VCC Spring 2021

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S pring 2021 21 Computer Science for All By DelEgate Shelly Simonds Now that election season is upon us, I am reviewing my “to do” list as a legislator in the General Assembly. I always come back to the disappointment I saw on the face of a high school girl who didn’t have the opportunity to take a technology class in middle school. She is one of the reasons I’m committed to the vision that every child in the Commonwealth have access to quality STEM education and the chance to study computer science. The Covid-19 Pandemic has shown how reliant our society is on computing and technology in terms of helping institutions innovate and adapt. We have also seen the Pandemic widen the opportunity gap for low-income students in the Commonwealth. Today only 53% of students in our most challenged schools take a computer science class according to the non-profit Code.Org. As a Delegate in theVirginia House, I am part of a movement across the country to broaden student access to computer science by passing laws to make it a fundamental part of our K-12 education system. This year I was able to make good on some of my early campaign promises to promote STEM and computer science education.We passed HB2058 which establishes in the code a Virginia STEM Advisory Board to help schools align efforts and create a unified vision in science, technology, engineering and math. The STEM advisory board will help us coordinate and evaluate what schools are doing in STEM education so we can measure our success. This board will ensure we continue the progress made by the Governor’s STEM Education Commission which recently wrapped up its work. Another education bill we passed last session was HB1885 which requires the Department of Education to review how current computer science standards are being implemented in our public schools. Virginia added mandatory K-12 computer science standards to the Standards of Learning in 2017. This review will help us gather more data on how our current computer science SOL standards are working so that we can understand the gaps and create a framework for improvement. Why is this so important? For me this is a social justice issue for our children. Studying computer science (CS) puts students on the path to the highest paying, fasting growing job category in the country. It opens up more economic opportunity for our students than any other subject because the problem solving and computational thinking skills students gain are applicable to every occupation in our modern economy like banking, medicine, accounting, and engineering. We talk a lot about the importance of STEM jobs to growing the economy, but 67% of STEM jobs are actually computer science jobs. Currently there are 400,000 computer science job openings nationwide and 35,000 openings in Virginia, according to Code.Org. Children who study computer science are 17%more likely to go to college and studies show they have improved problem solving skills, creativity and mathematical skills. Every student deserves the opportunity to learn about algorithms, how the internet works, to design a website or make an app for a small business. To achieve true equity, we have to look at K-12 access to computer science instruction. According to Code.org , 90% of parents want their children to learn computer science yet only half of our US schools offer the curriculum. We need to normalize instruction in computer science like we do with math; you expect to take it in elementary school and you know you’ll take it in High School. My goal for next session is to continue to fight so that every student in every school inVirginia has the opportunity to take computer science. Tomake this vision a reality, we need to expand our state program to train current teachers to teach in this area, and we need to start programs to prepare new teachers to teach computer science. An organization called CodeVA is the State program that provides state-funded teacher training and last year they provided more than 20,000 hours of Professional Development to more than 1,000 Virginia classroom teachers, training on how to integrate CS into their instruction, as well as to teach stand-a- lone elective computer science courses. Here are some easy ways the Commonwealth can expand CS through collaboration and a bit of legislation: First, we need more collaboration between our state universities around allowing computer science high school courses to count towards admissions at university. This is one of Code.org’ s 9 policy objectives that most other states far behind Virginia in both need and in achievement in CS have already adopted. We also must work to expand broadband access to every corner of the Commonwealth. Covid has shown us that this is an essential utility that should be in every home to promote commerce, workforce, and education. Of course, we can’t expand computer science instruction without talented teachers helping our students learn. We need to expand the available teaching pool of potential computer science teachers by allowing science teachers to teach CS classes. Finally, we need to expand our capacity for teacher training and invest more in our state program, which currently trains thousands of our teachers yearly in computer science, both as an integrated K-8 subject as well as a high school elective. Imagine if 1.3 million kids every year were exposed to CS what that will mean to our Commonwealth. Virginia’s computer science initiative is an opportunity to be intentional and provide for all students equitable and meaningful access to computer science literacy, no matter who they are or where they live. We can do this through policy that balances our economic development interest with this amazing opportunity to lift our underrepresented and minoritized communities grappling with generational poverty caused by institutionalized biases. Computer science in Virginia must be CS for ALL. Delegate Shelly Simonds is a Democrat representing the 94th District, part of Newport News. WORDSPRINT.COM/VCC-PUBLICATION-ORDERS.HTML Order the 2021 Red Book today! This edition includes contact information for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and 2021 General Assembly. Ordering online is simple and easy! Virginia Capitol Connections 2021 Personalized Covers Available! V