Computer science education is critical knowledge – opinion from MDCPS supt.
Steve Jobs once said, “Everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer…because it teaches you how to think.” Statistically speaking, Jobs had it right.
Studies have shown that students who learn introductory computer science demonstrate improved math scores. But the reality is that computer science courses are fading from the national landscape. In 2011, just over 2,000 of the more than 40,000 U.S. high schools were certified to teach AP computer science courses. A 2009 NAEP High School Transcript report revealed that the percentage of U.S. high school students taking science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses had increased over the last 20 years across all STEM disciplines except computer science where it dropped from 25 to 19 percent.
– Alberto M. Carvalho, superintendent of Miami-Dade Public Schools, Dec. 9, 2013, Miami Herald op ed page