New Report from Anita Borg Institute, CSTA and University of Arizona Addresses Equity Issues in K-12 Computer Science Educations
Report Identifies Barriers and Strategies for K-12 Computer Science Teachers
Palo Alto, CA, April 01, 2010 --(PR.com)-- A new report released today by the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI) and the Computer Science Teachers Association points to the deepening equity crisis in computer science education and calls for a major engagement by all stakeholders.
Addressing Core Equity Issues in K-12 Computer Science Education: Identifying Barriers and Sharing Strategies shows that K-12 Computer Science education in the United States is in a state of crisis. The report discusses the reasons why women and underrepresented minority students are critically absent from computing at the K-12 level. Even while computer science is critical to national competitiveness, computer science teachers are suffering from an endemic lack of resources and a lack of support from their school districts and state governments.
The report stems from a town hall and workshop held at the 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.
Report Highlights
• There are profound barriers to equity in schools today: School districts lack focus on the importance of computer science and a coherent certification process for Computer Science teachers. Underrepresented minority students and girls are especially unlikely to get family encouragement to pursue computing – and teachers face significant challenges to recruit them in computer science classrooms.
• Solutions require engagement across multiple sectors: The solutions to equity issues cannot come from a single source but rather requires the engagement of teachers, academia, government, and industry.
• Computer Science teachers suffer from isolation, lack of resources, no consistent certification requirements, and a lack of access to partnerships that would increase their capacity.
“This report provides an in-depth look at the barriers currently existing in our educational system that are negatively impacting the recruitment of girls and underrepresented minorities in Computer Science,” said Dr. Caroline Simard, vice president of research and executive programs for the Anita Borg Institute and co-author of the report. “For students to be successful in today’s global knowledge economy they require high-level analytical and collaboration skills and the ability to manage complex information. These skills are not always emphasized by the current K-12 curriculum.”
Recommendations
Based on the information gathered at the event, the report makes recommendations for solutions to address the equity issues including:
1. Address the lack of women and underrepresented minorities through proactive efforts including mentoring students to build self-confidence,
2. Ensure that all school decision makers (administrators, guidance counselors, teachers) are encouraging girls and minority student to take rigorous computer science courses.
3. Engage industry representatives with K-12 teachers to provide an accurate and up-to-date picture of the computational thinking skills that a diverse body of students needs to engage successfully in the workforce.
“This report is a clarion call to all of the stakeholders who think these problems are solved,” said Chris Stephenson, executive director, CSTA and co-author of the report. “It provides practical, achievable suggestions for working together to ensure that all students have the opportunities that rigorous computing provides.”
The report was underwritten by Google, IBM, the National Science Foundation and the Motorola Foundation.
For more information, visit:
• Addressing Core Equity Issues in K-12 Computer Science Education: Identifying Barriers and Sharing Strategies full report
2010 K12 Computing Teachers Workshop
The 2010 K-12 Computing Teachers Workshop will be held at the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Atlanta, Georgia September 28-October 2, 2010. Applications for Computer Science teachers to apply for a scholarship will open in May 2010. For more information, please visit the website www.gracehopper.org.
CSTA’s annual Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium, co-sponsored by Google, the Anita Borg Institute and Microsoft Research, will take place July 13, 2010. Registration is now open: www.csitsymposium.org.
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, CA, Cisco, First Republic Bank, Intel, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, NetApp, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, IBM, Thomson Reuters, Intuit, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook, and Raytheon. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.
About CSTA
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and the other computing disciplines by providing opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and to learn. http://csta.acm.org. CSTA provides its over 7500 members with resources, research, and professional development opportunities. CSTA was founded by ACM in 2005.
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Addressing Core Equity Issues in K-12 Computer Science Education: Identifying Barriers and Sharing Strategies shows that K-12 Computer Science education in the United States is in a state of crisis. The report discusses the reasons why women and underrepresented minority students are critically absent from computing at the K-12 level. Even while computer science is critical to national competitiveness, computer science teachers are suffering from an endemic lack of resources and a lack of support from their school districts and state governments.
The report stems from a town hall and workshop held at the 2009 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing.
Report Highlights
• There are profound barriers to equity in schools today: School districts lack focus on the importance of computer science and a coherent certification process for Computer Science teachers. Underrepresented minority students and girls are especially unlikely to get family encouragement to pursue computing – and teachers face significant challenges to recruit them in computer science classrooms.
• Solutions require engagement across multiple sectors: The solutions to equity issues cannot come from a single source but rather requires the engagement of teachers, academia, government, and industry.
• Computer Science teachers suffer from isolation, lack of resources, no consistent certification requirements, and a lack of access to partnerships that would increase their capacity.
“This report provides an in-depth look at the barriers currently existing in our educational system that are negatively impacting the recruitment of girls and underrepresented minorities in Computer Science,” said Dr. Caroline Simard, vice president of research and executive programs for the Anita Borg Institute and co-author of the report. “For students to be successful in today’s global knowledge economy they require high-level analytical and collaboration skills and the ability to manage complex information. These skills are not always emphasized by the current K-12 curriculum.”
Recommendations
Based on the information gathered at the event, the report makes recommendations for solutions to address the equity issues including:
1. Address the lack of women and underrepresented minorities through proactive efforts including mentoring students to build self-confidence,
2. Ensure that all school decision makers (administrators, guidance counselors, teachers) are encouraging girls and minority student to take rigorous computer science courses.
3. Engage industry representatives with K-12 teachers to provide an accurate and up-to-date picture of the computational thinking skills that a diverse body of students needs to engage successfully in the workforce.
“This report is a clarion call to all of the stakeholders who think these problems are solved,” said Chris Stephenson, executive director, CSTA and co-author of the report. “It provides practical, achievable suggestions for working together to ensure that all students have the opportunities that rigorous computing provides.”
The report was underwritten by Google, IBM, the National Science Foundation and the Motorola Foundation.
For more information, visit:
• Addressing Core Equity Issues in K-12 Computer Science Education: Identifying Barriers and Sharing Strategies full report
2010 K12 Computing Teachers Workshop
The 2010 K-12 Computing Teachers Workshop will be held at the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing in Atlanta, Georgia September 28-October 2, 2010. Applications for Computer Science teachers to apply for a scholarship will open in May 2010. For more information, please visit the website www.gracehopper.org.
CSTA’s annual Computer Science & Information Technology Symposium, co-sponsored by Google, the Anita Borg Institute and Microsoft Research, will take place July 13, 2010. Registration is now open: www.csitsymposium.org.
About the Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology (ABI)
The Anita Borg Institute provides resources and programs to help industry, academia, and government recruit, retain, and develop women leaders in high-tech fields, resulting in higher levels of technological innovation. ABI programs serve high-tech women by creating a community and providing tools to help them develop their careers. ABI is a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 charitable organization. ABI Partners include: Google, Microsoft, HP, CA, Cisco, First Republic Bank, Intel, Lockheed Martin, National Science Foundation, NetApp, SAP, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, IBM, Thomson Reuters, Intuit, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Yahoo, Amazon, Facebook, and Raytheon. For more information, visit www.anitaborg.org.
About CSTA
The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) is a membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science and the other computing disciplines by providing opportunities for K-12 teachers and students to better understand the computing disciplines and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and to learn. http://csta.acm.org. CSTA provides its over 7500 members with resources, research, and professional development opportunities. CSTA was founded by ACM in 2005.
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