A recent study by Paul Bruno has shed valuable light on the realities of computer science instructors in North Carolina. He drew upon the statewide data accessed through the North Carolina Education Research Data Center to explore their qualifications and effectiveness. The study examined data from the 2006–07 through 2017–18 SY. It paints a troubling picture of both teacher experience, student performance, and representation in our computer science education.
Bruno’s study shows that teachers with more experience in computer science have a strong impact on student success. Students taught by teachers with one additional year of experience were significantly more likely to take advanced placement exams. They scored better overall on those assessments. This trend further highlights the key role of teacher experience in fostering increased student interest and success in the field of computer science.
Teacher Experience and Student Performance
The results show there is a robust connection between a teacher’s experience and student achievement. Students taught by computer science teachers with an additional year of experience had higher rates of enrollment in advanced level courses. This additional year of instruction moved the needle on improving students’ engagement. In addition, these students scored a little higher on the final exams.
Bruno emphasized the significance of teacher qualifications, stating, “Given how important we know teachers are for student success, I hope policymakers and school leaders are thinking carefully about how to get great teachers into computer science classrooms. There is some potential guidance for them from my results, but I hope researchers keep looking at these issues.”
Experienced educators are the key to elevating any solid computer science curriculum. This is critically needed now as schools increasingly strive to expand their pipeline efforts into this key discipline.
Gender Dynamics in Computer Science Education
Bruno’s interest hasn’t just been in how we teach, but the gendered classroom environments that computer science classrooms often continue to perpetuate. He discovered that male teachers were more likely to achieve the most positive results for male students. Boys educated by male teachers scored 0.16 to 0.23 standard deviations higher on advanced placement exams. This is opposed to boys in classes taught by female teachers.
In the study, the researchers found few indications that female teachers had much of a positive impact on female students. This poses troubling implications for the efficacy of gender representation among educators in improving student performance, especially by male educators.
Bruno noted, “Staffing these courses with veteran teachers may be a reasonable way for schools to expand their computer science curricula, when recruiting faculty members who have specialized training in this subject is challenging.” This comment exemplifies the day-to-day reality that schools face when trying to diversify their teacher force while maintaining a quality instructional group.
Qualifications of Computer Science Teachers
And the potential qualifications of computer science teachers in North Carolina would seem to be a cut above what other subject-area instructors need. Bruno indicated that those licensed in business and information technology education were responsible for teaching 67% of all computer science courses. Math-licensed teachers were 2.5 times more likely to be teaching such courses compared to their counterparts licensed in non-Career and Technical Education (CTE) business.
Beyond this, the typical code instructor had three more years of general teaching experience than teachers in other disciplines. The study found that only about 17% of computer science classes were led by Black teachers. Having a same-race teacher actually had no measurable effect on the achievement of Black students.
Bruno stated, “If experienced and highly qualified math and career technical education teachers are teaching computer science courses, who’s teaching math and career technical education?” This question raises a troubling issue about the prioritization of resources in our schools.