Computer Science (CS) Education research, specifically when focusing on secondary education, faces the difficulty of regionally differing political, legal, or curricular constraints. To date, many different studies exist that document the specific regional situations of teaching CS in secondary schools. This ITiCSE working group report documents the process of collecting, evaluating, and integrating research findings about CS in secondary schools from different countries. As an outcome, it presents a category system (Darmstadt Model), as a first step towards a framework that supports future research activities in this field and that supports the transfer of results between researchers and teachers in CS education (CSE) across regional or national boundaries. Exemplary application of the Darmstadt model shows in several important categories how different the situation of CSE in secondary education in various countries can be. The Darmstadt Model (DM) is now ready for discussion and suggestions for improvement by the CSE-community.

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In the year 2004, Bavaria (one of the 16 federal states of Germany) started an innovative subject "Informatics" in its highest type of secondary schools (Gymnasiums). It is comprised of a compulsory stage (grades 6-10), which is followed by an eligible course in grades 11 and 12. The curriculum of the course is based on the "objects first" (or better "modelling first") approach. All relevant object-oriented concepts are introduced and used in the context of standard software, before the students write their first object-oriented program. In July 2009 the first class completed the compulsory stage. We evaluated the experiences of this first run in December 2009 by a large scale study about the teachers' opinions about and attitude towards this new subject. In this paper we present some of the first results that partly were obtained using cluster analysis. The results show, that our approach to the curriculum is accepted by the teachers. Additionally, we used the results of clustering to identify typical response patterns, leading to a characterization of the teachers.

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In North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populated state in Germany, Computer Science (CS) has been taught in secondary schools since the early 1970s. This article provides an overview of the past and current situation of CS education in North-Rhine Westphalia, including lessons learned through efforts to introduce and to maintain CS in secondary education. In particular, we focus on the differential school system and the educational landscape of CS education, the different facets of CS teacher education, and CS education research programs and directions that are directly connected with these aspects. In addition, this report offers a rationale for including CS education in general education, which includes the educational value of CS for students in today’s information and knowledge society. Through this article, we ultimately provide an overview of the significant elements that are crucial for the successful integration of CS as a compulsory subject within secondary schools.