Posts Tagged: high education
Expansion of AP computer science courses draws more girls and minorities
Latino and African American students were also in short supply, a problem that has bedeviled educators for years and hindered efforts to diversify the high-tech workforce.
Now, an expansion of AP computer science classes is helping to draw more girls and underrepresented minorities into a field of growing importance for schools, universities and the economy.
Testing totals for female, black and Latino students all doubled in 2017, following the national debut of an AP course in computer science principles. It joined a longer-established AP course focused on the programming language Java.
Racial and gender imbalances persist. But education leaders said the data show a significant advance in a quest to banish the stereotype that computer science is mainly for coding geeks who tend to be white or Asian American boys.
“We're trying to diversify a field that for whatever reason has remained not so for generations,” said David Coleman, president of the College Board, which oversees the AP program. “Really, what this is about is computer science breaking out of its narrow role.”
Coleman acknowledged: “There's more work to do.”
About 27 percent of roughly 100,000 AP computer science test-takers last spring were girls. Black students accounted for 5 percent of those tested and Latino students for 15 percent, well below their overall shares of school enrollment.
The quest to broaden the computer science talent pool hinges, in many ways, on stoking the passion of students such as Adesoji Adenusi and Daijah Etienne to explore the power of programming.
The two Maryland teenagers were hunting one recent morning for commands in Java to maneuver a wheeled robot, known as the Finch, through left-handed turns along the edges of a square floor mat. Keeping the gizmo on track was not easy.
At the keyboard, Adenusi toyed with numbers for wheel velocity. “A couple extra zeros never harmed anybody,” he joked.
“It depends,” shot back Etienne as she walked with the balky little robot. “What if you put a couple extra zeros on a check?”
Adenusi, 18, and Etienne, 17, both seniors, are in the Java-centered class called AP Computer Science A at Charles H. Flowers High School in Prince George's County.
Adenusi, who aims to major in computer science in college, said he is drawn to video-game design and has developed an appreciation for the precision and creativity the subject demands. “Everything really in coding is a choice,” he said. “Colors, shapes, sizes — that's all up to you.”
Etienne, who is considering studying computer engineering in college, also took AP Computer Science Principles in the past school year. She said the courses have deepened her understanding of the power of software to make objects come to life. “An iPhone, for example,” she said. “A block of metal, in all honesty. But when you add the coding, it becomes something more.”
At Flowers High, 86 students took an AP computer science test in the spring. That was more than triple the total of 26 in 2016. The new principles course fueled the growth. Most of the school's students are African American. Nearly half of those enrolled in AP computer science are girls.
College Board data show that 20 high schools in Maryland, Virginia and the District notched gains in 2017 of at least 50 students in AP computer science testing, compared with the previous year. Thomas S. Wootton High in Montgomery County had the largest growth: Its students took 238 of the exams, up from 76 in 2016.
Universities are tracking these developments closely because they have struggled for years to broaden the demographic base of students in computer science beyond white and Asian American men. The AP program, which enables students to obtain college credit through testing, offers one of the strongest links between high schools and higher education.
For more than 30 years, high schools have offered AP classes in computer science. But about 10 years ago, educators began to worry about participation. Overall numbers were low. About 20,000 students took the computer science tests in 2007, fewer than the totals for AP French or studio art.
A closer look showed even more dismal trends that year: Only about 3,360 females and 1,300 Latino students took the computer science tests. The African American total was a mere 734.
Trevor Packer, senior vice president of the College Board and longtime head of the AP program, said annual reports on computer science testing in that era would make him wince. Idaho, for example, counted 25 boys taking the tests in 2007 — and zero girls.
Tenth-graders Marcellus Cannon, left, and Christian Vasquez Rubio work with a robot in a Computer Science Principles course at Flowers High. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)
With help from the National Science Foundation, the College Board and computer scientists at various universities fashioned a new course meant to appeal to a broader audience. AP Computer Science Principles, or CSP, launched nationally in fall 2016.
A College Board video promoting the course made explicit appeals to underrepresented students. “A lot of girls are intimidated because they see computers as, like, a ‘guy thing,' ” one girl says in the video. “If more girls were, like, encouraged, then that wouldn't be an issue anymore.”
Last spring, 92 girls from Idaho took an AP computer science test. Most were in Computer Science Principles.
Owen Astrachan, a professor of the practice of computer science at Duke University who helped develop the new class, said it is meant to complement Computer Science A.
“In CSA, it's all programming, all the time,” Astrachan said. “In CSP, programming is part of it, but it's not the center of it.” Students have more freedom to design their own projects in CSP. They are assessed at the end of the course on a digital portfolio of work — including a task focused on creating a computer program — as well as a multiple-choice test.
Duke gives credit to students who get a top score of 5 on the new exam or scores of 4 or 5 on the original computer science exam, allowing the students to place into higher-level courses. “I'm a big fan of trying to empower high schools,” Astrachan said.
Expanding computer science in high schools takes more than adding a new AP course. It also requires investing in teachers, who often are not experts in the field. Course offerings have long been skimpy in many schools. In 2014, The Washington Post found that fewer than 1 in 10 high school students in the Washington region were taking a computer science course.
College professors, mindful of these issues, aim to help.
David J. Malan, who teaches a popular introductory course in computer science at Harvard University, said a version of it tailored to the AP CSP curriculum is available online for high school teachers who want to mine it for problem sets and homework assignments. The goal, he said, “is broadening access to and interest in computer science.”
At Flowers High, Marilyn Fitzpatrick has taught computer science for five years. She said she wants students to see connections from the classroom to the working world in disciplines such as software development and cybersecurity.
“I try to engage them all,” she said. “We need more minorities in the field.”
On this December morning, her computer science classes were bustling with students who programmed robots — including a daredevil racing device with nubby tires called an Ollie — and completed self-paced assignments at terminals.
On the walls were posters with inspirational quotes, including one from President Barack Obama: “Don't just play on your phone, program it.”
Christian Vasquez Rubio, 15, a sophomore in CSP, fiddled with coding commands for an Ollie to navigate an obstacle course. He said it was his first AP class. “This is a fun way to learn,” he said. “I like it when we're able to do hands-on stuff.”
Vasquez Rubio said he's intrigued by careers related to computer science. “I don't know what exactly, but somewhere in the field.” And college? “Of course,” he said. “That's a big goal of mine.”
Source: Published originally on The Washington Post, Expansion of AP computer science courses draws more girls and minorities, by Nick Anderson, January 8th, 2018.
Why Higher Education Depends on The Hispanic Market
- Reduced revenue driven by flat/declining enrollment and reduced public funding
- Reduced demand resulting from a shrinking pool of high school students and stagnating household incomes
- Increased questions about the value of a four-year college degree as young people's attitudes change and demand increases for better outcomes
- Technological disruption with the growth of online education, MOOCs (massive open online courses), and other non-traditional forms of education powered by digital technology
These challenges are causing universities, colleges and other education providers to merge, restructure and fundamentally rethink their business models. While many of the changes are likely necessary for the continued viability of higher education, the U.S. Hispanic market is one overlooked bright spot and opportunity.
In many ways, the Hispanic market represents an antidote and counterpoint to the prevailing issues noted above.
Reduced Revenue – Hispanics are seeing significant growth in terms of college enrollment. The number of Hispanic college students in the U.S. reached 3.4 million in 2012, rising from 11% of the U.S. college population in 2006 to over 17%. Hispanic enrollment in colleges, universities and other educational programs is increasing almost across the board.
The Value of a College Education – Hispanics continue to place a high level of importance on education, specifically in the form of traditional four-year college degrees. We have seen consistently across our Hispanic Millennial and Generation Z studies that young Hispanics, regardless of their nativity, diverge from non-Hispanic whites in their positive attitudes and beliefs towards higher education. For instance, 46% of Hispanic Millennials consider graduating from a four-year college as a future goal, compared to only 31% of non-Hispanic Millennials (HMP). Among Gen Z, we see that 67% of Hispanics 11-16 view college as essential, versus only 60% of non-Hispanic whites (We Are Gen Z Report).
The entire higher education industry has a major opportunity and potential “lifeline” with Hispanics. Taking advantage of these opportunities will require more than just simple cosmetic changes to their marketing materials or outreach efforts. To fully take advantage of the Hispanic market, colleges and universities will need to rethink and adjust all elements of their enterprise — from their recruiting to their curriculum, student support, and alumni relations. The lag in Hispanic four-year college completion rates is a testament to the importance of this “all-in” approach. Those that do will be well-positioned to emerge from the current environment as leaders in a new higher education landscape.
Source: Published originally on mediapost.com Why Higher Education Depends On The Hispanic Market by Jose Villa, June 23, 2017
5 facts about Latinos and education
Hispanics cited education as a top issue in 2014, ranking alongside the economy and above health care and immigration in importance, a Pew Research Center survey found.
Economic factors remain an obstacle for enrollment, however. In a 2014 National Journal poll, 66% of Hispanics who got a job or entered the military directly after high school cited the need to help support their family as a reason for not enrolling in college, compared with 39% of whites.
Here are five facts about Latinos and education:
- Over the past decade, the Hispanic high school dropout rate has dropped dramatically. The rate has reached a record low, dropping from 32% in 2000 to 14% in 2013 among those ages 18 to 24 years old. Over the same time period, this has helped lower the U.S. national dropout rate from 12% to 7% – also a record low. However, the Hispanic dropout rate remains higher than it is among blacks (8%), whites (5%) and Asians (4%).
- Hispanics are making big inroads in college enrollment. The number of Hispanics ages 18 to 24 enrolled in a two- or four-year college has more than tripled since 1993. In 2013, 2.2 million Hispanics were enrolled in college, up from 728,000 in 1993 – a 201% increase. By comparison, college enrollment increased by 78% among blacks and 14% among whites over the same time period. Today, Hispanics are the largest minority group on U.S. college campuses.
- Even though more Hispanics are getting a postsecondary education than ever before, Hispanics still lag other groups in obtaining a four-year degree. In 2013, among Hispanics ages 25 to 29, just 15% of Hispanics have a bachelor's degree or higher. By comparison, among the same age group, about 40% of whites have a bachelor's degree or higher (as do 20% of blacks and 60% of Asians). This gap is due in part to the fact that Hispanics are less likely than some other groups to enroll in a four-year college, attend an academically selective college and enroll full-time.
- Another reason Hispanics lag in bachelor's degrees is that nearly half who go to college attend a public two-year school, the highest share of any race or ethnicity. By comparison, among college-goers, 30% of whites, 32% of Asians and 34% of blacks go to a community college.
- Hispanics are significantly less likely than other groups to have student debt. About 22% of young Hispanic households (those headed by someone younger than 40) have education loans. The share is nearly twice as high among young white households (42%) and young black households (40%). This is because, despite growing college enrollment, young Hispanics are not as likely to go to college as some other groups. And among those who do, Hispanics are more likely than others to attend community colleges, which generally have lower tuition than four-year schools.
Source: Pew Research Center, 5 facts about Latinos and education, by Jens Manuel Krogstad, May 26, 2015.
California failing to produce enough Latino college grads: Future of state economy in jeopardy
The report finds that more Latinos are earning high school diplomas and entering college, but remain underrepresented in every segment of higher education and have significantly lower levels of college degree attainment than other racial/ethnic groups. In fact, only 12% of Latino working-age adults (between 25- and 64-years old) have a bachelor's degree compared with 42% of White adults.
The report asserts that statewide public policies and college and university practices are major barriers to Latino students completing college. A broken college remedial education system, admissions policies that bar the consideration of race/ethnicity, state disinvestment in higher education, and the absence of a statewide plan for higher education are several of the factors contributing to low degree attainment rates for Latinos.
The good news is that Latinos are now more likely to have a high school diploma and complete the college preparatory A-G courses than in years past. They are enrolling in college in larger numbers and are more likely to graduate with a college degree than two decades ago. Each new generation of Latino Californians is more educated than previous ones.
But overall, the educational attainment of the Latino population lags other racial/ethnic groups. Too few Latino students are being prepared to enter college when less than one in three (29%) Latino high school graduates complete the coursework necessary to be eligible applicants to the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems. Even when prepared, eligible applicants are still finding it challenging to secure a spot at some of the state's public universities. At the UC, for example, admission rates for Latinos have declined by 28 points since 1994. Once on a college campus, Latino students, many of whom are first in their families to go to college, do not receive the supports and guidance to transfer and earn a degree on time. The six-year completion rates for Latinos at the California Community Colleges and the California State University, where 76% of Latinos are enrolled, are 39% and 45%, respectively.
The results of the study come as the California economy is facing a shortage of college graduates. “Workforce preparedness continues to be one of the top concerns for the business community. “The State of Higher Education in California – Latino Report” demonstrates the critical need to better prepare Latino students to achieve academic success that meets the demands of our global economy,” said Rob Lapsley, President of the California Business Roundtable. “If we are going to remain competitive, our colleges and universities must do better to address the ongoing barriers that jeopardize Latino students' ability to complete their education and succeed in our 21st Century workplace.”
“The future of our economy and the state will rise or fall on the educational success of Latinos,” said Michele Siqueiros, President of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “When you realize that one in two children under 18 is Latino and that California is going to face a shortage of 2.3 million college educated workers in the next ten years, then you have to care about increasing the number of Latino students who are prepared for, enroll in and graduate from college.”
California's colleges and universities are not adapting to serve the students in their classrooms. Today's students tend to be first in their families to go to college, work more hours, may be older and may have already started families, and are typically low-income or financially independent. Today's students and the workforce they will enter are different from students and the workforce fifty years ago, but the state's public colleges and universities are taking the same approach to delivering course material and supports which do not meet the needs of today's students or California's economy.
“Simply hoping more Latinos will earn college credentials is not a strategy for meeting California's serious workforce crisis. We need a plan with resources behind it to fix the points at which our colleges and universities are letting promising Latino students fall out of the system,” said Siqueiros.
The report highlights that although Latinos have the greatest graduation success at the University of California relative to their graduation rates at the California Community Colleges and California State University, they are significantly underrepresented in the system. The data suggests this is partly a result of Proposition 209, the 1996 measure that prohibits the state from considering race, sex or ethnicity in employment, contracting and education. An examination of two decades of data revealed that admission rates for Latinos have declined by 28 points overall, 45 points at UC Berkeley and 46 points at UCLA -- far in excess of the drops in admission rates of other racial/ethnic groups.
“The disparities highlighted in this report are critical as we plan the future of the state of California,” stated Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel and Chair of the board of the Campaign for College Opportunity. “The report should lead to immediate legislative and administrative efforts to address the serious education gaps identified, which threaten our state's continued leadership nationally and globally.”
The report first and foremost calls on the Governor, legislature and college leaders for an overarching plan to close opportunity gaps between Latinos and their White and Asian peers and address the looming workforce crisis.
The report outlines a series of recommendations to help increase college access and success:
- Ensure all colleges successfully move students through pre-college level courses, quickly and with improved retention rates
- Provide students with clear transfer pathways to four-year degrees
- Expand college knowledge in middle and high school and invest in support services students need to succeed
- Fund colleges for both enrollment growth and successful outcomes
- Strengthen financial support options for low-to moderate-income college students Allow California's public universities to use race/ethnicity as one of many factors in weighing an applicant's qualifications for admission.
California is undergoing one of the largest demographic, cultural and economic transformations in its history,” said Siqueiros. “Whether we address or ignore the challenges and opportunities of strengthening educational success for the burgeoning Latino population will define our economic and democratic success as a state and nation for decades to come.”
Source: College Campaign.org press release, Report Finds California Failing to Produce Enough Latino College Grads: Future of State Economy in Jeopardy, by Audrey Dow, April 29, 2015
Latinos, blacks, take more time to graduate in STEM
This trend is affected by whether they had a master’s degree, funding for their program, marital status and the educational attainment of their parents. The study looked at data from 1990 to 2009 and excluded international students, tracking data for U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents.
According to the study, when it came to doctoral students without a master’s degree, African Americans took longer to finish than Hispanics, who took longer to finish than other groups.
The study also points out that students who were funded — either with research assistantships or teaching assistantships — finished their degrees faster than those who had to pay themselves or take out loans to pay for their education. The role that funding plays is substantial to the time it takes to finish, according to the study.
Source: American Institutes for Research, How Long Does It Take? STEM Ph.D. Completion for Underrepresented Minorities, January 2, 2013.