Currently, the state of Ohio in the United States of America allows school district autonomy regarding what is being taught in high-school classrooms, aside from the core curriculum including math, science, English and history. Each of the 611 school districts that represent the 1,360 high schools in the state then creates a list of class codes, and those codes are used to determine what is put into the state Education Management Information System (EMIS). Additionally, the Ohio Learning Standards and Model Curriculum available to educators serves as a guide as to what should be taught, but teachers are free to deviate from the content as they deem fit and necessary. Computer Science (CS) is considered an elective course, and unlike core subjects such as Algebra and English, content can vary greatly from district to district and even schools within districts can offer a totally different set of courses. Classes coded in the EMIS class management system as computer science can include programming, robotics, math, library multimedia, computer technology, data science or whatever content the instructor of record chooses to teach, and these choices may not always meet the needs and wants of the student body. This freedom of course choice and curriculum used in the classroom leads to some students being well prepared for post-secondary (2 year college, 4 year college, or community coding/programming bootcamps) computer science courses and programs, and some ill-prepared or not prepared at all. This problem is especially exacerbated in resource-poor and disadvantaged districts.

Females, students of low-socioeconomic status, students with disabilities and non-white students are especially vulnerable to the unique challenges related to access to and engagement in high-school computer science courses. They are traditionally underrepresented in all tech-related courses, and the lack of governance of the courses in Ohio compounds this effect.

Due to the lack of consistency and mandated adherence to the CS Ohio Learning Standards there will be a vast array of curricula being used to teach CS across Ohio, and teachers in resource-poor districts will be more likely to deviate from these standards. This deviation will negatively affect student outcomes, leading to inequities in access to and participation in rigorous computer science coursework similar to their more affluent counterparts. These inequities, when intersected with pre-existing systemic deficits faced by urban school districts, will then have a larger negative effect on future success in computer science, including Advanced Placement (AP) exam passage rates and readiness for post-secondary computer science programs.

In order to examine this phenomenon, the classes coded as computer science and corresponding curriculum being used by teachers in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and bordering, more affluent districts will be compared and contrasted to inform computer science education and instruction in the state of Ohio, and will hopefully lead to policy recommendations to standardize the curriculum and coding system as it applies to computer science education in high-schools across the state. The impact of improper class coding will be discussed and in this session with recommendations given on how to standardize CS high school curriculum to ensure consistency and equal access for all students.

Keywords: Post secondary, class coding, high school, education management information system.