According to the results of a recent survey by members of the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA): “Educational equity provides students access to resources and opportunities based on their individual needs to achieve high quality educational outcomes.” ACSA has establish an Equity Project to help address equity issues in California.
California’s Equity Leadership Alliance takes on the following vision: “Our charge is to provide bold leadership and direction by working diligently to promote policies and practices that eliminate opportunity, access, and achievement gaps throughout the state. We believe that a steadfast focus on equity and results offers all of California’s six million students the best chance to graduate for college, a career, leadership, and life.
California is Making Progress in Addressing Issue Related to Access to High-paying Jobs
Computer science education advocates met this week with legislators at the State Capitol in Sacramento to discuss the status of computer science education in California and solutions to address the workforce needs. The event, named “Beyond Coding: Advancing K-12 Computer Science Education in California” is a milestone for the advocates and represents a growing interest in ensuring all students have opportunities to become computer literate and to gain foundational computer science skills, such as computational thinking and programming/coding.
A recent report by Google and Gallup, Inc. found:
- Exposure to computer technology is vital to building student confidence for computer science learning.
- Opportunities to learn computer science at schools is limited for most students.
When available, courses are not comprehensive. Barriers to offering computer science in schools include testing requirements for other subjects and limited availability and budget for qualified teachers. Special thanks to the sponsors of the event at the Capitol: ACCESS, California STEM Learning Network, TechNet, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, CODE.org, and the Silicon Valley Educational Foundation!
Vince Bertram, President and CEO of Project Lead the Way (PLTW) announced PLTW is making changes to its partnership program for school year 2016-17 to embrace equity and increase flexibility so that more students at more schools will have access to PLTW curriculum. While historically an engineering and biomedical science program, PLTW is now moving into computer science. PLTW is developing courses that form a comprehensive computer science pathway and is continuing to increase its offerings in this field. The PLTW program now includes high school and middle school programs and PLTW is beginning to offer elementary curriculum and programs.
Beginning in school year 2016-17 schools have flexibility to offer custom programs and may start up a PLTW program by implementing only one PLTW module with one PLTW trained teacher. This will allow the school to build a sequence of courses incrementally on their own timeline and in ways that best meets the needs of the school. PLTW will continue to recommend thoughtfully sequenced programs of study to ensure students are ready for college and careers.
Project Lead The Way is Striving to Serve ALL Students
The report findings regarding access to computer science instruction are consistent with the recent report by the Level Playing Field Institute which found disparities in Access to computer science courses in California high schools.
Demand for CS in schools is high amongst students and parents, but school and district administrators underestimate this interest. The study found 91 percent of parents want their child to learn CS, but less than 30 percent of administrators and teachers say CS is a top priority in their school or district.