USA TODAY US Edition

Number of AP exam-takers skyrocket

135% more females took an AP computer science exam in 2017

- Madeline Purdue

Female, black and Latino student participat­ion in Advanced Placement computer science exams has more than doubled in the past year, helped by the introducti­on of an AP course designed to introduce principles, according to a new report.

More than 29,700 female students took an AP computer science exam in 2017, a 135% increase from 2016 and a dramatic increase from the 2,600 female students who took the AP Computer Science exam 10 years ago, according to results released Tuesday by non-profit Code.org.

Participat­ion by black and Latino students increased by 170% since 2016 to more than 22,000. These gains are fastest growing among the population of students taking AP computer sciences, which doubled last year to more than 111,000, according to the report, which used AP College Board data.

College Board is the organizati­on that administer­s the SAT and Advanced Placement exams that help determine college entrance and provides precollegi­ate curriculum to high school students.

The organizati­on teamed with Code.org to develop the newly launched AP Computer Science Principles course to bring computer science studies to students and schools that may have never had it before, particular­ly in urban and rural areas.

The biggest gains in AP computer science exams came from minority and female students taking the AP Computer Science Principles exam, said Code.org, which aims to add computer science to the curriculum of every school in America to bring more diversity into the tech industry.

The group announced in February it enrolled more than 18,600 students in the course, with half of those enrolled Latino or African American.

The organizati­on, backed by tech companies including Facebook and Google, advocates for computer science to be taught as part of the foundation curriculum in all schools, like math, English and other sciences are.

“We are optimistic that these gains will have a downstream impact on diversity in tech at the university and workforce level,” the report said, indicating 70% of students said they wanted to pursue computer science after completing the course.

As much as these numbers continue to grow, however, they still do not balance the scales when it comes to who is studying computer science, according to Code.org co-founder and CEO Hadi Partovi.

“In a world where these opportunit­ies are mostly dominated by white and Asian men, more than three-quarters of the population has been underrepre­sented in the field,” Partovi said.

Underrepre­sented minority students comprise 20% of those taking AP computer science exams, and female students make up 27%.

Representa­tion is scarcer in higher education, with men making up 83% of computer science majors at the university level.

“If you look at where the numbers are coming from, those numbers are great. If you look at where the goal is, the numbers should be 50/50, so we have a long way to go,” Partovi said.

The statistics in its study represent all of AP computer science across the country, not just the students and schools that partnered with Code.org.

In recent years, more nonprofits, companies and community organizati­ons have establishe­d programs to teach more people coding.

Before the next school year starts, Code.org is helping to prepare nearly 900 more teachers to teach AP Computer Science Principles.

It expects another significan­t jump in participat­ion one year from now.

“In the 21st century, learning how technology works is completely foundation­al for every single career in every single industry,” Partovi said.

 ?? ROBERT HANASHIRO, USA TODAY ?? The College Board has teamed with Code.org to develop the newly launched AP Computer Science Principles course to bring computer science studies to students and schools that may have never had it before, particular­ly in urban and rural areas.
ROBERT HANASHIRO, USA TODAY The College Board has teamed with Code.org to develop the newly launched AP Computer Science Principles course to bring computer science studies to students and schools that may have never had it before, particular­ly in urban and rural areas.

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