Google study on the challenges for rural communities in teaching CS

Google continues their series of reports on the challenges of teaching CS, with a new report on rural and small-town communities in the US.  This is an important part of CS for All, and is a problem internationally.  The Roehampton Report found that rural English schools were less likely to have computing education than urban schools.  How do we avoid creating a computing education divide between urban and rural schools?

This special brief from our Google-Gallup study dives into the opportunities and challenges for rural and small-town communities. Based on nationally representative surveys from 2015-16, we found:

• Students from rural/small-town schools are just as likely as other students to see CS as important for their future careers, including 86% who believe they may have a job needing computer science.

• Rural/small-town parents and principals also highly value CS, with 83% of parents and 64% of principals saying that offering CS is just as or more important than required courses.

• Rural/small-town students are less likely to have access to CS classes and clubs at school compared to suburban students, and their parents are less likely to know of CS opportunities outside of school.

• Rural/small-town principals are less likely to prioritize CS, compared to large-city or suburban principals.

Source: Google for Education: Computer Science Research