Dive Brief:
- College Board is set to have its largest debut of an AP course in its history with the introduction of AP Computer Science Principles in the fall.
- EdSurge reports 1,500 teachers have been trained on creating a proper syllabus for the course for the fall of 2016, following a three-year pilot in 45 high schools. The College Board has already secured credit policies from at least 100 colleges identifying classes for which the AP credit could count.
- While the existing computer science course, where students learn the Java programming language, is popular, there are major disparities in the number of women and black or Latino students who take it, and College Board hopes a course on general computing concepts will entice more students.
Dive Insight:
Computer science programs at the college level are growing as fast as schools can manage as students and their families recognize the high need for these skills in the economy.
Still, there are far fewer computer science graduates than the workforce demands. Coding bootcamps have popped up to try to fill this demand and appeal to students who want a shorter training program. One complaint of bootcamps, however, is their lack of Computer Science fundamentals. If the AP principles course gives students an entry into the field and a firm grounding in the logic that drives it, students might be able to use their AP credit to inform later bootcamps and apply for jobs, skipping college programs altogether.
At this point, Code.org counts just 32 states that allow students to count computer science courses toward their high school graduation requirements. If fewer schools considered the courses an elective, more students might be attracted.