SupportK-12ComputerScience
EducationinOregon
Computers ciencedrives jobgrowthandinnovationthroughout
oureconomyands ociety.Computingoccupations arethe
number1sourceofallnewwagesintheU.S.andmake
uptwo-thirds ofallprojectednewjobs inSTEMfields ,making
ComputerScienceoneofthemos tin-demandcollegedegrees .
Andcomputingis us edallaroundus andinvirtuallyevery
field.It’s foundationalknowledgethatalls tudents need.But
computers cienceis marginalizedthroughouteducation.Fewer
thanhalfofU.S.s chools offeranycomputers ciencecours es
andonly8%ofSTEMgraduates s tudyit.Weneedtoimprove
acces s foralls tudents ,includinggroups whohavetraditionally
beenunderrepres ented.
ComputerscienceinOregon
Oregoncurrentlyhas 5,705opencomputingjobs(2.8times theaveragedemandrateinOregon).
Theaverages alaryforacomputingoccupationinORis $86,352,whichis s ignificantlyhigherthanthe
averages alaryinthes tate($49,710).Theexis tingopenjobs alonerepres enta$492,638,160
opportunityinterms ofannuals alaries .
Oregonhadonly537computersciencegraduatesin2015;only15%werefemale.
Only281highschoolstudentsinOregontooktheAPComputerScienceexamin2016;only18%were
female;only19s tudents wereHis panicorLatino;only2s tudents wereBlack;nos tudents wereNative
AmericanorAlas kaNative;nos tudents wereNativeHawaiianorPacificIs lander.
Only15schoolsinOR(7%ofORs chools withAPprograms )offeredtheAPComputerSciencecours ein
2015-2016.TherearefewerAPexams takenincomputers ciencethaninanyotherSTEMs ubjectarea.
Whatcanyoudotoimprove
K-12CSeducation?
1. Callonyours chooltoexpandcomputers cience
offerings ateverygradelevel.
2. As kyourlocals chooldis tricttoallowcomputers cience
cours es tos atis fyacoremathors ciencerequirement.
3. Vis itwww.code.org/educate/3rdpartytofindoutabout
cours es andcurriculumfromavarietyofthirdparties ,
includingCode.org.
4. Vis itwww.code.org/promote/ORtolearnmoreabout
s upportingcomputers cienceinyours tate.
5. Signthepetitionatwww.change.org/computerscienceto
join100,000Americans as kingCongres s tos upport
computers cience.
Code.org'sImpactinOregon
Thereare3,087teacheraccounts and120,893s tudentaccounts onCode.orginOregon.
Code.organd5facilitators haveprovidedprofes s ionallearningfor567teachers inCSFundamentals (K-5)in
Oregon.
“ComputerScienceisaliberalart:it’ssomethingthat
everybodyshouldbeexposedtoandeveryoneshould
haveamasteryoftosomeextent.”
—SteveJobs
Whatcanthefederalgovernmentdotosupport
computerscienceingradesK-12?
Acces s tocomputers ciencecours es is abipartis anis s uethatcanbeaddres s edwithoutaddingtotheFederal
budget.Tellyourrepres entatives inWas hington,D.C.thatyous upportfundingtoexpandacces s tothis
foundational21s t-centurys ubjectinyourcommunitythatwillAmericaremains ecureandgloballycompetitive.
Over100,000Americans ,CEOs ofthelarges tcompanies ineverymajorindus try,29governors ,andmajorK-12
educationleaders havealljoinedforces tocallonCongres s tos upportthis idea.Youcans eetheiropenletter
(andaddyournameins upport)atwww.change.org/computerscience.
Whatcanyourstatedotoimprovecomputer
scienceeducation?
States andlocals chooldis tricts needtoadoptabroadpolicyframeworktoprovidealls tudents withacces s to
computers cience.Thefollowingninerecommendations areamenuofbes tpractices thats tates canchoos efrom
tos upportandexpandcomputers cience.Notalls tates willbeinapos itiontoadoptallofthepolicies .Readmore
aboutthes e9policyideas athttps://code.org/files/Making_CS_Fundamental.pdfands eeourrubricfordes cribing
s tatepolicies athttp://bit.ly/9policiesrubric.
Oregonhasnotyetcreatedas tateplanforK-12computers cience.Aplanthatarticulates thegoals for
computers cience,s trategies foraccomplis hingthegoals ,andtimelines forcarryingoutthes trategies is
importantformakingcomputers cienceafundamentalpartofas tate’s educations ys tem.
Oregondoesnotyethaverigorous computers ciences tandards publiclyavailableacros s K-12.Computer
s ciencehas oftenbeenconfus edwithbroadertechnologyeducationins chools .Thes tatecoulds trengthenits
computers cienceprograms bypubliclyadoptingdis cretes tandards forcomputers ciencefocus edonboththe
creationandus eofs oftwareandcomputingtechnologies atalllevels ofK-12education.Thes es tandards can
beguidedbytheconcepts ,practices ,andrecommendations intheK-12ComputerScienceFramework,found
athttp://www.k12cs.org.
Oregondoesnotyetprovidededicatedfundingforrigorous computers cienceprofes s ionaldevelopment
andcours es upport.Althoughfunds maybeavailableviabroaderprograms ,thes tatecans trengthenits
computers cienceprograms bycreatings pecificopportunities tobringcomputers ciencetos chooldis tricts ,
s uchas matchingfundprograms .
Oregondoesnotyethaveclearcertificationpathways forcomputers cienceteachers .Theexpans ionofK12computers cienceeducationis hamperedbythelackofqualifiedcomputers cienceteachers .Wecangrow
theirranks bycreatingclear,navigable,andrewardingprofes s ionalpaths forcomputers cienceteachers .
Oregonhasnotyetes tablis hedprograms atins titutions ofhighereducationtooffercomputers cienceto
pres erviceteachers .Thecomputers cienceteachers hortagecanbeaddres s edbyexpos ingmorepres ervice
teachers tocomputers cienceduringtheirrequiredcours eworkorbycreatings pecificpathways forcomputer
s cienceteachers .
Oregondoesnotyethavededicatedcomputers ciencepos itions ins tateorlocaleducationagencies .
Creatingas tatewidecomputers cienceleaders hippos itionwithinthes tateeducationagencycanhelpexpand
s tate-levelimplementationofcomputers cienceeducationinitiatives .Similarpos itions atthelocallevelcould
s upportdis tricts ’expans ionofcours eofferings andprofes s ionaldevelopment.
Oregondoesnotyetrequirethatalls econdarys chools offercomputers cience.Thes tatecans upportthe
expans ionofcomputers ciencecours es byadoptingpolicies thatrequires chools toofferacomputers cience
cours ebas edonrigorous s tandards ,withappropriateimplementationtimelines andallowingforremote
and/orin-pers oncours es .
Oregonhas pas s edpolicythatis permis s iveandencouragingfors chools toallowcomputers cienceto
countforacoregraduationrequirement,butitis notarequirementfors chools .FindouthowOregonallows
computers ciencetocounttowards graduationathttp://bit.ly/9policies.
Oregondoesnotyetallowcomputers ciencetocountas acoreadmis s ionrequirementatins titutions of
highereducation.Admis s ionpolicies thatdonotincluderigorous computers ciencecours es as meetingacore
entrancerequirement,s uchas inmathematics ors cience,dis courages tudents fromtakings uchcours es in
s econdaryeducation.Stateleaders canworkwithins titutions ofhighereducationtoens urecreditand
articulationpolicies alignwiths econdarys choolgraduationrequirements .
Followus!
Joinourefforts togiveeverys tudentineverys chooltheopportunitytolearncomputers cience.Learnmoreat
code.org,orfollowus onFacebookandTwitter.
Launchedin2013,Code.org®is anon-profitdedicatedtoexpandingacces s tocomputers cience,andincreas ing
participationbywomenandunderrepres enteds tudents ofcolor.Ourvis ionis thateverys tudentineverys chool
s houldhavetheopportunitytolearncomputers cience.
DataisfromtheC onferenceBoardforjobdemand,theBureauofLaborStatisticsforstatesalaryandnationaljobprojectionsdata,the
C ollegeBoardforAP examdata,theNationalC enterforEducationStatisticsforuniversitygraduatedata,theGallupandGoogle
researchstudyEducationTrendsintheStateofC omputerScienceinU.S.K-12Schoolsforschoolsthatoffercomputerscienceand
parentdemand,andC ode.orgforitsowncourses,professionallearningprograms,andparticipationdata.