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发帖数: 19398 | 1 CPS to make computer science a core subject
Touted as a trailblazing move, computer science is to be elevated from elect
ive to core curriculum in all public high schools and be offered at elementa
ries — the latter unprecedented elsewhere — the Chicago Public Schools ann
ounced Monday.
In the next three years, every high school will offer a foundational compute
r science course, and within five years, CPS plans to be the first urban dis
trict offering kindergarten through eighth-grade computer courses, officials
said.
“Among all S.T.E.M. careers, computer science represents one of the most dy
namic and fast-growing fields, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statisti
cs, by 2020, the U.S. will have one million more jobs in computing than they
have trained professionals to fill them,” Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett
said.
S.T.E.M. fields are those in science, technology, engineering and math.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Byrd-Bennett at the announcement at Von Steuben Hi
gh School — bolstered by video-beamed congratulations from President Barack
Obama on a hometown initiative answering his State of the Union challenge “
to redesign America’s high schools” by teaching teens technology skills, i
ncluding coding.
“We live in an era where you earn what you learn, and the new language, a l
ot of people talk about Spanish and Chinese, but the new language is writing
code,” Emanuel said after touring Von Steuben’s strong computer science p
rogram, which includes an after-school technology club for girls to address
the gender gap.
“The new bilingual is knowing computer code writing, and what we’re settin
g up today, while it’s a good foundation, the fact is that in the UK and in
China, computer science and computer coding is now fundamental to elementar
y school education, and we’re playing catch-up to that effort,” the mayor
added.
The Chicago Teachers Union said the initiative partnering with the nonprofit
code.org for free computer science curriculum and teacher training is posit
ive on its face, but pointed out most schools still struggle for basic resou
rces.
“It’s a nice bubble gum and popsicles announcement, but is it going to be
done fairly? Which schools are going to get adequate computer equipment?” C
TU spokesman Michael Harrington said. “Remember, we’re still dealing with
over 100 schools with no library, and just as many with no librarians.”
CPS teachers will receive stipends to implement the plan, said code.org foun
der Hadi Partovi, whose nonprofit, with other groups as Codeacademy and the
Starter League, will be leading CPS students in computer programming explora
tion this week as part of worldwide “Hour of Code” events.
Such efforts strive to bridge the digital divide, as well as gender and skil
ls gaps. Fewer than 3 percent of college students nationally will graduate w
ith a degree in computer science, and of all students taking AP computer sci
ence, fewer than 20 percent are women and fewer than 10 percent are black or
Latino.
On the video, the president said students at CPS and public schools nationwi
de will find themselves left behind without computer programming as a core s
kill.
“Learning these skills isn’t just important to their future, it’s importa
nt for our country’s future,” Obama said. “No one’s born a computer scie
ntist, but with a little hard work and some math and science just about anyo
ne can become one.”
Meanwhile, according to CPS, computing jobs are among the highest-paid for n
ew graduates, and a quarter of Chicago’s jobs are in fields related to scie
nce, technology, engineering or math.
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Twitter: @Maudlynei
Contributing: Jon Seidel |
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