More R.I. schools offering computer science this year

Almost half of all Rhode Island public schools (grades K-12) will offer computer science classes when school begins this fall. This comes six months after Governor Gina Raimondo announced a plan to offer computer science at all Rhode Island schools by December 2017. Richard Culatta, Raimondo’s chief innovation officer, says the plan aims to get more students involved in the field, especially girls and people of color. “We really need a diversity of thought and talent going into these programs and sometimes what happens when you get to the college level of these CS programs … at that point it’s kind of too late. We’ve ignored them (students of color and women) for 12 years. So part of our goal is to make sure that lots more students will be able to participate,” said Culatta. The governor’s office has helped schools add computer science into their curricula by covering the cost of teachers’ professional development. The governor allocated $260,000 for teacher training in her 2017 fiscal year budget. This week, teachers are finishing up the last round of computer science boot camps at places like Rhode Island College. The state has also partnered with Microsoft, Code.org, Bootstrap, and local universities to develop different curricula. Unlike other states, Rhode Island gives schools the freedom to choose how they implement computer science, said Culatta. There are multiple curricular options schools can choose from, and they can also choose whether to incorporate the classes as mandatory classes or electives. Last year, very few schools offered computer science classes in Rhode Island, said Culatta. Raimondo’s plan aims to lessen the skills gap between Rhode Island high school graduates and high paying jobs in the tech field. If Rhode Island reaches its goal of putting computer science in all public schools, it will be the first state to do so.