Submission + - Dept of Ed CS Equity Grant Focused on All but Asian/White Boys from Cities/Burbs
theodp writes: In September, U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced new grant awards that encouraged grantees to rethink K-12 CS education. Among those receiving big grant checks was tech-bankrolled Code.org, who explained their winning entry thusly: "Our $4 million (over five years) 'Equity in AP Computer Science Principles' grant will focus on breaking down barriers that result in inequitable access and outcomes for students. We plan to produce evidence about effective interventions for reducing each of these barriers and increasing equitable outcomes for students."
On Friday, the Department of Education released further details of the $78 million in Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grants, including portions of Code.org's redacted application, which reveals that "Code.org’s [tech-funded] AP CSP curriculum is the most adopted AP CSP curriculum in the United States." It also contains some curiously-worded passages in which Asian and White boys who live in the city and suburbs are conspicuous by their absence: "Equity in AP CSP brings these components together to increase equitable participation and student outcomes in AP CSP for women, underrepresented minorities, (URM) and rural populations across five states — Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia, each of whom have high numbers of students who are historically underrepresented in computer science. Equity in AP CSP will 1) train new AP CSP teachers, 2) increase the number of schools adding AP CSP into their master school schedules and 3) increase the number of women, URM, and rural students participating and earning qualifying scores on the AP CSP exam thereby demonstrating increased college readiness." The hoped outcomes, Code.org explains, include "1) Greater # and % of women, URM and rural students taking AP CSP, and 2) Greater # and % of women, URM and rural earning qualifying scores on AP CSP."
By the way, similar wording that seems designed to be inclusive of all but Asian and White boys (but regardless of where they live) can be found in the pending 21st Century STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act, which aims "to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields," where STEM "is inclusive of computer science" and "the term 'underrepresented minority' includes an individual who is Black, Latino, Native American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or a child with a disability."
On Friday, the Department of Education released further details of the $78 million in Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grants, including portions of Code.org's redacted application, which reveals that "Code.org’s [tech-funded] AP CSP curriculum is the most adopted AP CSP curriculum in the United States." It also contains some curiously-worded passages in which Asian and White boys who live in the city and suburbs are conspicuous by their absence: "Equity in AP CSP brings these components together to increase equitable participation and student outcomes in AP CSP for women, underrepresented minorities, (URM) and rural populations across five states — Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, Texas, and West Virginia, each of whom have high numbers of students who are historically underrepresented in computer science. Equity in AP CSP will 1) train new AP CSP teachers, 2) increase the number of schools adding AP CSP into their master school schedules and 3) increase the number of women, URM, and rural students participating and earning qualifying scores on the AP CSP exam thereby demonstrating increased college readiness." The hoped outcomes, Code.org explains, include "1) Greater # and % of women, URM and rural students taking AP CSP, and 2) Greater # and % of women, URM and rural earning qualifying scores on AP CSP."
By the way, similar wording that seems designed to be inclusive of all but Asian and White boys (but regardless of where they live) can be found in the pending 21st Century STEM for Girls and Underrepresented Minorities Act, which aims "to amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to provide grants to local educational agencies to encourage girls and underrepresented minorities to pursue studies and careers in STEM fields," where STEM "is inclusive of computer science" and "the term 'underrepresented minority' includes an individual who is Black, Latino, Native American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or a child with a disability."
