E-Books →Handbook of Research on Equity in Computer Science in P-16 Education

Series: Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education (AECKE)

The growing trend for high-quality computer science (CS) in school curricula has drawn attention in U.S. classrooms. With an increasingly information-based and global society, CS education coupled with computational thinking (CT) has become an integral part of an experience for all students, given that these foundational concepts and skills intersect cross-disciplinarily with a set of mental competencies that are relevant in their daily lives and work.

The need for computer science skills and competencies which every child should acquire poses a number of questions including whether and how schools of education are preparing teachers to teach these concepts. Additionally, while many agree that these concepts should be taught in schools, there are systematic inequities that exist to prevent students from accessing related CS or CT skills.

Handbook of Research on Equity in Computer Science in P-16 Education highlights the issues, perspectives, and challenges faced in P-16 environments (i.e. gender and racial imbalances of students in CS classes; population of growing CS teachers who are predominantly white and male; what and who are the high-school gate keepers of CS courses; teacher preparation or lack of faculty expertise; professional development programs; and college admission criteria for CS programs).