<p>In addition to what Peter wrote, the American Computer Science League (ACSL) has wonderful pseudo-code based standards for high-school age students.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-03T01:47:40.113Z
2017-06-03T01:47:40.113Z
Ben I.
<p>There are four places I would suggest looking if your concern is the K-12 environment:</p>

<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.iste.org/standards/standards" rel="nofollow noreferrer">ISTE Standards</a> (Note: there are standards here for multiple audiences, including students, teachers, and computer science educators)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.csteachers.org/page/CSTA_Standards" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CSTA Standards</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-computer-science-principles-course-and-exam-description.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AP CS Principles Course Description</a> (Revised for 2017-18)</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-computer-science-a-course-description.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">AP CS A Course Description</a></p></li>
</ul>

<p>These would probably be the best places to start. I suggest working your way from the top down since the standards as listed progress in what I see as an increasing order of complexity/rigor.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T22:04:10.430Z
2017-06-02T22:04:10.430Z
Peter
<p>While there's plenty of existing material and resources to help you decide on the next techie to hire, I could find very little for assessing the skill of children/teenagers at programming. <a href="http://resources.kodable.com/public/cs_standards_2017.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This</a> is the only proposal that I've found, but it's been created by a private company.</p>

<p>My question regards standards for general knowledge in programming, so there are no specific language requirements - it could be based on pseudo-code.</p>

<p>What high-quality standards are out there?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T20:51:41.187Z
Could you clarify whether you want to measure how well students have learned material in a class they took together or if you're trying to measure general programming ability/aptitude?
Ellen Spertus
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T20:56:03.787Z
@EllenSpertus Done.
nightcod3r
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T21:09:38.787Z
Why would it be any different between a 17 year old and a 30 year old? If you can code, you can code.
Ryan Nutt
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T21:34:36.263Z
So, you are looking for standards and tests?
Ben I.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T23:35:15.727Z
@RyanNutt Typically these tests go in the direction of showing your knowledge in a concrete programming language, administering a system and the like.
nightcod3r
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-02T23:36:28.917Z
@BenI. Correct. One of the problems that we face in the implantation of CS in the school is how to evaluate in an objective way, so there must be standards that we all agree on.
nightcod3r
<assessment>
Assessing programming skills of students under 18 years
# Assessing programming skills of students under 18 years

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-02)

While there's plenty of existing material and resources to help you decide on the next techie to hire, I could find very little for assessing the skill of children/teenagers at programming. [This](http://resources.kodable.com/public/cs_standards_2017.pdf) is the only proposal that I've found, but it's been created by a private company.

My question regards standards for general knowledge in programming, so there are no specific language requirements - it could be based on pseudo-code.

What high-quality standards are out there?

**Tags:** assessment

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Could you clarify whether you want to measure how well students have learned material in a class they took together or if you're trying to measure general programming ability/aptitude?  
> **username_0**: @EllenSpertus Done.  
> **username_2**: Why would it be any different between a 17 year old and a 30 year old? If you can code, you can code.  
> **username_3**: So, you are looking for standards and tests?  
> **username_0**: @RyanNutt Typically these tests go in the direction of showing your knowledge in a concrete programming language, administering a system and the like.  
> **username_0**: @BenI. Correct. One of the problems that we face in the implantation of CS in the school is how to evaluate in an objective way, so there must be standards that we all agree on.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-06-02. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

There are four places I would suggest looking if your concern is the K-12 environment:

* [ISTE Standards](https://www.iste.org/standards/standards) (Note: there are standards here for multiple audiences, including students, teachers, and computer science educators)
* [CSTA Standards](https://www.csteachers.org/page/CSTA_Standards)
* [AP CS Principles Course Description](https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-computer-science-principles-course-and-exam-description.pdf) (Revised for 2017-18)
* [AP CS A Course Description](https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/digitalServices/pdf/ap/ap-computer-science-a-course-description.pdf)

These would probably be the best places to start. I suggest working your way from the top down since the standards as listed progress in what I see as an increasing order of complexity/rigor.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-06-03. Score: 1

In addition to what username_4 wrote, the American Computer Science League (ACSL) has wonderful pseudo-code based standards for high-school age students.


---

