Sen. Raatz has introduced SB 172 mandating that high schools include computer science in their curriculum and creating a state computer science grant program and associated fund. I’m generally against state mandates for local school curriculum. But, if the state is going to impose requirements, computer science sounds like a good one.
It’s not cursive, but I guess the kids might need to know about computers, too.
The grant program would provide for the State to give money to universities and other institutions capable of training teachers to teach computer science. A grant fund is created but, at least in this bill, no money is placed in that fund. I don’t know if that would be in separate legislation or wait until the budget bill.
Current law states that sciences are a required part of any school corporation’s curriculum. The bill amends that provision to say that “sciences” includes (after June 30, 2021) “computer science.” It also states that:
(a) After June 30, 2021, each public school, including a charter school, shall offer at least one (1) computer science course as a one (1) semester elective in the public school’s curriculum at least once each school year for high school students. (b) After June 30, 2021, each charter school shall include computer science in the charter school’s science curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 12.
The fiscal note suggests that this curriculum requirement could be satisfied by routing students to the Indiana Online Academy at a cost of $295 per student which the schools could either pay themselves or require students to pay. If the school has to hire teachers, the fiscal note estimates the cost of hiring each teacher as about $59,000.
What is meant by “computer science”? Programming in a language? Theory of how computers work? Use of Word/Excel/Powerpoint? Learning enough to be your parents IT support staff?
Speaking of, I’m surprised the fiscal note doesn’t include the cost of IT support staff for the schools, nor the cost of computers themselves. I know that computers are in schools around Indianapolis, but is that true of the entire state?
It basically just tells the State Board of education to set standards for the computer science curriculum. The grant language speaks to giving teachers “practical training in teaching computer science that is founded on evidence based research.”
Like Joeberk, I wonder what they mean by ‘computer science’. Computer literacy – knowing how to use programs such as Word or apps on a phone/tablet – is much different than true computer science – programming and the underlying theory of how computers work. The latter is not something that everyone needs to know nor, frankly, can learn. The former is something everyone should know. As an analogy, in high school I remember learning about household finance – where money comes from, how to calculate interest rates especially on loans, and so on. All very useful later in life. This was ‘economics’ but not true Economics (e.g., demand/supply curves).
The legislation is not specific on this point. When I read it, I thought a computer science class would be a computer programming class — probably because that’s what I had when I was in high school.
It would be an elective, so no everyone would have to learn it. But, I think it’s probably important to have our schools creating as broad a base of citizens who understand computers as we can. That doesn’t mean everyone is going to be a coder. But more kids will have at least some exposure at an earlier age. And it would create more opportunities for those with the aptitude and inclination to develop some knowledge.
So, for me, the general notion is at least a positive one. But, I can certainly see where the implementation would come with enough negatives to make me change my mind.
I agree with the general notion, but as Rick mentions, if the goal is better equipping students to get higher-tech jobs, it won’t be for everyone.
On reflection, it feels like more STEM classes might be what meets that need (not sure what STEM classes are already required).
Also, the “practical training in teaching computer science that is founded on evidence based research” is a standard that they should use for not just computer science, but the other types of science, too.