Who Am I?

CS Education Reform State/Local Policy Curriculum Teachers Federal Policy National Profile/Medi a Strategy for Reform

Surfacing “C” in STEM STEM C

Image?Teachers?Schools?Resources?Parents? Students? Curriculum? Policy Policy: Shared Cause of Issues

K-12 Classroom Local Resource Allocation School Board Requirements Etc. State Grad Credits University Admissio n State Standards Teacher Cert. Federal NCLB ESL Perkins Testing HQT State Plans for $ America Competes Etc. Policy Landscape: Layers of Complexity

$$$ Policy Framework* Standards Certification Credits Teachers Courses Curriculum Students $$$ Standards Certification Credits

Advocacy should be seen as broad and broad-based Believe that CS should be a fundamental part of education for all students Make CS part of the audiences value narrative Be part of a community! Basic Framework

Background Action Reform Basic Model for Advocacy

Step One -- Knowledge and Groundwork Background and Context –Homework Policy Context (laws, regulations, educational structure) Political Context (players, opportunities, rat holes) –Establish the issues –Data and Arguments Facts Matter Stories Matter More* (Remember the value equation) –Be consistent, but flexible –Figure out what you want Start at a high level, but be able to drill down

Jobs in Computing Jobs Everywhere Understanding the World Starting Points: Core Arguments -- Why?

Where the STEM Jobs Will Be Projected Annual Growth of Total STEM Job Openings * STEM is defined here to include non-medical occupations. Source: Jobs data are calculated from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employment Projections , available at

Where the U.S. Jobs Will Be Top 10 Major Occupational Groups and Average Salaries in May 2011 Sources: Jobs data are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Employment Projections , available at Salary data are from BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, May 2011, available at Major Occupational Group % Growth Average Annual Salary 1Healthcare Support Occupations35%$27,370 2Personal Care and Service Occupations27%$24,620 3Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations26%$72,730 4Community and Social Service Occupations24%$43,830 5Construction and Extraction Occupations22%$44,630 6Computing and Mathematical Occupations22%$78,730 7Business and Financial Operations Occupations17%$68,740 8Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations16%$67,470 9 Education, Training, and Library Occupations15%$50, Transportation and Material Moving Occupations15%$33,200

Exposure Matters Students that take AP CS are 8 times more likely to major in CS In the summer of 2010, Google surveyed a sample of its US employees about exposure to CS prior to college. –Nearly all CS majors (98%) reported being exposed to CS prior to college, compared to less than half of non-CS majors (45%). The nature of the exposure varied from reading about CS, after-school programs or camps, to middle or high school CS classes. –Those who went on to major in CS were more likely than non- majors to have had a CS class offered in their high school. –CS majors were more likely to have known that CS was a possible career path when they were in high school.

Source: College Board, Advanced Placement (AP) Exam Data 2011, available at Calculus represents the combined data of Calculus AB and BC. Physics represents the combined data of Physics B, C:Electricity and Magnetism, and C:Mechanics. Computer Science represents combined data of Computer Science A and B. High School Advanced Placement Exams

Step Two -- Arguments Into Action Set Goals –Short and long range –Outcome and process based Seek Partners -Ideal coalition, locally lead: Teachers Higher Education Corporations Community Groups Professional Societies -Key Issue – Partners must be singing from the same “song sheet” -Establish the base, move from there Avoid* -Problem (no solution) -Problem (fix it for me) -Solution (no problem)

Find a champion* Propose solutions Organize, reach out, scan for opportunities Apply pressure (top down – corporate interests, media; bottom up – grassroots, grasstops) Step 3 -- Action into Reform

Platforms/Opportunities for Advocacy Advocacy is about awareness -- use CSEdWeek (year round if you have to) Summer town halls with your Member of Congress Next Generation Science Standards -- How about a commitment from 200 teachers in this room? CS&IT -- National conferences are great hooks for carrying out advocacy

Platforms/Opportunities for Advocacy No bad time for advocacy... but sometimes are better than others Things run in cycles -- learn them: –Back to school? Reach parents? –August recess? Good for Federal folks back home? –Career fair at your school? Meet with school board? Advocacy is fundamentally about applying pressure to carry out YOUR agenda.

You will fail You will have to be flexible Policy reform will have to measured in years, if not decades Regardless of level of policy change – NO SILVER BULLET Background Action Reform Summary

That’s nice, but what really matters is … … crossing the starting line.