Below is a draft letter to Dr. Pruitt, who is managing the collaborative development of the Next Generation Science Standards for Achieve. This draft letter can be used and edited to convey concerns regarding the treatment of computer science in the NGSS. While the comment period for specific observations or concerns on the first public draft of the NGSS closed June 1, there are several possibilities for submitting general comments, as outlined in the letter below.  You can mail a letter to the address, fax it to the fax number, or submit it via the organizations online comment submission at http://www.nextgenscience.org/contact.  


Month ##, 2012 

Stephen L. Pruitt, PhD.
Vice President, Content, Research and Development
Achieve, Inc.
1400 16th Street NW, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20036
Via fax (202) 828-0911
Via online comment submission at http://www.nextgenscience.org/contact 

Dear Dr. Pruitt: 

I am writing to convey my concerns about the ongoing development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).  I am very much concerned about the state of computer science education in the country's elementary and secondary schools, and the draft science standards released by Achieve and its collaborators in May fall short in addressing the need to ensure that the critical field of computer science is part of the core curriculum.  

There are many statistics about workforce demand for individuals with content and skills in the STEM fields.  In fact earlier this year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that by 2020 there will be 9.2 million jobs in these fields.  What is often discounted in these predictions is that half of these STEM jobs -- 4.6 million -- will be in computing.  It is astonishing that the same education community that is concerned about the state of K-12 education and preparing young people to be successful in college and careers sees these numbers and does not act.  While the draft science standards include elements of computer science and computing concepts in the Engineering, Technology and Applications of Science topics, the attention paid to the discipline of computer science simply does not match its importance to the economy and the workforce.  

No one can escape computers in everyday life, and business, government, industry and scientific inquiry and research cannot function without them.  No other subject will open as many doors for the young people who pursue it as computer science, so the decision to treat the subject not as a discrete and important discipline, but as part of the standards' cross-cutting engineering design elements is disappointing to computer science educators and advocates. 

As you look to the next iteration of these science standards, it is crucial that computer science and its foundational concepts be included in your work.  Given the growing importance of computing in society and the need for students -- particularly those going into STEM fields -- to understand and be able to apply the fundamental concepts of computing, not including computer science in K-12 science standards is unacceptable.  

Thank you for your consideration of these views.  

Sincerely,