more training and get ready to take the exam again by the December 31 deadline. UTA plans to re-apply for funding to be a certification hub again next year. Interested teachers can contact Dr. Hale if they would like to be notified about additional opportunities at greghale@uta.edu.

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