[Edu-sig] Significant drop in CS interest in high schools

[kirby urner]

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 5:07 PM, Jeff Rush<jeff at taupro.com> wrote:
> Lloyd Hugh Allen wrote:
>> I'm a math teacher who uses python for personal purposes, but the cs
>> teacher in my building told me that the higher level cs ab ap was axed
>> for this year - that could contribute to lower enrollment. Apparently
>> ap italian was also on the chopping block until the gov't of italy
>> ponied up....if only there were a wealthy benefactor for cs...
>
> Now I'm really confused. ;-)  So you're talking about the CS 'courses'
> no the AP tests, right?  I know the AP -tests- are offered only when it
> makes business sense for the testing company but -courses- are under the
> control of the local schoolboard, I thought.
>
> So you're saying the schoolboard decides what courses to offer based on
> who gives them money, up to and including governments, foreign and
> domestic, instead of what is (a) best for society/future interests of
> the students based on knowledge of trends, or (b) student registration
> demand/historical interest in certain topics?
>
> I'd love to get into the head of some of these decision makers - what
> wierd view do they have of CS?  They must imagine it being some luxury
> topic, some elective nice to have like Italian for advanced students but
> not something of basic literacy for all students.

I think you're about right here Jeff.

It takes little think tanks with no investment in the status quo to
bring attention to these abuses.

In our district, if a school censors YouTube, even for teachers, we
encourage writing the ACLU, even Amnesty International.

Censoring is like book burning, and if you're tax funded and doing it,
you maybe need a knock on the door from the taxpayers' representative
(could be a Congressman), some scandalous press.

The way kids are hobbled with obsolete textbooks teaching nothing
relevant is of course a travesty.

>
> There is a difference between "this is what every citizen should know
> about computers/tech to understand the rapidly changing world around
> them" and "vocational training to become a professional programmer".
>
> -Jeff

Yes, big difference.  Lots of canary in mineshaft tests vis-a-vis
"what every citizen should know..."

No mention of SQL in all four years of high school?  Dead canary.

No mention of RSA in all four years of high school?  Dead canary.

No use of FOSS on commodity hardware to impart math principles?  Dead canary.

I think we should give out Dead Canary awards to deserving school
boards ("we" being my think tank -- I know Python.org is business
class conservative and can't afford to do anything that controversial
or fun).

Kirby