Public school students left behind: Contrasting the trends in public and private school computer science advanced placement participation

Kevin Freisen, Tim Sanders, Jennifer S. Kay

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Across the United States, interest in computer science as a major is down, as are the number of Bachelor's degrees in computer science. While there are obvious factors like the dot com bust that may explain much of our communal enrollment crash over the last few years, anecdotal reports also suggest that the No Child Left Behind act of 2001 (NCLB), and specifically the fact that computer science is not an area that students are tested on, may be a factor in the decreased presence of computer science at the high school level. But how can we empirically separate the effect of the dot com bust from that of NCLB given the proximity in time of the two events? This paper presents a first attempt to do so: recognizing the fact that private schools are exempt from NCLB, it seems appropriate to compare public school students with their private school counterparts. We present some initial results of our investigation focusing on our home state of New Jersey. This paper discusses these results and further directions of study.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication41st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference
Subtitle of host publicationCelebrating 41 Years of Monumental Innovations from Around the World, FIE 2011
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
Event41st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference: Celebrating 41 Years of Monumental Innovations from Around the World, FIE 2011 - Rapid City, SD, United States
Duration: Oct 12 2011Nov 15 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, FIE
ISSN (Print)1539-4565

Other

Other41st Annual Frontiers in Education Conference: Celebrating 41 Years of Monumental Innovations from Around the World, FIE 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityRapid City, SD
Period10/12/1111/15/11

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Software
  • Education
  • Computer Science Applications

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