Cybersecurity Education and Training Assistance Program (CETAP): Expansion of a Portable Cybersecurity Education Teacher-Focused Model

Description

THIS IS TO CLARIFY THAT THIS IS A CONTINUATION AWARD. THIS IS YEAR 5 OF A 5 YEAR CONTINUATION AWARD. PLEASE CHECK BACK IN 2023 TO INQUIRE IF A NEW COMPETITION IS AUTHORIZED. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), leads the federal government’s efforts in securing civilian government computer systems, and works with industry and state, local, tribal and territorial governments to secure critical infrastructure and information systems by: • analyzing and reducing cyber threats and vulnerabilities • distributing threat warnings • coordinating the response to cyber incidents to ensure that computers, networks, and cyber systems remain safe Furthermore, Presidential Policy Directive 21 requires DHS to serve as the focal point for the security of cyberspace. Within DHS, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) works to enhance the security, resiliency, and reliability of the Nation’s cyber and communications infrastructure. The CISA Cyber Defense Education and Training (CDET) Branch manages programs to assist in developing cybersecurity professionals needed to secure the nation’s cyber infrastructure and information systems. CDET makes investments in resources to educate the Nation to address current and future cybersecurity challenges by building and sustaining an adaptive cybersecurity workforce as a national asset. Increasing the awareness and number of graduates pursuing post-education in cybersecurity related disciplines is key to the success of our Nation. Furthermore, the recruitment and retention of individuals with these skills is an important element in the development of our Nation’s cybersecurity workforce. DHS/CISA, through CETAP, seeks to implement a Cyber-Integrated Curricular Model (CICM), which will accomplish the following goals: Goal 1: Expand awareness of national cybersecurity education and workforce issues. Goal 2: Encourage entry into cybersecurity academic programs and careers through hands-on, engaging cybersecurity-integrated ready-to-use tools. Goal 3: Provide a portable curricular model to aid in replication to all State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial educators. Goal 4: Offer the means to measure the long-term effects of teacher training in the use of the proposed curricular solution and its impact on students, including the number of teachers who are trained, the number of students they instruct, the number of students that choose to pursue cybersecurity-related Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines and cybersecurity professions, and define and track other key metrics. Goal 5: Develop and implement a comprehensive engagement strategy that enables DHS/CISA to reach an increasing number of K-12 stakeholders. 1. Expand the awareness of national cybersecurity education and workforce issues by: i. exposing students from across all State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial to cyber-integrated curricula and increasing awareness of the cybersecurity profession; and, ii. exposing Elementary, Middle, and High School educators to the scope and depth of the program to provide tools and techniques to advance their teaching capabilities. 2. Encourage entry into cybersecurity academic programs and careers by: i. exposing students to descriptions of cybersecurity careers aligned to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, sample job roles and responsibilities and what a typical job entails; ii. exposing students to real-world cybersecurity professionals as examples of the career field, conveying to students how they can enter the cybersecurity career through academic and non-academic paths; and, iii. training teachers on the cybersecurity career fields and providing them with the tools and materials to instruct their students. 3. Provide a portable curricular model by providing a template of materials such that the cyber-integrated curricula program elements can be adopted and taught elsewhere (to include recruitment and logistics details); 4. Offer the means to measure the long-term effects of teacher training and its impact on students by: i. establishing metrics that track the impact to students over a 5-year time period; and, ii. providing the materials and means by which the teachers can provide feedback to DHS on how they are teaching subsequent students in the classroom. 5. Optimize and expand cybersecurity education programs by developing and implementing a comprehensive engagement strategy to reach K-12 educators by: i. drafting for DHS/CISA approval Elementary, Middle, and High School cybersecurity education engagement strategies including target audience(s), messaging and themes, metrics (including projected measurable increases in students pursuing cybersecurity) and a detailed implementation schedule; and upon DHS/CISA acceptance, executing the engagement strategy. ii. building a state strategy for implementing cybersecurity standards, curriculum, and professional development statewide. Goal 6: Develop a K-12 academic feeder program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to include Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSI) across the country. Goal 7: Develop pilot programs for students with disabilities including but not limited to blind and visual impairments and/or those who are neurodiverse by supporting a series of extracurricular opportunities. Objectives DHS/CISA, through CETAP, seeks to implement a Cyber-Integrated Curricular Model (CICM), which will accomplish the following goals: Goal 1: Expand awareness of national cybersecurity education and workforce issues. Goal 2: Encourage entry into cybersecurity academic programs and careers through hands-on, engaging cybersecurity-integrated ready-to-use tools. Goal 3: Provide a portable curricular model to aid in replication to all State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial. Goal 4: Offer the means to measure the long-term effects of teacher training in the use of the proposed curricular solution and its impact on students, including the number of teachers who are trained, the number of students they instruct, the number of students that choose to pursue cybersecurity-related STEM disciplines and cybersecurity professions, and define and track other key metrics. Goal 5: Develop and implement a comprehensive engagement strategy that enables DHS/CISA to reach an increasing number of K-12 stakeholders. Goal 6: Develop a K-12 academic feeder program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to include HSI and MSI across the country. Goal 7: Develop a pilot program for students with disabilities including but not limited to blind and visual impairments and/or those who are neurodiverse by supporting a series of extracurricular opportunities. Priorities 1. Expand the awareness of national cybersecurity education and workforce issues by: i. exposing students from across all 50 States, Washington D.C., and the US Territories to cyber-integrated curricula and increasing awareness of the cybersecurity profession; and, ii. exposing Elementary, Middle, and High School educators to the scope and depth of the program to aid them in gaining tools and techniques to advance their teaching capabilities. 2. Encourage entry into cybersecurity academic programs and careers by: i. exposing students to descriptions of cybersecurity careers aligned to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, sample job roles and responsibilities and what a typical job entails; ii. exposing students to real-world cybersecurity professionals as examples of the career field, conveying to students how they can enter the cybersecurity career through academic and non-academic paths; and, iii. training teachers on the cybersecurity career fields and providing them with the tools and materials to instruct their students. 3. Provide a portable curricular model by: i. providing a template of materials such that the cyber-integrated curricula program elements can be adopted and taught elsewhere (to include the recruitment and logistics details); and, 4. Offer the means to measure the long-term effects of teacher training and its impact on students by: i. establishing metrics that track the impact to students over a 5-year time period; and, ii. providing the materials and means by which the teachers can provide feedback to DHS on how they are teaching subsequent students in the classroom. 5. Optimize and expand cybersecurity education programs by developing and implementing a comprehensive engagement strategy to reach K-12 educators by: i. drafting for DHS/CISA approval elementary, middle, and high school cybersecurity education engagement strategies including target audience(s), messaging and themes, metrics (including projected measurable increases in students pursuing cybersecurity) and a detailed implementation schedule; and upon DHS/CISA acceptance, executing the engagement strategy. ii. building a state strategy for implementing cybersecurity standards, curriculum, and professional development statewide. Develop a K-12 academic feeder program to eight Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to include HSI and MSI across the country by: i. developing a K-12 model that could be embedded into identified high schools that are considered feeders into each HBCU cybersecurity degree program. Develop a pilot program for students with disabilities including but not limited to blind and visual impairments and/or those who are neurodiverse by: i. supporting a series of extracurricular activities opportunities for partners and summer camps. 1. Performance Measures Through achieving the priorities listed above, DHS/CISA, through CETAP, seeks to: · Identify the requirements as outlined in the Programmatic Performance Reporting Requirements. DHS/CISA program and administrative staff will collect and track the measures throug

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