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States Explore Ways to Expand Computer Science Initiatives

March 10, 2016
By: Jonathan Dworin

A computer science education is viewed as a valuable prerequisite for many technology jobs, and, as a result, policymakers are responding to make these programs more ubiquitous. In January, the Obama administration announced his $4 billion Computer Science For All proposal, a nationwide effort to help all students from kindergarten through high school learn computer science. A cross-section of businesses, education leaders, and NGOs launched the Computer Science Education Coalition earlier this week, a nonprofit organization focused on encouraging Congress to invest $250 million or K-12 computer science education investments. These federal funds would complement state efforts – such as those detailed here – and spark further state initiatives to expand computer science education, according to the coalition.

The Computer Science for Rhode Island initiative, announced this week by Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo, states the goal of helping every public school in the state teach computer science classes by December 2017. In partnership with Microsoft, Code.org, and the state’s institutes of higher education, the initiative seeks to offer a menu of options for schools to expand computer science education in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The governor’s current budget includes $260,000 to support this expansion of computer science education in public schools.

Arkansas is widely considered the first state to pass a comprehensive law that requires all public and charter high schools to offer at least one computer science course. Enacted in January 2015, the bill (HB 1183) passed unanimously in both the state House and Senate, and was a core platform from Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s November 2014 election campaign. The state also approved a $5 million Computer Science Initiative Grant program to be used to defray startup costs, help train teachers and reward those teachers and schools leading in technology education.

Last June, Washington passed a similar bill to expand computer science education. A culmination of nearly two years of bipartisan efforts, HB 1813 adopts statewide computer science teaching standards, expands scholarship eligibility for educators interested in pursuing computer science professional development, and establishes a computer science endorsement for educators interested in teaching computer science.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign a recently passed proposal that would also expand computer science education programs – though in a different manner.  SB 468, which passed in late February by a 35-5 vote, would allow for high school computer science courses to count under the state’s foreign language requirement. The bill would also require Florida’s universities to accept two computer science classes in lieu of the two foreign language class requirement, while also mandating parents and students sign statements that acknowledge this swap may not meet the requirements for admissions at other schools. The senate bill is similar, albeit less broad, than HB 887; as initially proposed, this bill would have required computer science for state university admission and the state’s scholarship program.

Several states have followed a similar path to expanding their computer science offerings by modifying foreign language requirements. Texas’ legislature passed HB 5 in 2013, eliminating their Minimum High School Graduation Plan and replacing it with the Foundation Graduation Plan. Included in this legislation is a provision that students are required to take at least two credits of the same “language other than English,” which includes a stipulation regarding computer science. Oklahoma’s SB 982, which prescribes a similar graduation plan, also allows for students to substitute computer coding as a foreign language.  New Mexico’s SB 14 and Kentucky’s SB16 both attempted to make computer science education count toward foreign language requirements but did not, for varying reasons. It is worth noting that the Kentucky effort did pass through the legislature but instead focuses its efforts on improving resources for school computer programming opportunities.

Much of the dissent on this issue, at least in Florida, is focused on two separate yet related issues. First, there is concern that the law would require cash-strapped schools or those with antiquated equipment to offer programs they would otherwise be unable to provide, though changes to the bill’s language have may have largely addressed this supposed mandate. Another issue, however, according to some of the state senators that voted against the bill, is that it suggests the state does not value culture and ethnicity and foreign language as a means to teach the topic.

On this latter topic, an issue brief by Amy Hirotaka from the advocacy nonprofit Code.org notes that counting computer coding as a foreign language would be problematic for several reasons. Hirotaka expresses concern that there are issues such as departmental and teacher certification problems, potential inconsistencies across state educational requirements and those of college admissions offices, and a clear misalignment: computer science has significantly more in common with mathematics and science than it does with foreign languages. Although the author voices support for efforts that expand computer science education, they do not necessarily condone replacing foreign language as a means to do so.

 

 

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