Mississippi, �� recognized for success in expanding access to K-12 computer science education

An award is presented in front of a conference backdrop — �� Center for Cyber Education Project Managers Amanda Taylor and Shelley Thompson accept an award recognizing the state of Mississippi for expanding access to K-12 computer science education. (Submitted photo)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—The state of Mississippi and ��’s efforts to expand access to K-12 computer science education are being recognized on the national stage.

During Code.org’s annual CSEdCon, Mississippi was recognized for leading the nation in increasing access to computer science education. The recognition is based on Mississippi’s 18% growth in high schools offering computer science foundational courses. ��’s Center for Cyber Education has been a main driver of this increase, leading educator training for teachers across the state so they can return to their schools and teach computer science. The work is made possible by financial support from C Spire and the Mississippi Legislature.

“Computer science literacy and skills are critically important to today’s K-12 students as they prepare to live and work in a digitally driven world,” said �� Center for Cyber Education Director Shelly Hollis. “I am proud of the work we have done to expand access to computer science education across the state and appreciate the support of our great partners such as the Mississippi Department of Education and C Spire.”

The growth in computer science opportunity is a result of the Mississippi Computer Science and Cyber Education Equality Act, which was signed into law in 2021. The law requires all public schools in Mississippi to offer computer science by the 2024-2025 school year. As the state works toward that goal, more than 20,000 middle and high school students took foundational computer science courses in the 2022-2023 school year.

The recognition at CSEdCon marked the second year ��’s Center for Cyber Education received an award at the national conference. In 2022, the center received the CSF Innovator Award, which recognizes innovative approaches to increasing access to computer science education at the elementary level. In partnership with the Mississippi Department of Education, the CCE trained over 500 elementary school teachers last year to integrate computer science topics into the core subject areas of math, language arts, science, and social studies.

Code.org is an education nonprofit dedicated to the vision that every student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science as part of their core K-12 education. The CCE has been a regional partner of Code.org since 2017.

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