- Computer science and engineering are among the top three most-demanded college majors
- The trends have led the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to predict that one million US programming jobs will go unfilled by 2020
SECURING A BETTER FUTURE FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREEN
Percent of US States considering considering computer science as a standard course
Percent of schools certified to teach computer science in US
Today there are no good tools available for kids and individuals to learn programming and computer science. The existing tools are either too simple to proceed with a deeper understanding of programming, or too difficult to develop a computer program with some meaningful degree of functionality providing for immediate failure and future non-interest.
Programa is the ideal computing environment that allows kids and individuals to learn computer science and computer programming. It is a very simple and easy to use tool that combines simplicity in coding with very powerful concepts that minimize the time it takes somebody to understand how to code, how to debug the code, and how to produce exciting results. Programa also provides powerful visualization tools that allow any individual to easily illustrate the results of their code.
It is clear that this is not a sustainable approach for preparing our kids for an even more competitive future where computers will become an even more integral part of our lives. Computer science education should be part of the core curriculum to enable kids to engage with computers and programming starting from their early stages so they are well prepared for the future
This figure, which was constructed using 2011 College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Exam Data shows the number of students that take Advanced Placement tests for different STEM disciplines. It shows that the number of high-school students taken Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science exams has remained flat in spite good growth in other STEM areas.
According to The Nation’s Report card study (page 49 table 8) conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, Computer science education has seen a decrease in high school student participation from 25% to only 19% over the last 20 years.
Except for nine states, computer science isn’t considered a math or science course, but rather an elective. As a result, students are reluctant to take engaging computer science classes because they don’t count towards graduation requirements (Time Magazine)
Despite its critical and growing importance, computer science is taught in only a small minority of U.S. schools according to a 2011 study (Source: A National Talent Strategy: Ideas for Securing U.S. Competitiveness and Economic Growth)
According to a Computing Core article Computer science courses in K-12 education are fading from the national landscape at the very moment they are needed most
- Introductory secondary school computer science courses have decreased in number by 17 percent since 2005
- The number of Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science Courses has similarly decreased by 33 percent