"Unfortunately, curriculum and standards still focus on using, rather than understanding, technology. In fact, only 37 percent of states’ CS standards include a focus on computing concepts, while 73 percent of state CS standards include a focus on computer skills.”

Most Educators Lack Necessary Training, Resources

Further, the report makes mention of an educator workforce that is largely untrained in the subject and without needed resources.

"Because many schools offer only a single CS course, teachers for these courses commonly have their main focus in another field. These teachers may not have the deep expertise or time to focus on creating an enriching curriculum and stimulating class environment,” the report says.

"The class can only go as deep as the teacher’s bank of knowledge. As a result, only a very narrow group of high school students ever take computer science classes that provide a solid ground in computer science principles and practices."

How Computer Science Can Improve Moving Forward

First and foremost, the report recommends that the U.S. develop and train 10,000 additional teachers to teach computer science.

"...the United States needs to train and certify 10,000 additional CS teachers. The CS10K non-profit initiative, seeks to do just that—train instructors to teach in-depth computer science courses using rigorous curricula.”

It also suggests a focus on creating innovative education policy that favors teaching computer science principles in both K-12 and university classrooms.

The report highlights the work of Israel in improving computer science access in its classrooms, and recognizes it for developing a curriculum that goes beyond teaching just coding.

“On a per-capita basis, Israel has 16.2 times as many students as the United States taking rigorous computer science in high school.120 Its groundbreaking curriculum emphasized making CS a science instead of teaching only coding. Students should be taught programming, proponents argue, as a means to reinforce deeper and more important knowledge in creating and understanding algorithms, and to create a subject that would be as respected by tertiary institutions as traditional biology, chemistry, and physics courses.”

The report recommends this same kind of respect for the subject in U.S. classrooms, as well.

Read the full report here.

Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

6/1/2016