To Address Tech's Diversity Woes, Start With The Vanishing Comp Sci Classroom

The Problem With Vanishing Computer Science Classes
WELLESLEY HILLS, MA - MARCH 12: Stephen Conway (l.) helps fellow student John Blakey with his homework at Mass Bay Community College in a computer science course that is designed in conjunction with online learning from MIT, on March 12, 2013 in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Students watch video lectures on their own through an edX MOOC, massive open online course, and then attend class at their community college where the professor helps them understand their homework. Online learning is a big trend in education. (Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images)
WELLESLEY HILLS, MA - MARCH 12: Stephen Conway (l.) helps fellow student John Blakey with his homework at Mass Bay Community College in a computer science course that is designed in conjunction with online learning from MIT, on March 12, 2013 in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. Students watch video lectures on their own through an edX MOOC, massive open online course, and then attend class at their community college where the professor helps them understand their homework. Online learning is a big trend in education. (Photo by Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images)

In May 2014 at the all-girls Emma Willard School in upstate New York, nearly a third of the school's 300+ students were preparing for their final Advanced Placement (AP) exams. But exactly three were studying for the AP Computer Science exam—and they weren't doing so on campus. The school (full disclosure: my alma mater) completely eliminated its computer science program in 2009.

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