![]() “It’s superintendents who are not believing in the importance of computer science education. “It’s students who don’t believe they can,” Hutchinson said. Still, despite all the successes, 37% of Arkansas high schools don’t offer the course because no students are interested. “There’s not too many times that the biggest tech state comes and says that they want to be like Arkansas, so really the credit goes to you for that tremendous leadership,” she said, referring to Hutchinson. Sheila Boyington, president and CEO of Thinking Media, an educational technology firm, said she was in Sacramento a year ago and people there expressed a desire to be like Arkansas in computer science education. Last week, he attended a conference with about 30 others from states, Washington, D.C., and Canada. Anthony Owen was hired as the first state director of computer science education anywhere in 2015. The successes made Arkansas a national leader and trailblazer in the student coding movement. While only 35% of schools nationally teach computer science, 63% of Arkansas schools have a student taking the class. Fifty-nine schools offer Advanced Placement computer science courses. The number of teachers has grown from fewer than 20 to more than 370. Since the law was passed, the number of high school students taking a computer science course has increased from fewer than 1,100 to 8,000 students last year. It pays for teacher training and $5,000 stipends, cash prizes for coding competitions, grants for equipment, and student awards for high Advanced Placement scores. The state also provides $5 million every two years. The law requires schools to offer computer science as a math or science credit. He successfully passed the mandate through the Legislature during the 2015 session. He was inspired by his 11-year-old granddaughter, Ella Beth, who had created an app for the campaign. Hutchinson made requiring high schools to teach computer science one of his main campaign issues during his 2014 election race. ![]() Those included the governors of Iowa and South Carolina. The National Computer Science Summit for State Leaders brought education leaders from 30 states and Washington, D.C., to the Governor’s Mansion. Asa Hutchinson said Monday (June 10) during an event that celebrated Arkansas’ leadership in the area. Having a teacher in the classroom rather than offering an online course is one of the keys to increasing student interest in computer science classes, Gov.
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