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"The lack of access to foundational computer science courses is almost exclusively a small school issue," says the "2023 State of Computer Science Education" report by nonprofit Code.org and two other groups promoting the subject's instruction. "For the majority of students, we have done a great job making sure they have access to a computer science course," says Sean Roberts, vice president of U.S. strategy for Code.org. At Wyoming's Ten Sleep School, a 102-student K-12 school, Jason Thoren teaches computer science one period a day to nine of the school's 32 high school students.
Mackinaw City Public Schools may be small, but it delivers an exceptionally large computer science program. All 15 of its June graduates took a yearlong computer science class, and half completed an Advanced Placement computer science course.
They all learned from Lisa Rivera, who has been teaching computer science and Spanish for nearly three decades in the 137-student district located on the northern tip of Michigan's lower peninsula. She teaches a semester of computer science to 7th and 8th graders and a required yearlong introductory course to sophomores, who learn about artificial intelligence and Python programming. She also teaches AP Computer Science Principles and the more advanced AP Computer Science A.
Few of the nation's high schools, especially small ones located in remote settings, have offered students so much computer science for so long. Few require it. Remarkably, this school serving the 800 residents of Mackinaw City started teaching computer science even before Rivera arrived in 1995.
Scarce Instruction
Most small high schools in the nation do not teach computer science.
"The lack of access to foundational computer science courses is almost exclusively a small school issue," says the "2023 State of Computer Science Education" report by nonprofit Code.org and two other groups promoting the subject's instruction.
While 82 percent of medium and large high schools offered foundational computer science courses last year, only 41 percent with fewer than 500 students did so, according to the report.
"For the majority of students, we have done a great job making sure they have access to a computer science course," says Sean Roberts, vice president of U.S. strategy for Code.org. "Where we see huge gaps is in those smaller schools."
By contrast, Rivera has expanded Mackinaw's computer science program over the years. The 47-student high school made its introductory course a graduation requirement in 2006 as the easiest way to satisfy a new state mandate that all schools offer 20 hours of online learning, she says. She added the AP courses In 2017 and middle school classes in 2021. Rivera hopes next to add computer science instruction in the elementary grades.
"I have students who excel in computer science, who might struggle academically in history or English," she adds.
New Options
Until recent years, small high schools (defined as enrolling 500 or fewer students in grades 9-12), more than a third of which are in urban and suburban districts, have lacked teachers and financial resources to offer computer science.
Proponents say that today all small schools should be able to offer some computer science. Federal help equipped students with laptops and other technology during the pandemic, and several nonprofit organizations offer professional development. Online course options also are available for students attending schools with no offerings.
In Wyoming, the state legislature last year mandated all high schools teach computer science, forcing small schools to find solutions. The Clearmont K-12 School outside of Sheridan, Wyo., with only 44 high school students, turns to online courses to offer computer science, says Chase Christensen, the district's superintendent and principal.
At Wyoming's Ten Sleep School, a 102-student K-12 school, Jason Thoren teaches computer science one period a day to nine of the school's 32 high school students. They move at individual paces and levels in their first, second or third year of study. Some learn coding or explore robotics and drone competition, says Thoren, 25, who also teaches welding, woodworking and drafting. He introduces his 7th and 8th graders to a short computer science basics course.
"I'm definitely still learning," says Thoren, who earned his computer science endorsement at a community college during his first two years at Ten Sleep.
At least, Thoren says, he gives his students "a decent baseline" for pursuing computer science in college.
-BILL GRAVES
Copyright American Association of School Administrators Aug 2024