Fewer High School Students Taking Computer Sciences

Nationally, the portion of schools that offer an introductory computer science course has dropped from 78 percent in 2005 to 65 percent this year, and the corresponding decline in AP courses went from 40 to 27 percent, according to a survey by the Computer Science Teachers Association.

The result of sporadic or skimpy computer science training is that a generation of teenagers great at using computers will be unlikely to play a role in the way computer technology shapes lives in the future, said Chris Stephenson, executive director of the Computer Science Teachers Association. "Their knowledge of technology is very broad but very shallow," she said. That has economic implications. "If you look at history, the nations with economic superiority are building the tools the rest of the world is using," Stephenson said.

The slide in computer science education is surprising at a time when politicians are bent on fueling innovation by sharpening the math, science and technology skills of the future workforce. Stephenson said computer science classes might be an unintentional casualty in the push to increase academic standards. Computer science is not considered a core subject by the No Child Left Behind law, which influences school priorities and budgets. That makes them vulnerable to cuts, and computer science teachers are often reassigned to teach core math or science classes. As states increase high school graduation requirements in core subjects, students have less time for electives.

Some states, including Virginia, have tried to increase enrollment in computer science classes by allowing them to count as math credits. In Maryland, some school systems will count a computer science class toward a technology or math requirement. The District offers career and technical education credits for some computer science courses.

Many schools in the Washington area offer at least one computer science course. The number of students who take an advanced placement computer science course has been small but steadily increasing in Virginia and Maryland.

Source: Washington Post, Michael Alison Chandler, 12/21/09