Communications of the ACM
White House to Bolster STEM Education, Close Skills Gap
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The Obama administration has launched a new advanced placement (AP) computer science (CS) course as part of an interdisciplinary approach to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for underrepresented students and address a shortage of skilled workers. White House Office of Science and Technology Policy adviser Ruthe Farmer says the administration has rolled out efforts such as TechHire and the computer-science-for-all programs as part of its push to inject an additional 100,000 STEM teachers into schools over the next 10 years. Despite that, Farmer acknowledges "we need to really, really level up our focus on underrepresented students — rural students, students with disabilities, students of color, and women's participation."
The administration notes CS classes are lacking in K-12 curricula, as an estimated 75 percent of schools last year did not offer a CS class with a programming unit. The new AP course, developed in conjunction with the U.S. National Science Foundation, seeks to close this gap by combining creative aspects of programming, cybersecurity, and ways computing can help meet practical challenges.
IBM's Stanley Litow says the key factor in the lack of STEM education diversity across the United States is income. "This isn't just about K to 12, this is about making sure that people have the skills to take the jobs that are available in the United States," he says.
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