On November 3, 2021, Code.org, CSTA, and the ECEP Alliance released the 2021 State of Computer Science: Accelerating Advocacy Through Action report at CSEdCon. The report includes descriptions of policy trends, an in-depth view of each state’s CS education policies, and data on disparities in access to and participation in computer science. This year’s report represents a key milestone, with 51% of our nation’s high schools now offering at least one foundational computer science course. While this is a notable increase from the 35% of schools that offered CS in 2018, a deeper dive into the data indicates we still have work to do in addressing persistent disparities in both access to CS for students such as those from rural or underresourced communities and in participation in high school CS coursework for females and Hispanic/LatinX students in particular, even when they have access. 

The good news is that more states than ever, and ECEP states in particular, are now able to report statewide disaggregated data about CS course access and enrollment. This disaggregated data makes trends for students based on gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability status, or English-Language Learner status, as well as school location, transparent. Disaggregated data will help states identify their priority populations and create strategies for improvement that address those students who are underserved in CS. ECEP’s Common Metrics Project, which will launch in 2022, will help states across the country develop and hone these data systems to advance their CS equity goals and prioritize their CS education investments for their most underserved student populations.

Download the report now to learn more about the current state of computer science education across our country.