New UChicago Reports: Teacher Capacity Survey and Stories from the Field

The latest reports from the University of Chicago’s research on the state of computing education in the United States are now out.  The ACM hired the U. Chicago Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education to figure out where we are today.  The first study, the Landscape Study, came out last year.  Two new ones came out this week:

• The Teacher Capacity Survey asks the teachers about their needs and where they see CS Education today.  The big problem with that study (which they recognize) is that they got a biased population.  The teachers who responded are the most educated, the most supported.  Half of the respondents reported teaching CS for 10 years or more.  Other data (like the CSTA survey) paint a different picture.  Still, the Teacher Capacity survey provides interesting voices to the discussion, 774 responses from (they estimate) about 10% of the target population.
• The Stories from the Field are targeted interviews to tell four regional stories: Chicago, U. Alabama, Purdue University, and Georgia. Yes, I was interviewed, and recordings of me answering some of the interview questions are part of the Georgia story.  I’ve skimmed all four stories now and really like them.  My favorite part of this report so-far are the cross-cutting themes.