Is it worth it for high school teachers to join SIGCSE? I just saw this question about SIGCSE for college professors, and it made me curious about whether it is a good organization for high school teachers.  I am currently a member of my local CSTA, which I find to be of some value.  Are there additional benefits from SIGCSE that could help me in my classroom practice?

(Note: I would love to hear from current or past members of the organization, but please avoid ad copy and the like. This is not intended as a promotional question.)
Yes! (with some qualifications.)

Benefits (most apply to conference attendance):


connections with other teachers to share ideas and experience
research results on CS teaching practices/methods
TIME away from class to reflect and plan
broader perspective on new/existing computing curricula


(especially honest feedback on others' experience with CS material/curricula)

perspective on what is out there for your students in computing careers and in college
information-dense listserv (you hear about sites like this one)


However, most of the sessions/listserv posts are still geared toward research on college classes, so you have to be picky about sessions at the conference. There is a K-12 track for sessions, which makes things easier.

There are more K-12 sessions every year, and more K-12 educators attending as well. This year my district (Chicago Public Schools) had 20 people attend, and there were a good number of other (mostly high school) teachers from other districts. Two of this year's keynotes (Gail Chapman and Mitch Resnick) were people whose main impact has been in the K-12 space, and next year's theme is CS for All, so they really recognize the importance of what is happening in high school and earlier grades.