Recent Posts
- 63 New Jersey Students Named National Cyber Scholars During NCS Competition
The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation (NCSF) awarded 63 New Jersey high school students with the coveted “National Cyber Scholar” designation following its 48-hour National Cyber Scholarship (NCS) competition. Read the press release to learn more about NJ’s students achievement in this important competition.
- Governor Murphy Announces New Jersey Department of Education Grants to Create Computer Science Learning Hubs Throughout State
Governor Murphy announced today that three universities will receive grants from the New Jersey Department of Education (DOE) to create computer science learning hubs throughout the state. The three CS Hubs will be at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Kean University and Rutgers University (New Brunswick). The universities will provide high-quality professional learning for educators and resources for school districts to increase computer science opportunities for students. The grants—which are funded through the Fiscal Year 2021 Appropriations Act—will also help the three universities build partnerships with stakeholders to promote the growth of computer science education. Please read the full announcement for additional information.
- New Jersey is the #1 state in PreK-12 education according to the US News Education Rankings
New Jersey is once again the top state for education. It’s followed by Massachusetts, Florida, Washington and Colorado to round out the top five.
Read more about the US News Education Rankings: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/education - Governor Murphy Announces Computer Science for All Grant
Governor Murphy announced an $800,000 “Expanding Access to Computer Science: Professional Learning” grant. The grant will fund three Computer Science Hubs at Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) to provide professional development to teachers, administrators, and others who are instrumental in computer science education in the K-12 school setting. The programs will focus on schools with students who have traditionally had limited access to high-quality computer science instruction. The awards will be announced in March. The CS Hubs might be operational by the summer 2021.The notice of the grant is on the Department’s Grant Opportunities webpage.
Read the full announcement here.
- 2020 State of Computer Science Education: Illuminating Disparities report released.
Code.org, the Computer Science Teachers Association, and the Expanding Computing Education Pathways (ECEP) Alliance released the 2020 State of Computer Science Education: Illuminating Disparities. The report describes the policy trends and momentum over the past 12 months and includes an in-depth view of each state’s policy and implementation, as well as data on disparities in access to and participation in computer science.
According to the report, NJ has made great progress but needs to do more in order to ensure access to equitable high-quality CS education for all NJ students:
- New Jersey has adopted six of the nine policies identified by the Code.org Coalition as necessary for equitable K-12 CS education. The steps required to realize three of the six policies adopted: CS teacher certification, establishing preservice programs at NJ colleges and universities, and establishing a dedicated CS Specialist position at the NJDOE have been adopted but their implementation has been delayed due to COVID.
- 67% of NJ high schools teach a CS course where only 47% of high schools teach CS across the United States. A law passed in NJ in 2018 requires that all NJ high schools offer a CS course.
- NJ Hispanic/LatinX students are 1.6 times less likely than their white and Asian peers to attend a school that offers AP CS and 2.3 times less likely to take an AP CS exam when they attend a school that offers it.
- NJ Black students are 1.6 times less likely than their white and Asian peers to attend a school that offers AP CS, and 4 times less likely to take an AP CS exam whey they attend a school that offers it.
You can read the full blog announcement here and access the report here.
- Governor Murphy Unveils Computer Science for All State Plan
On 11/4/2019, Governor Murphy announced the New Jersey Computer Science State plan. The state plan was developed by the New Jersey Department of Education with input from the NJ Computer Science Advisory Board. It identifies strategic goals and milestones aimed at supporting and sustaining the implementation of coherent, robust, standards-based K to 12 Computer Science programs in the state.
Read the announcement here.
- 29 High Schools Announced Winners of CS Grants
As part of Governor Murphy’s Computer Science Initiative, he recently awarded $2 million in grants to New Jersey High Schools to support their computer science programs. Congrats to all the winners. Keep inspiring students with computer science education!
Read the full article to learn more!
- Governor Murphy Joins Governors for CS
The beginning of October came with some very exciting news when Governor Murphy announced his Computer Science for All initiatives. This means that $2 million dollars in CS grant money will be awarded to 45 schools, the STEM office at the NJDOE now includes Computer Science, the Computer Science Advisory Committee will make recommendations on standards and the state CS action plan, and finally, Governor Murphy is joining GovernorsForCS.
We hope you’re just as excited about this as we are! These important events all contribute towards ensuring that the students of our state will be well prepared for jobs of the future. This is the first time New Jersey funding has specifically targeted Computer Science education! Keep up the good work Governor Murphy!
- CSTANJ and JerseyCAN Statement on Governor Murphy’s Signing of Computer Science Education Teaching EndorsementClick here to read the statement on Governor Murphy’s recent signing of the CS Education Teaching Endorsement.
- Governor Murphy Plans for CS Education
In Gov. Murphy’s introduction of his first budget the Governor proposes a $2 million grant program to help high schools offer college-level Computer Science courses and to support teachers’ professional development. The budget also provides start-up funding for STEM-focused high schools that allow students to earn advanced degrees while preparing them for high-skilled jobs. Further along the education continuum, New Jersey will launch a loan forgiveness program this year for STEM graduates who remain in the state.
On the campaign trail Gov Murphy promised to support CS education:
Today’s dynamic economy demands a commitment to a world-class education for a 21st century workforce. Computing jobs are the number one source of all new wages in the U.S. and make up two-thirds of projected new jobs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. But in 2015, New Jersey only had 1,111 computer science graduates to fill over 23,000 openings in computing jobs. Tragically, too many of our communities are being left out of the innovation economy: 75 percent of all high schools in New Jersey do not provide Advanced Placement (AP) Computer Science, and of those students who took AP Computer Science, less than a quarter were female and just 12 percent were underrepresented minorities. Governor Murphy believes that every student should have the opportunity to develop the skills needed to compete for and succeed in the innovation economy. As Governor, Murphy will:- Fully fund our K-12 public schools and develop a world-class STEM curriculum;
- Launch a “Computer Science for All” initiative that will provide computer science (CS) education to every child in New Jersey’s public schools;
- Partner with companies throughout the state to expand access to STEM internships and vocational programs;
- Work to put a college education within reach for every New Jerseyan by lowering tuition and fees at public two- and four-year colleges;
- Correct the STEM-teacher shortage by providing loan forgiveness for STEM educators in high-need schools and creating a new STEM-educator fellowship program to recruit and train a new class of STEM teachers.
- Governor Murphy Plans for CS Education