As part of our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more, we understand the importance of computer science education in individual empowerment. Our partnership with the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education (MBAE) has allowed us to further this mission as MBAE works to make industry-recognized credentials available for students — effectively increasing the number of underserved students participating in computer science courses and attaining the experience and credentials they need to secure jobs in related fields.
We’re proud to announce that Massachusetts has become the 36th state to let districts count computer science courses for graduation. The courses must include rigorous mathematical or scientific concepts in order to be substituted for a math or science course required in high school. This major change went into effect Tuesday June 26, with a vote of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
MBAE submitted a statement to the Board which you can read here. These recommendations are a step in the right direction, but there is still more to do to ensure that every student, especially underserved populations, have access to computer science. You can read more of the findings and recommendations from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Access to PK-12 Computer Science Courses in Massachusetts, 2016-2017 report.
You can learn more about how Microsoft is working to close the computer science gap here. We’re excited to see this initiative further bridge the gap in Massachusetts, and look forward to working with MBAE to help enact these policies nationwide.