Summit: U.S. needs more computer science teachers


Panel members spoke of the need for more rigorous computer science education.
Panel members spoke of the need for more rigorous computer science education.

Fewer than 65 percent of K-12 schools in the United States offer an introductory-level computer science course, much less rigorous training, according to a recent study conducted by the Association for Computing Machinery and the Computer Science Teachers Association—and an Oct. 6 Computing in the Core summit aimed to draw attention to the need for more computer science teachers.

James Shelton, the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Assistant Deputy Secretary for Innovation and Improvement, spoke of how computer science education was never explicitly included as a part of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition, which works to support STEM education programs for teachers and students.

“We want a well-rounded curriculum for students. That means reading and writing … but it also means the other things that add into making a student well-rounded,” Shelton said.

“The nation has embraced much more the importance of STEM education, but computer science [education] is very often missing from that conversation,” said Robert Schnabel, dean of the School of Informatics at Indiana University.  “Computer science has by far the largest demand for jobs in any period that you see out of the STEM sphere.”

One reason for the lag in computer science education is the lack of properly trained educators.

“There are too few computer science teachers, and they are in too few schools,” said Lucy Sanders, CEO of the National Center for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) during a panel discussion.

Norm Augustine, former CEO of Lockheed Martin, said the failing in computer science education is causing the U.S. to lose footing in today’s global economy.

“We rank 21st in math and 25th in science out of 30 nations,” Augustine said. “The major challenges we face can be centered in two areas: One is underinvestment in basic research to create new knowledge … and secondly [is] properly trained people.”

Only 10 states require a thorough computer science course as a requirement for high school graduation, according to “Running on Empty: The Failure to Teach K-12 Computer Science in the Digital Age,” which was released at the summit.

“If it doesn’t count, the students won’t take it,” said Schnabel. “If the students don’t take it, the schools will offer it less.”

The lack of K-12 computer science education has a direct impact on U.S. technology-based companies, as representatives from Google and Microsoft pointed out. Government projections show that in the next 10 years, more than 1.5 million high-paying jobs in the technology sector will be created in the U.S. alone.

“Frankly, being able to recruit an adequate talent of people remains a challenge,” said Dan Reed, corporate vice president of technology policy and strategy at Microsoft. “We would hire more people if we could find more people.”

Alfred Spector, vice president of research and special initiatives at Google, echoed Reed’s sentiments.

“We are limited in the progress of our field and its impact on other fields by really the lack of talent and the creativity that talent will bring forth,” said Spector.

Summit attendees and ed-tech stakeholders hope the Computer Science Education Act, introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in July, will help bring the focus to computer science education in public schools. The legislation includes plans to fund grants to develop state computer science standards and curriculum, form training programs for computer science teachers, and review the current state of computer science education.

“The Computer Science Education Act is really about trying to drive that engine forward to focus national attention on the need for states to act,” Reed said.

Shelton said it’s important for the states to take notice.

“That is where the standards will be set. That is where the course requirements will be set. That is where they’ll make decisions about whether to spend the resources to recruit teachers with those kinds of credentials … [who] actually could help with this kind of curriculum,” he said.

Schnabel, however, said there are still two important roles that the federal government can play.

“One is to make sure that every time there is a STEM piece of legislation, that it is clear that computer science is part of that legislation. The second is to encourage the states, and where possible fund the states, to both plan and implement programs that will lead to computer science education being much more fully involved,” Schnabel said.

As panelist and Pennsylvania computer science teacher Tammy Pirmann pointed out, this dearth in computer science education might be owing to a lack of awareness. Pirmann approached the Philadelphia School Board last year and asked it to make computer science courses a requirement, which it agreed to do without argument.

“It is not necessarily a lack of desire to offer the courses; sometimes it’s just a lack of knowledge,” said Pirmann.

Computing in the Core is a non-partisan advocacy coalition, whose goal is to promote the need for strong K-12 computer science education programs. Its first major planned event is Computer Science Education Week, which will take place Dec.  5-11.

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