Should Computer Science Be a High School Graduation Requirement? A Comprehensive Look
Wondering if high schools should mandate computer science? You’re not alone. As technology transforms the economy, many experts argue coding must become as fundamental as math or science. But views remain mixed if computer science warrants a core curriculum status.
In this extensive guide, you’ll discover the key considerations around the pressing question: Should computer science be a required high school course nationwide?
Grasping the debate around this issue matters both for your own children’s education as well as shaping the readiness of future generations. That’s why we’ll examine important factors like:
- The growing importance of tech skills for college and career readiness
- Potential benefits making computer science mandatory could offer students
- Concerns and obstacles schools face regarding implementation
- An overview of the current state of computer science education
- Perspectives from leading education reform experts
By the end, you’ll have a 360-degree understanding of this complex issue. You can make up your own mind while also recognizing the multifaceted tradeoffs policymakers must weigh.
So let’s dive in and unpack it layer by layer!
The Surging Demand for Computer Science Skills
First, to frame this issue, it helps to grasp how integral technology has become across industries. Computing now constitutes over half of all STEM jobs in the U.S. An estimated 4.6 million jobs related to computers or mathematics will emerge between 2020-2030.
But it goes far beyond the tech sector. Consider how fundamental computer skills are for careers like:
- Medicine – Managing patient records, analyzing health trends
- Business – Data analysis, financial modeling, marketing
- Law and Criminal Justice – Case evidence, cybersecurity, forensic technology
- Architecture and Engineering – Design software, analytics, simulations
- And much more. The list goes on…
Whether helping doctors access lifesaving data or assisting engineers model innovations, technology plays an instrumental role. Market research firm IDC predicts that by 2025, nearly 90 percent of all professions will require some technology skills.
Clearly, digital literacy is vital for modern career readiness across fields. So how well is the education system keeping up?
Gaps in Computer Science Education
The demand for computing talent surges while computer science lag in schools:
- Only 47 percent of U.S. high schools teach foundational computer science.
- 22 states still allow computer science courses to count solely as an elective.
- Diversity gaps persist, with just 39% of CS high school students represented by groups historically underrepresented in tech fields.
Furthermore, U.S. students continue to underperform in tech skills compared to global peers. Per the 2018 PISA exam by OECD, just 2 percent of U.S. 15-year-olds could model complex situations with computer programs, significantly below average.
These statistics indicate major gaps emerge early in the K-12 pipeline. Many students miss out on not just coding skills but computational thinking linked to creativity, analytics, and innovation.
Making computer science a required course rather than an elective can help close these gaps…as you’ll discover next.
The Benefits of Requiring Computer Science
Mandating a computer science credit ensures all students gain exposure to the field regardless of school district or resources.
Here are five of the top reasons this requirement warrants consideration:
- Develops broadly useful skills
While computer science does teach programming, it also nurtures computational thinking. This involves logically breaking down problems, analyzing data, and devising step-by-step solutions. Whether fixing a bike, planning events, managing finances, or pursing medical breakthroughs, this skillset enables better critical thinking and decision-making.
- Boosts college and career readiness
A recent Gallup study of 11,000 college graduates found that those who studied computer science had higher starting salaries and long-term career progression than nearly any other major. Even basic coding skills make you stand out and open up opportunities.
- Bridges tech diversity gaps
Requiring CS as a graduation credit rather than an elective exposes more students to computing early on. This is especially important for girls and minorities underrepresented in technology to spark early passion and talent development in computer science.
- Aligns with workforce needs
With over 500,000 computing jobs unfilled today and millions more openings expected in the years ahead, computer science education is imperative to build a pipeline of qualified candidates across industries relying on technical skills.
- Offers flexibility
Rather than lock students into rigid requirements, policymakers can allow alternatives that demonstrate core technology competency like an approved IT course or industry certification. This maintains flexibility while still ensuring all students gain digital literacy.
Clearly, the far-reaching benefits of making computer science a high school core requirement instead of an elective are plentiful. But what are the countervailing issues policymakers point to?
Key Challenges Facing Implementation
Despite strong arguments for integration, most high schools have yet to adopt computer science requirements. Why?
Several intertwined challenges confront schools:
Teacher Shortages
The number of K-12 computer science teachers fell nearly 30% between 2009-2017. Teacher credentialing programs face capacity limits for qualifying educators. Schools, especially rural and urban districts, already encounter math and science teacher shortfalls as well, exacerbating computer science hiring difficulties.
Upfront Cost Concerns
Courses necessitate updated computer labs, software, IT infrastructure, and classroom resources. With schools often facing tight budgets, funding such investments poses hurdles, particularly if relying solely on overburdened districts rather than supplemental state/federal funding.
Curriculum Integration Difficulties
Merging new graduation requirements affects packed high school schedules and credit balancing across subjects. Education officials face tough decisions regarding appropriate timing and structure for integration.
Assessment Benchmark Absence
Unlike established fields like math and English guided by clear standards, computer science education currently varies widely regarding skills prioritization and evaluations. Creating consistent competency benchmarks at scale is complex.
So in summary, while boosting computer science education remains imperative, tangible barriers around staffing, budgets, schedules, and assessments can frustrate progress. Especially for disadvantaged districts, overcoming these roadblocks requires a coordinated support strategy.
Expert Perspectives on Potential Solutions
Navigating these tradeoffs falls heavily on policymakers. But education reform leaders offer ideas and inspiration. Let’s examine two influential expert views representing distinct schools of thought.
View 1: Target Federal Investment to Support Educators
Former Ed Secretary John King argues the federal government should fund large-scale computer science investments, just like 1950s investments to improve math/science education after the Soviet Union’s Sputnik launch.
He advocates for:
- Grants to help districts develop new curriculum and certify more CS teachers
- Funding both updated IT infrastructure as well as ongoing professional development
- Leveraging federal resources to catalyze and support state/local efforts
This top-down vision sees large investments seeding capacity that local districts can leverage over time.
View 2: Focus First on Grassroots Teacher Development
Education policy researcher Linda Darling-Hammond counters that curriculum changes without skilled teachers will falter. She wants greater focus on cultivating computer science instructor talent first.
Specifically, she advocates for:
- Offering tuition support for credentialing current and aspiring CS teachers
- Developing streamlined alternative pathways towards certification beyond just university programs
- Fostering peer mentorship and incentives for high-performing CS educators
- Building scalable teacher training capacity before making requirements compulsory
With both compelling strategies on the table from these influential voices, a hybrid approach potentially balancing grassroots supports with wider systemic funding seems prudent.
The Latest Progress Expanding Access
Despite very real obstacles, progress continues expanding student access to computer science:
- 10 states now allow CS courses to count as a core math/science credit rather than just an elective.
- Idaho, New Hampshire, and Washington made computer science courses mandatory in just the past 3 years.
- Large districts like Chicago and New York City announced new CS requirements for all high schools by 2025.
- Enrollment in advanced placement computer science exams grew 17 percent in 2022 alone.
Furthermore, federal and state funding aims to spark continued momentum:
- The 2021 Infrastructure Bill included $450 million towards K-12 CS education modernization.
- States like Arkansas, Texas, and South Carolina recently earmarked millions from pandemic relief funds for new CS investments.
With both bottom-up and top-down initiatives taking shape, this grassroots energy and budding policy support offer optimism.
The Verdict: Computer Science as Critical 21st Century Literacy
In a technology-driven world where computing skills offer immense value across industries, the case for making computer science a high school graduation requirement grows stronger each year. Guaranteeing universal access can help democratize opportunity.
As cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, and more transform the economic landscape, computer science warrants the same status as foundational fields like biology or algebra rather than an optional domain.
Through some combination of creative educator supports, coordinated curriculum planning, and sustained funding prioritization, the practical obstacles limiting implementation can be overcome.
It merely requires recognizing computer science as vital 21st century literacy. We teach mandatory civics so students understand democratic structures, biology so they grasp scientific principles, and literature so they cultivate writing skills.
Shouldn’t computing – which now underpins innovation spanning medicine, business, architecture, agriculture and nearly everything in between – fall into that same category as essential knowledge?
The risks of continued inaction and allowance of enduring skill gaps arguably pose far greater long-term threats, both to individual students as well as national competitiveness and opportunities.
So while no single fix exists, with the right vision and coalition of supports, states and districts can turn the corner. And soon, perhaps computer science certificates will proudly adorn high school graduation gowns alongside traditional academic credentials.