IWERC releases third report on state of computer science education in the state
Chicago — (Mar 25, 2025) A new report found that between 2018-22, about 50% of educators assigned to teach a computer science course in Illinois held the endorsement aligned with the Illinois State Board of Education’s course-level recommendations. During that same period, the proportion of endorsed teachers declined, indicating that despite the number of teachers assigned to teach CS in the state increasing by about 14%, many teachers entering the CS teacher workforce did not hold a CS endorsement.
The Illinois Workforce & Education Research Collaborative, part of the University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute, released the third report of a five-part series on high school computer science education in Illinois. The research was funded by a $1 million grant from an anonymous donor.
The State of Computer Science in Illinois High Schools Series is a five-part series to analyze the landscape, structures and pathways of computer science education in the state. Data analyzed from school years 2017-18 through 2021-22 were provided via partnership with ISBE. Released in 2024, the first two reports analyzed overall CS course-taking, participation trends and student outcomes. The third report addresses the CS teacher workforce.
“Many Illinois districts have done an admirable job scaling up computer science programs prior to the lack of clear guidance on teacher qualifications, providing students an important opportunity,” said Meg Bates, director of IWERC. “Now that we have such guidance from ISBE, the next challenge is increasing access to appropriate qualifications for our invested CS teachers.”
The report also found that the CS teacher workforce does not match the CS student body. Overall, there is gender parity in the CS teacher workforce; however, a previous report by IWERC found that girls are significantly underrepresented in CS courses across the state. On the other hand, there is a clear racial gap between students and teachers, with nearly 84% of CS teachers identifying as white, compared with a much more racially diverse student body.
“Previous research shows that when students learn from teachers who share their identities, they tend to do better academically and develop stronger CS identities, making teacher diversity crucial as CS expands statewide,” said Ying Chen, co-author of the report. The relationship between teacher qualifications/characteristics and student outcomes will be explored further in the fourth report of the series.
Ultimately, the current report found that while the state has made great strides in increasing the capacity for CS education, there remains room for improvement. “Capacity for CS education is a necessary consideration as districts across the state expand their offerings in response to state legislation,” said Stephanie Werner, project director of computer science education research at IWERC and co-author of the report. “It won’t happen overnight, but concerted efforts to develop qualified teachers with appropriate content knowledge expertise will be needed for high-quality, equitable CS education for the students of Illinois.”
The full report is available here. Follow IWERC on LinkedIn for updates on all future reports on computer science education.
For additional report findings, contact Stephanie Werner at swerne3@uillinois.edu.