The State of Computer Science in North Carolina

The Friday Institute has been a computer science education leader in North Carolina for almost ten years. We have trained hundreds of educators in kindergarten through twelfth grade curriculum, participated in the development of the North Carolina Computer Science Standards, and held numerous convenings of state leaders to promote CS education. After all this time, however, it’s important to reflect on the significance of computer science education and why we continue this work.
To do so, we can use the 2024 State of CS Report, published in October, as a metric and guide to understand what has been done and the work that needs to be completed. This report, published by Code.org in partnership with the CS Teachers Association (CSTA) and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance focuses on two areas: policy implementation and student access and participation in CS courses. It can be used to help understand how our work compares to other states, as well as pre-defined metrics of success.

Where We Are As a State: CS Education Participation

The 2024 State of CS Report highlights student access and participation in CS courses. Currently, 69% of high school students in North Carolina have access to one or more CS courses. However, only 4.8% of students participated in one of those courses. We have a long way to go as a state considering North Carolina has adopted a CS mandate that states all students must take a CS course to graduate.

The areas of our state that need the most attention are the rural and smaller schools. 64% of rural schools offer a CS course, as opposed to 83% of suburban schools. Only 49% of smaller high schools offer a CS course, while 93% of large schools offer at least one. One reason for this is the limited funds that smaller schools have to hire a dedicated CS teacher. Without additional funding, those schools will need to rely on business, tech ed or math teachers to fulfill the need. This can put an unnecessary strain on those teachers who will need to learn a whole new curriculum and content area.

Participation data also becomes extremely troubling when it’s broken down by gender. Only 27% of students who participate in a CS course are female. Efforts will need to be made to ensure all students feel welcome in a CS course, especially since students will be required to take the course to graduate.

Where We Are as a State: Ten Priority Areas

The report highlights 10 priority areas in which states can focus to ensure high quality CS education for all students. These policies aim to provide objectives for states to help guide the work of building a comprehensive, state-wide computer science program that benefits every student in the state. The priority areas are:

• Having a state plan
• Development of educational standards
• State-level funding for CS education
• Education certification
• Pre-service courses for education students
• Development of a state-level CS education position
• The requirement for high schools to offer CS courses
• Making CS a core graduation requirement
• Allow CS to satisfy an admission requirement at higher educational institutions
• The requirement that all students take a CS course to graduate high school

North Carolina has implemented eight out of 10 of these policies. To highlight a few of the advances the state has made over the past few years:

• The North Carolina General Assembly has set aside funds for educator training and certification, including Strategic CSforALL Resource & Implementation Planning Tool (SCRIPT), a district strategic planning effort led by CS4All, the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI)
• The state implemented K-12 CS standards and are now revising them to meet the growing needs of students
• The state has created and filled numerous CS positions at central office, including a CS lead, and K-12 consultants to assist with curriculum writing and implementation as well as educator support
• The state has also passed a CS mandate (as stated earlier), which will require all students to take a CS course to graduate high school

The two policies that North Carolina is currently missing are a college admissions requirement and a college-level CS course for pre-service educators. All students of public and charter schools who graduate will have some amount of CS exposure thanks to the new state mandate. However, a college admissions requirement would reinforce the need for CS at the secondary level as well as ensure students outside of the public school system, such as those that attend homeschooling or private schools, will receive CS exposure.

It is also extremely important that educators not only feel comfortable teaching CS but see its benefits in cross-curricular settings. Trainings such as those led by the Friday Institute are exceptional at preparing teachers for CS instruction, but the limited exposure to instruction means that educators must build their own proficiency while in the classroom. At best, this can lead to a lack of comfort with the material and a resentment for the material at worst. This resentment and uncertainty can be transferred to the students, causing them to avoid CS in the future. Preparing pre-service educators for CS instruction while they are earning their licenses or degrees will allow them to become comfortable with the material before entering the classroom and can also allow them to explore how CS can be used as a tool to enrich their content area for students.

Conclusions

North Carolina is in an excellent position to promote CS education in our schools. Thanks to dedicated educators who have taken time out of their summers and weekends to learn a new curriculum, access to CS has grown from 51% in 2019 to 69% in 2024. This excitement by educators has paved the way for a new generation of computer savvy students who both know more about how to engage with technology and are prepared for computer centric professions.

However, there is an enormous amount of work that still needs to be done. Educators must be trained so that every school offers a CS course. Culture and assumptions must be changed to allow all students to feel welcome in CS courses, and professional development must be designed to encourage educators to build an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere that breaks down gender and racial barriers, allowing all students to not only be successful but also feel welcome in their courses.

At the Friday Institute, we are continuing to develop in-service teachers into CS educators. The North Carolina CS Professional Learning Program has trained hundreds of educators in free CS curricula from Code.org to ensure high quality education for all students in North Carolina and will continue to train educators for years to come.

The world is constantly changing and becoming more computer centric, but thanks to the work of educators across the state and country, we have the ability to prepare our students to face tomorrow.