“…we have to make sure all our kids are equipped for the jobs of the future – which means not just being able to work with computers, but developing the analytical and coding skills to power our innovation economy.”  –President Obama, Weekly Address, January 30, 2016.

There are half a million open technology jobs in the United States today, and that number is projected to more than double within the next 4 years. These jobs pay 50 percent more than the average private-sector job. One recent analysis of 26 million job postings found that nearly half of all the jobs in the top quartile in pay require some computer-science (CS) knowledge or coding skills.

And yet, CS remains largely missing from American K-12 education. By the most recent estimates, just 40 percent of K-12 schools report offering even a single computer-science course, and only 32 states currently allow students to count computer science towards core high school graduation requirements.

These challenges, and the growing relevance of computing to America’s economy, cybersecurity, and national security, are why President Obama issued a bold call to action at the beginning of this year—in his final State of the Union address—to give every child the opportunity to learn computer science.

Since then, 2016 has been a year of action in support of computer science. Fourteen new states have expanded CS education, more than 500 organizations have responded to the President’s call to action, and a new AP-CS course launched this fall and is already being offered in more than 2,000 classrooms. Fifteen Federal agencies are coordinating efforts to expand CS education, with new investments and guidance. Twenty-seven governors have called on Congress to support CS education.

Marking this year of progress, and kicking off the Computer Science Education Week 2016, the White House is announcing new actions in support of CS education.

New Actions Announced by the Administration Today

Federal agencies are announcing new actions in support of Computer Science for All:

• National Science Foundation (NSF) is announcing today $20 million in planned investment in FY 2017 in support of CS education. These new investments will take place under the Computer Science for All: Researcher Practitioner Partnerships (CSforAll: RPP) program, building on NSF’s $25 million investment in FY 2016. The program aims to better understand, through research and development, how to provide high-school teachers with the preparation, professional development, and ongoing support that they would need to teach rigorous computer-science courses; and K-8 teachers with the preparation they would need to integrate computer science and computational thinking into their classrooms.
• National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) will develop a CSforAll strategic framework in the coming year. The NSTC Committee on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CoSTEM) Federal Coordination in STEM Education Task Force’s (FC-STEM) Computer Science for All Interagency Working Group will develop a strategic framework to guide Federal efforts to support the integration of computer science and computational thinking into K-12 education.

These new CS announcements will also complement Administration efforts to expand broader STEM learning opportunities:

• U.S. Department of Education's (ED) 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) is expanding its STEM partnerships in scale and scope. From an initial pilot collaboration between ED and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 2013, which brought authentic STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) experiences to students at 20 21st CCLC sites across 3 states, this program will now reach students at more than 200 sites across 25 states and will involve collaboration among 5 Federal agencies: ED, NASA, National Parks Service (NPS), Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).  Through these Federal partnerships, students from groups typically underrepresented in the STEM fields will have access to high-quality, hands-on, inquiry-based STEM activities, as well as opportunities to connect directly with STEM professionals, to cultivate interest in the field and enhance college and career readiness. The 21st CCLC is a $1.1 billion formula-grant program dedicated to providing students who attend high-poverty and low-performing schools with academic and enrichment opportunities during out-of-school time, including computer science. 

Additional Actions in Response to the President’s Call to Action (excerpt including Mouse)

Today, more than 250 different organizations are announcing new commitments, demonstrating the strong response to the President’s call to give every student the opportunity to learn computer science. With these new announcements, more than 500 organizations have responded this year to the computer science call to action. 

• Mouse will add a new course focused on wearables and programming soft circuits on Mouse Create, their online learning platform that delivers creative computing projects to thousands of youth and educators in the Mouse network across the country this spring 2017.

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