Dive Brief:

• Although a reported 75% of U.S. K-12 students never learn about computer science or coding, a push to make such learning more commonplace is unfolding in Chicago Public School classrooms.
• "Chicago Public Schools has even announced its intention to make computing a graduation requirement, giving all students a foundation in the discipline," reports the Chicago Tribune.
• Some hurdles to incorporating computer science include a dearth of qualified educators and an uphill battle to convince district administrators to invest in an area that standardized tests currently do not measure.

Dive Insight:

The leader of a Chicago chapter of the Computer Science Teachers Association, teacher Steve Svetlik, tells the Chicago Tribune that although computer science "hasn't quite broken through yet," it's about "to break open, and in a really big way."

Svetlik's sentiments are reflected by other educators, advocates, and even politicians in cities and states beyond Chicago. In California, Lieutenant Governor and former San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom asked the University of California Academic Senate to "consider letting high school computer science classes like coding count as math classes instead of electives."

And in Tennessee, schools using a new online platform called Learning Blade has been proven to increase student interest in STEM fields by 37%. Richmond, Virginia's "Richmond Regional School for Innovation" will open next in the next school year, and is bringing 13 Virginia high schools together in order to create a regional school focused on computer science. 

Arizona has also moved ahead with computer science curriculum. In the Avondale School District, coding is already a mandatory K-8 curriculum staple.