Study: U.S. lagging in computer science

A report by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science found computer science education missing in most American elementary and secondary school classrooms, and the number of introductory and Advanced Placement courses in computer science has declined in the last five years, a university release said Monday.

"Some states and some schools are offering some really excellent courses," Mark Stehlik, co-author of the report, said.
"But overall, the picture is pretty bleak."

That study found that most schools focus just on teaching students how to use a computer and run available applications, rather than teaching deeper concepts, such as computational problem-solving, that create the foundations for innovation.

The problem is particularly serious in upper-level computer science education, the study found, with only nine states counting computer science credits toward graduation requirements, and with 14 states having adopted no standards at all.

Not every student needs to become a computer scientist, another study author says, but all students should have the basic knowledge they need to understand an increasingly technological world.

"Just like understanding a cell in biology class, understanding how a computer works is a fundamental skill for competing in the 21st century global marketplace," Leigh Ann Sudol, a doctoral student in Carnegie Mellon's Computer Science Department, said.

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