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Board of Education expands access to computer science education

SACRAMENTO – The California Board of Education recently approved a comprehensive set of kindergarten to 12th grade computer science standards for California’s teachers, students, parents and communities.

These standards give clarity to teachers and administrators about how they should think about K-12 computer science education and provide guidance to districts and schools about what subjects schools should offer. There are more than 74,000 open computing jobs in California and less than half of its schools offer the subject.

The California Computer Science Standards emphasize the skills in problem solving: recognizing and defining computational problems; collaboration: collaborating around computers; critical thinking: developing and using abstractions; creativity: creating computational artifacts and testing and refining computational artifacts and communication: communicating about computing.

“These core concepts are coupled with core computer science practices that expressly require students to foster an inclusive computing culture addressing diverse needs and unique perspectives,” the board said in a statement. “As such, the study of computer science is a key factor in developing student empathy and celebration of diversity.”

The board’s action didn’t happen overnight as the process started with state legislative champions that passed Assembly Bill 1539 in 2014, which called on the board to adopt K-12 standards.

A few weeks ago, the state legislature passed a resolution, introduced by Sen. Marc Berman, D-Palo Alto, designating September as Computer Science Education Month. The resolution calls on the state to find ways of providing professional development for teachers and opportunities for all students to learn computer science.

The board also accepted the recommendations of the California Computer Science Strategic Implementation Advisory Panel. This work was a result of Assembly Bill 2329, sponsored by former assemblymember Susan Bonilla. These recommendations will be incorporated into a Computer Science Strategic Implementation Plan created by the California Department of Education, go the state Board of Education in March 2019 for adoption, and to the Legislature by July 2019. The panel’s recommendations are organized into three categories: ensuring access and equity for all students in California schools; ensuring appropriate support for California teachers and administrators and scaling up K-12 computer science education in California.

Submitted by Whiteboard Advisors for Code.org.

 

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