Black, Latino students try hand at coding,
Non-profit Code.org gives students chance at computer science
Giovanna Munoz Ortiz is a 10th-grader at Madison Park Academy, and every day she learns to code.
Her public school in East Oakland, Calif., mirrors the neighborhood that surrounds it. It’s nearly entirely Latino and African American. Almost all the students qualify for free and reduced lunch. And, until 2015, it didn’t offer any computer science classes.
“I had never really thought about it much before,” says Ortiz, 15. “Now that I am being exposed to it, I find it really interesting.”
Ortiz is one of a growing number of students from underrepresented backgrounds gaining access for the first time to curriculum from Code.org, which gives them the knowledge and skills to pursue an education and career in computer science.
Code.org said Thursday it has enrolled more than 18,600 high school students in its CS Principles advanced placement computer science course. About half of the students are Latino or African American. That could more than double the number of underrepresented minorities in AP computer science classes nationwide this year.
Though the numbers are still small, they are growing and the trajectory shows promise for Code.org ’s mission to reach students in urban and rural areas who have never had the opportunity to study computer science.
Code.org is a non-profit group backed by tech companies such as Facebook and Microsoft. Its mission is to get every school to add computer science to its curriculum, part of a growing effort to address the nation’s shortage of computer scientists and the systemic lack of diversity in the tech industry.
That gender and racial gap has its roots in unequal access to computer science education. And that’s something Partovi says he’s determined to change so students of all backgrounds have a shot at the plentiful jobs and high-paying careers in the field, just as he did.
Partovi, born in Tehran, taught himself to code on a Commodore 64. After immigrating to the U.S. as a child, he used his programming chops to land jobs as a software engineer during high school and college while his friends worked as busboys and babysitters. With a de- gree in computer science from Harvard, Partovi rose through the ranks at Microsoft and then went on to start two companies. In 2013, he and his twin brother Ali started Code.org. Now Code.org is building on the track record of its Code Studio, which offers online tutorials in the basics of coding by targeting high school computer science classes. “I am living the American dream,” Partovi says. “But most Americans feel like the American dream is broken, stacked in favor of those with special privilege.” More and more, public schools are viewing computer science as a foundational skill much like reading, writing and math. Still, the majority of schools don’t offer it.
“The idea that we would only teach computer science in select schools seems antithetical to the American dream,” he says.
Casey Bethel wanted to help his students develop 21st century skills. So the science teacher in Manchester, Ga., started teaching the CS Principles course last year.
The Code.org course was developed in partnership with College Board and has been endorsed by the organization that administers the standardized tests that help determine college entrances as well as advanced placement courses. Code.org and College Board are targeting the gap between the female and minority students who demonstrate potential for computer science and those who end up studying it.
Of 32 students in Bethel’s New Manchester High School class, 29 are African American, one is Latino and two are white. Fourteen are girls, all African American.
Bethel, who has a master’s degree in plant genetics and conducted experimental research at the Center for Applied Genetic Technologies at the University of Georgia before teaching, says he has watched as they have soaked up knowledge and then immersed themselves in learning basic programming languages. Some move quickly through the curriculum. One high school senior confided in Bethel he had always wanted to study computer science. Now he’s planning on a career as a software engineer.
“Making computer science accessible and equitable, that’s a big deal for me,” Bethel said. “This is a game changer in the world of education.”
Fernanda Gonzales, a 15-yearold 10th-grader at Coliseum College Prep Academy in Oakland, is taking computer science for the first time and already she’s preparing for a career in it.
A Harry Potter fan, she has an idea for an app (it would let people comment on and have discussions about books they are reading). And in college she wants to combine her love of sports (she’s a boxer) with coding, perhaps using technology to help athletes improve their performance by pinpointing what their biggest challenges are.
She would be the first in her family to explore a career in computer science.
Students aren’t the only ones expanding their minds and horizons. Sonia Spindt say she used to teach environmental science. For the last two years she has taught computer science at Madison Park Academy in Oakland.
Ortiz and her other students are responding to the Code.org curriculum that features the likes of NBA player Chris Bosh and singer Aloe Blacc, who urge kids to learn how to code like they did.
More and more, public schools are viewing computer science as a foundational skill much like reading, writing and math.