Governors Launch Bipartisan Partnership to Expand Access to Computer Science Education
On February 21, 2016, Governors Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark.) and Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) announced a new partnership to promote K-12 computer science education at the state level at the National Governors Association Winter Meeting.
Currently, only 1 out of 4 schools offer computer science instruction — teaching students to create technology, not just use it. Demand for increased and earlier access to computer science is growing among educators, parents, and employers. In a recent survey, 90 percent of parents said they want computer science taught in schools. Today, there are more than 600,000 open computing jobs across the U.S. in every industry and these are among the fastest growing, highest paying jobs in the US.
“There are few jobs today that don’t require some degree of technology or computer use, whether it’s auto mechanics, fashion design or engineering. A big part of our children’s success in the 21st century economy will be to ensure every student feels confident in front of a computer,” said Governor Inslee. “In Washington state we’ve had great bipartisan success promoting stronger computer science education, including teacher training and learning standards. I’m hopeful that governors around the country will join us in making computer science one of the basic skills every child learns.”
To address the education gap, governors joining the Partnership for K-12 Computer Science will work toward three key policy goals in their states:
Enable all high schools to offer at least one rigorous computer science course;
Fund professional learning opportunities so educators can be prepared to teach these courses; and
Create a set of high-quality academic K-12 computer science standards to guide local implementation of courses.
Governors Asa Hutchinson and Jay Inslee will serve as the bipartisan co-chairs for the initiative; they are calling on their colleagues to join them. Participating governors will also share best practices for expanding access to computer science, and advocate for federal policies to support computer science instruction.
“I’m delighted to join fellow governors to promote computer science education in schools across the country. I strongly believe this is paramount to the future of the American economy, and a critical step in preparing the next generation for the fastest growing field in the world,” said Governor Asa Hutchinson. “This time last year, our state passed the most comprehensive computer science education law in the country and appropriated significant funding to train teachers. And we’re not done yet. I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues in other states.”
The Partnership builds on increasing nationwide momentum for computer science education. In January, President Obama proposed $4.1 billion in his budget to support K-12 computer science. More than 20 states have proposed policies to expand access to computer science instruction, and districts are investing time and resources in preparing tens of thousands of educators to teach the subject. Last year, one of every three schools in the U.S. participated in the Hour of Code, a global campaign designed to address misperceptions about computer science.
“It’s amazing to see computer science sweeping across the nation's K-12 public schools, to provide a better future for our children,” said Hadi Partovi, CEO of Code.org. “Washington and Arkansas have led the way, but other states like Idaho, Utah, Massachusetts, Georgia and Alabama are also making this a priority. This new partnership will help expand that groundswell across the US.”
Code.org will provide the Partnership with resources related to best practices in policy and programs, and will facilitate collaboration among governors and their staff.
Leveraging big data to meet enrollment (and revenue) targets
At the beginning of this year, school presidents and leading education thought leaders were asked to forecast trends for the year and into the future. Some of the major concerns were centered around enrollment figures in our colleges and universities. There were some positive trends around technology that will help mitigate the enrollment crisis that our schools face.
Here few of the predictions by the experts for 2015:
Over half of nonprofit private colleges failed to meet enrollment and revenue goals for 2014. In spite of that disappointing track record, it's predicted that a majority of schools will be increasing tuition during 2015. The result will most likely be even more schools falling short of enrollment targets.
The usual client base for colleges is the 16-24 year-old post-high school adolescents. This group is predicted to shrink nearly 13% by 2022, thereby reducing the pool of potential enrollees from that group. This will be offset by a 3-5% increase in the number mid-career adults ages 25-55 that will returning to school to improve existing education and skill sets. Also noted is the 5-10% of Baby Boomers that are going back to college upon retirement.
As students arrive on campus that are more tech-savvy and have integrated technology into their learning at an earlier age, the demand for schools to enhance the state of its technology and corresponding tech education offerings will correspondingly increase. Schools will need to meet this demand in order to remain as attractive options in a sea of competition. OneNote for Students, Teachers and Administrators >>>
Online learning will become commonplace on college campuses. Instructors will need to be trained in order to integrate technology into their daily teaching. Students will come to expect this type of interaction looking for immediate feedback, coaching, learning in virtual communities and social networking.
Schools are gathering more and more data on their students. Admissions data, student performance in the classroom, faculty reporting, student evaluations, and the like are contributing more and more data that schools can use for all manner of decision making. Having access to robust data and analytical tools will be important for schools moving forward.
On the topic of big data, schools are now able use data for current enrolled students to create models that predict likelihood that future applicants will enroll. These predictive models will identify the characteristics of students that are most likely to enroll which schools can leverage in their marketing and outreach efforts.
The fear or concern by administrators may the perceived cost of implementing technology and infrastructure to capture the data. Fortunately for schools, costs and investments to secure this data is minimal as most of it is already collected during the application and admission process for current students. Scaling infrastructure no longer requires massive investment in hardware as it did in the past.
Today's cloud-based infrastructure is quickly scalable and can be added by even the most budget-constrained organizations through a cost-effective "Pay As You Go" pricing model. Management of the IT platform is easily entrusted to a technical service partner eliminating the need to add IT headcount or resources.
It simply becomes a matter of utilizing the data already on-hand and beginning to mine it for insights that can be leveraged immediately in current or near-term initiatives.
Managed Solution is the premier provider of IT support services and technology recommendations for educational organizations. Founded in 2002, we enjoy a proud tradition of partnering with the IT staff of the many organizations we work with. We can even act as your IT team. For more information on educational technology solutions contact Managed Solution at 800-308-6107 or fill out the contact form.
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Managed Solution is the premier provider of IT support services and technology recommendations for educational organizations. Founded in 2002, we enjoy a proud tradition of partnering with the IT staff of the many organizations we work with. We can even act as your IT team. For more information on educational technology solutions contact Managed Solution at 800-308-6107 or fill out the contact form.
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On December 8, 2015, Managed Solution hosted a Job Shadow Event for 60 students from Clairemont High School to learn first-hand critical IT skills through Junior Achievement's job shadow initiative. The collaboration kicked off Computer Science Education Week (Dec. 8- 11) which encourages students to pursue careers in STEM-related industries.
Sean Ferrel, CEO and founder of Managed Solution welcomed students, told them about the fastest growing IT company in Southern California and shared his journey of how he got to where he is today. After Ferrel answered career questions, students were split into groups to visit six project-based activities led by Managed Solution employees.
The educational job shadow program included sessions/activities on app development, coding/web design, channel partner marketing, project management, technical cloud development and video production.
Clairemont High School Information Technology Academy students had fun naming their groups and contributing to the filming, photographing and editing of the video recap from the event.
View more photos from the event on our Facebook page here.
Ninth grade students from Clairemont High School attended a Job Shadow event at Managed Solution today to learn more about various job positions at a technology firm. View the full press release here. More photos and videos coming soon.
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