Lack of Early Education in the U.S.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, computers had already taken over everyone’s daily activities, from school, work, and social interactions. Thus, education on computer literacy and computer science has become a high demand for students and parents, since learning computer science now, or at an early age can lead to more students becoming STEM majors in college. The bill H.R.1485: Computer Science for All Act of 2019 would do just that. The bill was introduced into Congress on March 4, 2019, and proposes to establish that through the Department of Education (E.D.) state and local educational agencies will be granted funds towards training teachers to teach computer science and online learning. Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp signed a bill on July 1, 2019, Senate Bill 108, [10] a bill that requires computer science to be in all high schools and middle schools. The bill is an excellent start to helping Georgia move forward on STEM education, but cannot teach students at earlier ages of K-5 the importance and concepts of STEM education. I believe the bill Computer Science for All Act of 2019 will fill in the missing concepts that the Senate Bill cannot fulfill.
Data has shown that the U.S. is falling behind academically, especially in STEM education. The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that the fourth-grade math score of 2019 was 240 on a 0–500 scoring scale, lower than the 2013 score of 242. Data has shown that the U.S. is falling behind academically, especially in STEM education. The world is advancing in technology, and, sadly, the U.S. hasn’t been keeping up with new resources of learning. The falling behind academically of U.S. students will impact our future. The U.S. is known to be the world’s leading economy; without STEM education, this would not be capable. For the U.S. to continue to carry the title of having the “world’s leading economy,” we must invest in future generations’ education. The start of STEM education at an early age will allow students to learn skills to carry on with them into their work life. Forbes magazine [8] reported that jobs in STEM industries are expected to grow to 9 million by 2022. The failure of the U.S. education of STEM could hurt the economy.
In 2015 the U.S. passed the law “Every Student Succeeds Act” the law was signed to replace and update the “No Child Left Behind Act.” This law ensured that all students K- 12 have the opportunity to receive a high-quality education and close education achievement gaps in the U.S. The update of this law alone has made some changes to K-12 education by adding activities, teaching materials, and specialty schools based around STEM education. This small change has proven to work. Test scores of 4th-graders in science and math have since improved. It also has led to more students entering as STEM majors in college. Data showed that 3 in 4 students graduated with a STEM-related degree in 2018. Students majoring in STEM-related majors have increased majorly, going from 43% in 2015–2016 to 86% in 2018. There has been an improvement, but there’s a long way to improve the education of STEM education.
The Computer Science for All Act can improve the challenges that the “Every Student Succeeds Act” lacks. The act will be provided with advanced opportunities and resources for teachers to learn and access the computer science field and apply their knowledge to develop Computer Science lesson plans. Some of the issues around the U.S. students falling behind in STEM education are due to teachers not having the proper education towards all fields. Improving the education of young students begins with the teacher and how skilled they are in applying concepts and material to activities and assignments. This act will improve the numbers of education, but it
will be enough is the question? If the bill “Computer Science for all Act of 2019” is passed, it will be a great start to securing STEM education for future generations of the U.S.
Reference:
[1] Berger, Rod. “A Focus On Early STEM Education For Future Career Growth.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, September 19 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/rodberger/2019/09/18/a-focus-on-early-stem-education-for-future-career-growth/.
[2] “Computer Science for All Act of 2019 (H.R. 1485).” GovTrack.us, www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr1485.
[3]Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), www.everystudentsucceedsact.org/.
[4] “The Importance of Computer Science Education.” CS1C, sites.uci.edu/cs1c/importance-of-computer-science-education/.
[5] Jones, Katie. “How the STEM Crisis Is Threatening the Future of Work.” Visual Capitalist, January 7January 7 2020, www.visualcapitalist.com/stem-education-crisis-future-work/.
[6] “Rod Berger.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, www.forbes.com/sites/rodberger/.
[7] Savitsky, Shane. “10 Ways America Is Falling Behind.” Axios, January 5January 5 2018, www.axios.com/10-ways-america-is-falling-behind-1515110822-adc8e465-1826-4ce3-8c89-b09809a7466b.html.
[8] Written by Drew Desilver, Senior Writer. “The U.S. Is Falling behind Academically. This Is Why.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/02/us-students-are-lagging-behind-academically-heres-why.
[9] “Supporting Excellent Science Teaching for Georgia.” Georgia Science Teachers Association — Policy Update: U.S. Senate Releases Bipartisan Bill to “Fix” No Child Left Behind, www.georgiascienceteacher.org/Policy-Updates/3294550.
