ACCESS in the News

Stop Scapegoating, Start Educating

Education can’t ignore the real threat to American jobs

By Julie Flapan & Jane Margolis
January 24, 2017  |  Education Week

Contrary to popular belief, people aren’t taking jobs away—technology is. The 2016 election rubbed raw the divisions between those with the skills for the future and those without. As we look ahead to the Trump presidency, instead of scapegoating, we need significant investments in a sustainable education strategy that prepares youths to effectively participate in the world of tomorrow.

Scapegoating, or blaming an individual or group of people for something for which they are not responsible, is a misguided explanation for declining job opportunities. When a manufacturing plant shuts down in the Rust Belt, automation is the likely culprit, thereby requiring workers with different skill sets. In the near future, when a truck driver loses a job to a driverless car, technology will likely be the cause, not someone doing the same job for less pay.

Scapegoating immigrants and foreign workers for taking our jobs is not just wrongheaded, it limits our ability to accurately name the problem and solve it. In fact, as technology replaces some jobs, it also allows new ones to emerge. The problem is that we’re not adequately educating our young people to be prepared for this new tech economy that requires a foundational understanding of computer science.

Computing jobs are the No. 1 source of new wages in the United States and are among the highest-paying. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that by 2024, there will be more than 4.4 million computer-specialist job openings nationwide. But according to the most recent National Center for Education Statistics data, only 50,000 of the 1.8 million bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2012-13 were in computer science or information science fields. In other words, we are not preparing enough students to be qualified to fill those jobs. And it’s not just about preparing students for careers in technology; students who know computer science have a jump start across all fields, including arts, agriculture, business, health care, and entertainment. Computing has become essential knowledge in nearly every industry.

Schools aren’t doing an adequate job of providing computer-learning opportunities to meet the demand. A majority of schools don’t even teach computer science, despite a Gallup poll that reported more than 90 percent of parents want their students to learn computer science in school.

Perhaps more troubling, schools that serve demographically underrepresented students—African-American, Latino, and low-income students—are the least likely to offer a pathway of courses in computer science. As explained in Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing, which was written by Jane Margolis, computer science education provides a window into how inequality is reproduced in schools. When students in underserved schools are denied access, experience, and role models in computing, they are left further behind.

The College Board reports that student enrollment in Advanced Placement computer science classes is among the lowest of all AP classes, and that the AP computer science exam has the least diverse test-takers of all AP exams. In 2015, 56 percent of all AP test-takers were female, but of the 46,344 test-takers in AP computer science, only 22 percent were girls. Only 13 percent of AP computer science test-takers identified as African-American or Latino, while these students made up more than 24 percent of test-takers across all AP exams in 2015. Ensuring access for all students to this foundational knowledge is important preparation for college, careers, and civic participation.

Computer science isn’t just about operating a computer or a cellphone. It’s about reimagining how computers are a part of what we do every day. Rather than being passive users of technology, students need to learn how to be responsible creators of it. Computer science teaches algorithmic thinking, problem-solving, and creativity as students learn how to build apps, design a web page, and understand how the internet actually works.

Beyond jobs, this past year revealed other reasons why learning computer science is important in a democracy. Whether it be through thinking critically to distinguish fake news from real news, understanding algorithms that are used to target its users, considering cybersecurity and the role it played in email scandals, or amplifying marginalized voices through social media, we can see the power of technology in our everyday lives. Becoming digitally literate, critical, and constructive thinkers about how to use technology responsibly should be required learning for everyone.

With the uncertainty of President Donald Trump’s education agenda and the future policy decisions under the Every Student Succeeds Act, one thing is clear: We need to continue to support public education and the inclusion of computer science as part of the new law’s call for a “well-rounded education.”

We encourage the new administration to continue to support the former administration’s national agenda to promote computer science for all, which prioritizes the needs of students underrepresented in computer science, including girls, low-income students, and students of color. Many education leaders support this national initiative at the local level.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas realized how important computer science opportunities are for his state’s future: In 2015, he signed legislation making Arkansas the first state in the union to require every public high school to teach computer science. States including California, Idaho, and Washington are making strategic, statewide plans to bring computer science into schools. Large school districts in Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco are also prioritizing computer science and making it mandatory learning for all students.

Rather than blaming others, we should provide our youths with the education that will equip them for this new tech landscape. Making America great can be accomplished only by investing in all our students today to help prepare them for the world of tomorrow.

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2017/01/25/stop-scapegoating-start-educating.html

By News Staff | September 29, 2016 techwire.net

The computer lab at Cal Poly Pamona. Source: pamona.edu

California is looking to the tech-driven future, as Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law this week a bill that could be a first step toward having computer sciences classes in every school.

The bill, AB 2329, authored by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, and co-sponsored by Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, directs a new advisory panel to develop a long-term strategic implementation plan for computer science education in K-12 and higher ed. A statement from Newsom’s office says the bill “aims to ensure that all students will have access to computer science education.”

According to the release, “only a quarter of California’s high schools offer any computer science courses, a disparity punctuated by striking gender and racial gaps. Of California’s 3,525 computer science graduates in 2014, only 15 percent were female. In 2015, of the approximately 8,700 high school students in California who took the AP Computer Science exam, just 26 percent were female, 973 were Hispanic, and only 148 were black.”

One of the main complaints with computer science education in secondary school is the lack of a designation by CSU and UC colleges to recognize computer science courses as a “core” mathematics or science course. Currently the university systems only accept those as an elective course.

“In December 2015,” the release said, “Lieutenant Governor Newsom spearheaded a letter signed by dozens of key political, business and nonprofit leaders to the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), the UC committee armed with the ability to reclassify the course.” The letter is currently under consideration at the CSU Academic Senate.

AB 2329 is parallel to President Obama’s “Computer Science for All” initiative, and was supported by dozens of businesses and advocacy organizations, such as TechNet (a co-sponsor of the bill) Microsoft, Facebook, the California Chamber of Commerce, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, LA Area Chamber of Commerce, ACCESS, Code.org, and the superintendents of the Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and San Francisco unified school districts, among many others.

“We applaud the Governor’s leadership in signing AB 2329, which will engage multiple stakeholders to develop a strategic computer science education plan,” said Julie Flapan, executive director of ACCESS, in the release, “Ensuring all students, especially underrepresented students in computer science — girls, low-income students and students of color — have access to meaningful and high-quality computer science education in schools across California.”

http://www.techwire.net/news/california-eyes-long-term-strategy-to-expand-computer-science-education.html

PAT MAIO / EDSOURCE TODAY Pascale Gibbs, a 9-year-old 4th-grader at Bryant School of the Arts & Innovation in Riverside, practices one of her computer science assignments.

By Pat Maio | September 27, 2016  EdSource

Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a bill that begins a three-year planning process to expand computer science education for all grades in California’s public schools, beginning in kindergarten.

Authored by Assemblymember Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, the bill, Assembly Bill 2329, requires State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson to create by September 2017 a 23-person advisory panel to be charged with developing a long-term plan to make computer science education a top priority in the state.

Based on findings from the panel, the state’s Instructional Quality Commission would decide by July 2019 whether to develop and recommend to the State Board of Education computer science content standards for kindergarten through 12^th grade. The Instructional Quality Commission advises the State Board on curriculum and instruction.

The law recognizes that information technology is one of the fastest-growing job sectors across California, and the state needs to step up efforts to satisfy the growing job demands.

“California currently has tens of thousands of open computing jobs where salaries are significantly higher than the state average, but our education system is not aligned to meet this workforce need and economic opportunity,” said Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who played a key role in bringing the computer science proposal before political, business and nonprofit leaders.

Bonilla said her bill would ensure that students, “especially those from underrepresented communities,” are prepared going forward. “It is imperative that the education of all our K-12 students not only meets the demand for computing jobs, but more importantly, that students are being engaged at a young age,” she said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects there will be 531,000 openings for new computer and mathematics-related jobs in the United States by 2024, with 51 percent of all science, technology, engineering and math jobs projected to be in computer science-related fields by 2018.

Only a quarter of California’s high schools offer any computer science courses, a disparity that also reflects gender and racial gaps, according to Newsom. He cited data showing that only 15 percent of 3,525 high school graduates in 2014 who studied computer science graduates were female. In 2015, of the roughly 8,700 high school students in California who took the AP Computer Science exam, just 26 percent were female, 973 were Hispanic, and 148 were black.

The new law aligns California with President Barack Obama’s Computer Science for All initiative. But funding for the initiative has lagged since Obama used his 2016 State of the Union address to argue for every student to be offered the opportunity to take “the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one.”

As part of his initiative, Obama sought $4 billion over three years for states with plans to expand computer science courses and an additional $100 million for school districts to expand access to a K-12 computer science curriculum to train teachers and to build regional partnership among schools. However, the Republican-controlled Congress has so far declined to fund the program.

The new California law sets a timeline to expand computer science education. Bonilla did not say how much the initiative would cost. However, a spokesman said that if state or federal funding is not available, the law would allow funding from private or public partnerships and provide grants by the Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation to expand computer science curriculum throughout California.

At the same time, several California school districts are moving ahead with introducing a computer science curriculum without waiting for guidance from Sacramento. Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, San Francisco Unified and Riverside Unified, among other school districts, are creating computer science curriculum pathways from elementary to high school, with several collaborating with national groups on securing funding for courses and teacher training.

As reported earlier by EdSource, these local efforts are being reinforced by several statewide and national efforts. California, for example, is a lead state in a national coalition being supported by the Association for Computing Machining, Computer Science Teachers Association, Code.org, the National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center and the National Math + Science Initiative.

“I think there is so much momentum with computer science, and that there are so many resources available to move it along,” Julie Flapan, executive director of the Alliance for California Computing Education for Students and Schools, or ACCESS, told EdSource this summer. “We’d like to see this happen sooner rather than later.”

By Kayla Nick-Kearney
edscoop

California legislators are reviewing a bill that would create an advisory board to integrate computer science into education.

The Assembly legislation would create a 23-person panel overseen by the state Superintendent that would deliver recommendations by September 2017 on how to improve computer science education, and establish curriculum standards for grades K-12.

The panel would comprise teachers, administrators and professors across K-12 and higher education, as well as representatives from government, parent associations and student advocacy organizations. The bill is backed by Microsoft and Code.org.

“We’ve been working on trying to develop a coordinated strategy so that California could respond to the increasing needs of industry,” Julie Flapan, executive director of the Alliance for California Computing Education for Students and Schools, told EdScoop. “But, also, we wanted to make this vocational knowledge of computer science available to all kids so that they’re well prepared for their careers, and college, and civic participation.”

Read the full article:

http://edscoop.com/california-legislators-push-computer-science-education-bill

After years of lagging behind Arkansas, West Virginia and several other states, California is expanding computer science in public schools across the state and training teachers to teach it.

Despite being the leader in technological innovation, the state currently provides no dedicated professional development funding for teachers in computer science, high schools are not required to offer computer science courses, and there are no computer science curriculum standards.

“It is somewhat surprising that California is not ahead in computer science, considering that is where Silicon Valley is,” said Amy Hirotaka, director of state government affairs of Code.org, a national nonprofit working to expand access to computer science and to increase participation by women and minorities.

With support from Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assembly Bill 2329 would establish a diverse advisory panel to develop such a strategic plan. The bill is to be heard Friday by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Computer science is not just about access to technology. It is about students learning critical thinking, collaboration and creative problem solving. These are 21st-century skills that prepare students for college, careers and civic participation, and they should be available to students of all backgrounds. Computer science helps prepare students for careers – not only in the tech industry, but in nearly every field.

By 2018, more than half of all science and technology jobs are projected to be in computer-science-related fields. Yet only one in four high schools offers computer science, and in many schools, girls and students of color are woefully underrepresented.