The Expanding Computing Education Pathways Alliance (ECEP), Code.org, and the Computer Science Teachers Association today released the 2023 State of Computer Science Education. Published annually, the report provides comprehensive analysis of national progress in computer science education, featuring national and state-level policy and implementation data with a focus on equity and diversity.

Building equitable pathways and broadening participation in K-12 computing for the “missing millions,” a concept coined to represent the number of people missing from STEM and CS pathways and careers as estimated by the National Science Foundation and the National Science Board, is at the core of ECEP’s work. Working in collaboration with Code.org and CSTA ECEP ensured a focus on equity and the actions that state leaders can take to connect data with educational advocacy and policy efforts. 

“For us, policy work starts with the democratization of data,” said Sarah Dunton, director of the ECEP Alliance. “When states have access to what is happening on the ground through data, they can advocate at all levels to champion equitable computer science education pathways." 

The ECEP Alliance supports the development of data systems through initiatives like the Common Metrics Project (CMP) and the provision of resources like the Landscape Report Toolkit. These initiatives aim to accurately represent state performance in CS education – capturing metrics like the number of certified CS teachers and the availability of CS courses in high schools – to offer state leaders a snapshot that helps identify gaps and paths to improvement.

The key takeaways of the report include:

• 2023 has experienced the largest growth in the percentage of high schools offering foundational computer science since 2018. 57.5% of U.S. public high schools offer foundational computer science (up from 53% last year), but disparities in access persist.

• More than $120 million was allocated for computer science in state budgets when this report was published in 2023, the most ever allocated in one year. 

• States that have adopted at least seven policies have 73% of their high schools offering foundational computer science, compared with 50% in states that adopted fewer than seven policies.

In addition, the report included highlights on ECEP’s CMP, referenced above, and the Scaling Inclusive Pedagogy (ScIP) course, an action-based resource to help teachers build more inclusive classrooms.

For the full report, please visit: https://advocacy.code.org/stateofcs