The state is rolling out its first-ever academic content standards for computer science. BESE President Ronnie Morris says these standards will apply to all grade levels from start to finish.
“These standards are applicable in grades K-12, so in every grade there’s an application that’s obviously grade-level appropriate,” Morris said.
Morris says by the end of fifth grade, students should be able to identify and select the appropriate to complete computing tasks. Then three years later…
“By the end of eighth grade, an example here is that they should be able to analyze the functions and the interactions of core components within a computer system,” Morris said.
Then by the end of their senior year, students should be able to analyze the levels of interactions between the application’s software and the system’s software, as well as the hardware layers. Morris says educating kids in computer science at a very young age will greatly benefit them as they pursue their careers.
“We want our students to be competitive in a global economy, and so we’ve got to have them engaged with the current technology. It’s evolving so quickly, but we want to be able to present it to them in a way that is relevant,” Morris explained.
