When advocates push for computer science education, usually they’re talking about boosting the number of schools offering computer science classes – with the intent to reach more students. But from our perspective as scholars of computer science education, a key factor is how many teachers are qualified to teach the subject.
Data from 2020 indicates that in one of the most advanced high school computer science classes taught around the country, the College Board’s Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course, enrollment grew from nearly 44,000 in 2017 to more than 114,000 in 2020. The growth in enrollment – for that class and other computer science courses leading up to it – has been driven by more teachers taking quick classes on how to teach computer science.
