Dive Brief:

• According to a new Gallup and Google poll, 91% of parents think their children should learn more about computer science in the future and a similar number think the courses are a good use of school resources.
• A majority think that computer science classes are at least as important as the rest of students’ required courses.
• Students seem to share similar beliefs, with most believing that they are least somewhat likely to have a job that will require computer science knowledge.

Dive Insight:

The federal government and state and local education officials have gone to great lengths to increase schools' access to Internet. Many schools are trying to incorporate more technology in their instruction, and some are trying to directly boost access to computer science instruction.

But the Gallup poll suggests that district administrators may still underestimate demand for the courses. Just 7% of principals and 6% of superintendents said demand among parents was high for computer science education. Their estimates for students were higher: 14% and 15% respectively. But most ranked it as a pretty low priority.