Request for Grant to the Intel

Foundation
Code.org

Joseph Kim
1501 4th Ave, Suite 900
Seattle WA 98101
Organizational History
We at Code.org have established an organization with the future on our minds. As the
world continues to advance technologically, we must be ready to provide opportunities and teach
students in the field of computer science as early as possible. At Code.org we plan to equip
young students, not just those that are interested, but all students especially minorities with a
proficient understanding in computer science before graduating high school.
Code.org was launched in 2013 by two brothers, Hadi and Ali Partovi, who had a passion
for computer science education for every child in this world. Throughout the years they have
been working diligently to fund, market, and spread across the world. As stated by the company,
“Code.org is a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to computer science in schools and
increasing participation by women and underrepresented minorities. Our vision is that every
student in every school has the opportunity to learn computer science”.
Statement of Need
Code.org offers free curriculum and open source technology for the public to use.
Although it is free to distribute, it is not free to produce. If we want to maintain the free to use
material, we must fund the distribution and development of student and teacher curriculum. As
an organization we strive to provide a high-quality curriculum to students that is not only
teaching but allowing students to excel.
Since the range of competence varies from Kindergarten to Twelfth grade, there must be
specific requirements for each level. So far, the K-12 Computer Science Framework is well
aligned with the Computer Science Teachers Association computer science standards along with
the Common Core, and Next Generation Science Standards, International Society for
Technology Education Standards, but not yet fully developed to satisfy the Advanced Placement
Computer Science Principles Framework. With increased funds, we will be able to create an
improved curriculum for the needs of all students wanting to learn computer science.
Code.org has been able to reach over 25 million students and 750,000 teachers over the
span of just four years. In the past year, over 400,000 teachers decided to teach computer science
and over 10 million students decided to learn through a program called Code Studio on
Code.org. Based on this trend, the number of users will continue to grow meaning more funds
will be required to fill the need.
What Code.org is doing is providing a free and effective way for essentially anyone to
learn computer science and be ready to pursue a future in the field. This allows those students
that don’t have access to computer science or those that can’t afford it to finally be exposed to a
new possible career opportunity. In this rapidly changing world, computer science should be
included and treated just like any other subject and given more attention than ever before. These
students are the future of our society and if we are moving towards technology, then computer
science needs to be given a larger focus.
Goals and Objectives
 Finding educators
o Show teachers that teaching computer science is simple
o Show that computer science is the future
 Reaching minorities
o Gain the interest of girls
o Gain the interest of racial minorities
 Adding computer science to schools
o Implementing computer science as an after-school activity
o Adding computer science to the school curriculum
 Normalizing computer science
o Get people exposed to computer science at a young age
o Show the future outlook of technology
o Get computer science to be treated like any other school subject
Review of Literature
Understanding the attitudes of African American middle school girls toward computer science
The technical fields in society today is overwhelmingly dominated by males and out of
the women that are involved, a small percentage are the minorities, more specifically African
American females. In a study conducted by Ashley Robinson, Manuel A. Perez-Quinones, and
Glenda Sales, negative attitudes towards computer science by African American girls can be
facilitated to shift in the other direction. With a focus on early exposure and removal of negative
stereotypes, the negative perception students may have can be decreased substantially.
Through hands on and real-life exposure of computer science to young black females,
they were able to move away from the idea of computer science being “boring”, “difficult”, and
“nerdy” (Robinson, 2015). After the study it was concluded that the participants were able to use
existing skill sets to complete computer science related activities. Its not that they can’t do
computer science because it’s difficult, it’s because they don’t know how, they simply were
never introduced to it. Just through informational videos and simple coding activities, computer
science can become a tangible future.
Computer Programming Education for Primary School Students Importance of programing
For people to become good at a particular skill or ability, they must work at it for many
years. In many cases, individuals that are good at computer programing were exposed to the
discipline at an early age. The more time put in to learning and understanding, the greater the
expertise.
In this publication the authors, Chen Yongqiang, Wu Xiaojun, and Quan Chengbin,
looked at different methods of retaining young children’s attention and interest in computer
programing. It was found that though hands on and sensor learning children retained interest
regardless of the difficulty of the concept (Yongqiang, 2018). This shows the importance of
method over difficulty. Young children are able to learn difficult concepts if it is presented to
them in a way they understand.
Computer programming - A building block of STEM
The progression of technology will always continue whether we are prepared for it or not.
We must train ourselves and are children for the future that is ahead. Computer science and “tech
stuff” is no longer for particular individuals, but for everyone that will be alive in the near future.
This paper discusses how computer programing teaches skills that are useful for other
parts of our lives. The critical thinking skills needed to solve problems, the ability to search for
errors, and the discipline to study and learn daily to become good at programing will help
facilitate success in various aspects of professional and personal life (Dutta, 2012). The skill of
computer programing alone is also a great ability to master. Phone applications, robots, websites,
and so many other things around us are created by programing. If a small business owner knew
how to code, they would easily be able to make their own website instead of paying someone
else to make it. The impact of computer programing is undeniable and so is its future impact.
Detailed Description
A hardworking group of 69 individuals work together to run the organization. For the
curriculum, there needs to be curriculum writers and developers, program managers, education
team, and events team to accomplish an outstanding computer science curriculum
To keep up with the rapid improvements and shifts in technology, we will have to keep
up and satisfy the needs of the ever-changing environment. Although some material will change,
the foundation of the curriculum will satisfy prestigious computer science standards. The
curriculum writers and developers will be using the existing curriculum as a base for the
upcoming year. According to the 2017 annual report, users show greater growth in entry levels
of the course but decreased improvements in upper level coding. Along with this, the overall AP
Exam pass rate is 1% lower than the national average. The curriculum has progressed
tremendously already almost matching the national average. But improvements are needed to
surpass the national average to prove how effective and practical Code.org really is.
The philosophy of Code.org is to spread computer science to all people. Since the
company is based in America, it began in America, but there are already steps taken to spread
across the globe.
Budget
For 2017, the total expenses added up to around $21.4 million.

2017 Budget

3 Teacher Development and School

Partnerships (6-12)
10
Teacher Development and School
Partnerships (K-5)
Management, Admin
42

22 Advocacy, Policy

Curriculum Development

Diversity
8
5 Fundraising
10

Request for Funds

Since the beginning of this company, we have spent roughly $20 million on curriculum
and the learning platform, Code Studio. In the past year curriculum cost the company $4.7
million and with that money we have been able to maintain a consistent growth in computer
science education. We would like to ask the Intel Foundation, who is known for philanthropic
support for quality educational opportunities, for a sum of $6 million. If we were to obtain the $6
million dollars, we will be able to cover the price of curriculum per student enrolled, the cost of
the increasing number of enrolled students, and money towards improving the current computer
science curricula.
Materials Needed
 Code Studio, Code.org’s learning platform
 Software Engineers
 Curriculum Writers/Developers
 Data Scientists
Assessment of Project’s Success
The success of Code.org has been at a continual increase since the day it was created.
With more and more people realizing the importance of computer science, we are ready to
educate and empower young individuals for the future. As we gain more funding, greater
opportunities will be opened up for us as a company to help cultivate the next generation of
working men and women.
Timeline
Implementation Activities Year 2019 Personnel Responsible
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Review prior year curricula Curriculum Developers
--
Research and analyze data Data Scientist
-- -- -- --
Provide curriculum to users Code Studio
-- -- -- --
Renovations to software Software Engineers
-- --
Update curriculum for Curriculum Writers
teachers and students -- --
Sources
A. Robinson, M. A. Pérez-Quiñones and G. Scales, "Understanding the attitudes of African
American middle school girls toward computer science," 2015 Research in Equity and
Sustained Participation in Engineering, Computing, and Technology (RESPECT),
Charlotte, NC, 2015, pp. 1-8.
S. Dutta and R. Mathur, "Computer programming - A building block of STEM," 2011 Integrated
STEM Education Conference (ISEC), Ewing, NJ, 2011, pp. 2B-1-2B-4.
C. Yongqiang, W. Xiaojun and Q. Chengbin, "Computer Programming Education for Primary
School Students," 2018 13th International Conference on Computer Science & Education
(ICCSE), Colombo, 2018, pp. 1-5.