Coding in K-8 Classrooms: Empowering A New Generation of Creators

In 2019, Project tomorrow partnered with BrainPOP in a study and report on how students, parents, educators, and district leaders’ opinions on coding in K-8 classrooms. Through data gathered by Project Tomorrow’s SpeakUp, we see that most children have a strong desire to learn how to code, yet feel their schools aren’t doing an adequate job of providing this skill. Many students and parents also express a desire for schools to focus more on creativity and problem-solving, rather than rote skills. These findings are key for educators in the 21st century to not only discover what their students’ goals and desires are, but to also adequately prepare students for the world post-school. Project Tomorrow is a leading organization on gathering up-to-date, crucial data for educators, district leaders, and parents alike.

“Students from all types of communities and family backgrounds want to learn coding as the means to developing their creativity skills and improving their preparation for future success.”

Key Findings:

• Three-quarters of parents of school-aged children (74%) identify creativity as an important skill for their child to develop in school to be successful in the future.
• Parents and school district leaders see coding as a good way for students to develop creativity skills.
• Students agree as well–58% of students in grades 6-8 say the most important reason to incorporate coding within the school day is to help them develop creativity skills.
• Student interest in learning coding transcends gender, grade level, community type and home poverty, and that interest is growing–middle school student interest in learning coding increased by 23% in just three years.
• Teachers need easy-to-use tools and classroom support resources to effectively integrate coding as a new form of creative expression across their curriculum.