Dive Brief:

• The home of Silicon Valley has work to do when it comes to K-12 computer science instruction, but California is gaining ground when it comes to access to classes for students as well as curriculum tools and professional development for teachers.
• EdSource reports there is local support to add computer science curriculum standards to the Next Generation Science Standards, and the Computer Science Teachers Association is working on its own curriculum and statewide standards.
• Legislation on the table in Sacramento would create an advisory group to address competing ideas about computer science instruction and provide direction for a path forward — and ahead of these projects, some of the state’s largest districts have introduced K-12 computer science curricula.

Dive Insight:

Code.org, a computer science advocacy organization, counts only one in four schools as offering computer science instruction and only 30 states even allow students to take computer science toward their graduation requirements. One of the most important fields for today’s economy in the rest of the states must be taken as an elective.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson moved to expand access to computer science almost immediately upon being elected in 2015, and by the middle of the 2015-16 school year, the number of students taking the courses had jumped to more than 4,000 — up from 1,100 the entire school year before. Students and parents are interested in these courses. It is up to schools to offer them.