Quiana currently serves as the Director of the Maryland Center for Computing Education (MCCE). The Maryland Center for Computing Education was formally established in statute and funded with the enactment of Securing the Future: Computer Science Education for All on July 1, 2018. The purpose of MCCE is to “expand access to high-quality computer science education in grades pre-kindergarten through 12 by strengthening the skills of educators and increasing the number of computer science teachers in elementary and secondary
education.”
This year marks Quiana’s 18th year in education. She has experience in teaching at the K-12 level and post-secondary level. Quiana’s previous employer was Prince George’s County Public Schools where she served as an Instructional Supervisor in the Department of Career and Technical Education (CTE). She supervised a number of various CTE program pathways and elective programs. She was also responsible for implementing computer science education PreK-12 throughout the school district. Quiana organized training and support for local educators to prepare them to teach courses in information technology and computer science. This included professional development to train elementary school teachers for two large computer science projects: one multi-year project supported by a grant funded by Amazon Future Engineers, the other in collaboration with a local university. In addition to the free statewide professional development, she coordinated and provided local, ongoing professional development to support over 200 middle school teachers on computational thinking/learning skills and high school teachers on Foundations of Computer Science for the past 4 years in Prince George’s County. Quiana was part of the team that started an early middle college program called Prince George’s Early Middle College Program - TalentReady where students started taking college courses in grade 9 to prepare students for a career in information technology at an accelerated pace. They partnered with Prince George’s Community College. At the end of the student’s high school career, they graduated with both a high school diploma and an associate degree in information technology.
Quiana serves on local, state, and national committees that focus on computer science education. She has experience writing and reviewing standards for computer science. She served on the Maryland State Computer Science Standards Committee and Standards Review Committee. She recently served on the national committee for Reimagining CS Pathways: High School and Beyond, which strives to define computer science in the modern world of emerging technologies and develop updated national standards. She is a facilitator for the CSTA Inquiry Group, which focuses on diversity, inclusivity, and culturally responsive teaching in computer science education. She is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Technology, Engineering, & Construction at Prince George’s Community College.