Finding a Role for Your Department in the Computer Science for All Initiative
This year, a national initiative called Computer Science for All (CS for All) was announced in the President’s weekly address, drawing national attention to CS education. President Obama launched the effort on January 30, 2016. The initiative, led by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED) in partnership with other federal agencies and private partners, aims to ensure CS education is available to all K-12 students across the U.S.
CS for All has gained tremendous momentum, and it was the subject of many conversations at the 2016 CRA Conference at Snowbird. A session on Tuesday evening provided the opportunity to talk with faculty from leading computing departments about ways their departments are supporting CS for All. Topics included research on CS education, involving undergraduates in K-12 CS learning projects, collaborating with education departments and schools, catalyzing state partnerships by working across districts to create CS education pathways, supporting the new Advanced Placement® CS Principles course, and grant opportunities to prototype professional development for regional teachers and broadening participation across the pipeline. Departments were given the chance to add their names to a public list of university and college departments that intend to take action to support K-12 CS for All. More than 70 departments have signed on so far.
There’s a role for every department! We hope that you find ways to get your department involved to help make high-quality CS education available to all K-12 students across the country.
