Support

K-12 Computer Science

Education in Delaware
Computer s cience drives job growth and innovation throughout
our economy and s ociety. Computing occupations make up
two-thirds of all projected new jobs in STEM fields , making
Computer Science one of the mos t in-demand college degrees .
And computing is us ed all around us and in virtually every
field. Its foundational knowledge that all s tudents need. But
computer s cience is marginalized throughout education. 75
percent of U.S. s chools dont even offer computer s cience and
only 8% of STEM graduates s tudy it. We need to improve
acces s for all s tudents , including groups who have traditionally
been underrepres ented.

9 in 10 parents want their students to learn

computer science, but only 1 in 4 schools teach it.

Computer science in Delaware

Delaware currently has 2,661 open computing jobs (4.4 times the average demand rate in Delaware).
The average s alary for a computing occupation in DE is $90,649, which is s ignificantly higher than the
average s alary in the s tate ($49,520).
Delaware had only 150 computer science graduates in 2015; only 14% were female.
Only 79 high school students in Delaware took the AP Computer Science exam in 2014; only 9% were
female; only 2 were His panic; only 3 were black.
Only 7 schools in DE (15% of DE s chools with AP programs ) offered the AP Computer Science cours e in
2013-2014. There are fewer AP exams taken in computer s cience than in any other STEM s ubject area.

What can you do to improve

K-12 CS education?
1. Call on your s chool to expand computer s cience
offerings at every grade level.
2. As k your local s chool dis trict to allow computer s cience
cours es to s atis fy a core math or s cience requirement.
3. Vis it www.code.org/promote/DE to learn more about
s upporting computer s cience in your s tate.

Code.org's Impact in Delaware

About 209,000 people in Delaware have completed an Hour of Code!

Computer Science is a liberal art: its something that

everybody should be exposed to and everyone should
have a mastery of to some extent.
Steve Jobs

What can your state do to improve computer

science education?
Here are 8 key policies that help to provide all s tudents with acces s to computer s cience. Read more about thes e
8 policy ideas at https://code.org/files/Making_CS_Fundamental.pdf.
Delaware does not have rigorous computer s cience s tandards . Computer s cience has often been confus ed
with broader technology education in s chools . States s hould adopt dis crete s tandards for computer s cience
focus ed on both the creation and us e of s oftware and computing technologies at all levels of K-12 education.
The Computer Science Teachers As s ociation has model K-12 CS s tandards .
Delaware does not provide funding for rigorous computer s cience profes s ional development and cours e
s upport. States s hould provide profes s ional development res ources by creating matching fund opportunities to
bring computer s cience to s chool dis tricts .
Delaware does not have clear certification pathways for computer s cience teachers . The expans ion of K-12
computer s cience education is hampered by the lack of qualified computer s cience teachers . We can grow their
ranks by creating clear, navigable, and rewarding profes s ional paths for computer s cience teachers .
Delaware has no incentives for ins titutions of higher education to offer computer s cience to pre-s ervice
teachers . The computer s cience teacher s hortage can be addres s ed by expos ing more pre-s ervice teachers to
computer s cience during their required cours ework or by creating s pecific pathways for computer s cience
teachers .
Delaware does not have dedicated computer s cience pos itions in s tate and local education authorities .
Creating a s tatewide computer s cience leaders hip pos ition within the s tate education authority will overs ee
s tate-level implementation of computer s cience education initiatives . Similar pos itions at the local level could
s upport dis tricts expans ion of cours e offerings and profes s ional development.
Delaware does not require that all s econdary s chools offer computer s cience. States s hould adopt policies
that require s chools to offer a computer s cience cours e bas ed on rigorous s tandards , with appropriate
implementation timelines and allowing for remote and/or in-pers on cours es .
Delaware does not allow computer s cience to count for a core mathematics or s cience graduation
requirement. States that count computer s cience as a core graduation requirement s ee 50% more enrollment
in their AP Computer Science cours es and increas ed participation from underrepres ented minorities .
Delaware does not allow computer s cience to count as a mathematics or s cience admis s ion requirement at
ins titutions of higher education. Admis s ion policies that do not include rigorous computer s cience cours es as
meeting the mathematics or s cience entrance requirements dis courage s tudents from taking s uch cours es in
s econdary education. State leaders can work with ins titutions of higher education to ens ure credit and
articulation policies align with s econdary s chool graduation requirements .

Follow us!

Follow us!
Join our efforts to give every s tudent in every s chool the opportunity to learn computer s cience. Learn more at
code.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
Launched in 2013, Code.org is a non-profit dedicated to expanding acces s to computer s cience,
and increas ing participation by women and underrepres ented s tudents of color. Our vis ion is that
every s tudent in every s chool s hould have the opportunity to learn computer s cience.

Data is from the C onference Board, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the C ollege Board, the National Science Foundation, the National
C enter for Education Statistics, and the Gallup research study Searching for C omputer Science: Access and Barriers in K-12 Education.