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Stuck in the Shallow End, updated edition: Education, Race, and Computing
Why so few African American and Latino/a students study computer updated edition of a book that reveals the dynamics of inequality in American schools.The number of African Americans and Latino/as receiving undergraduate and advanced degrees in computer science is disproportionately low. And relatively few African American and Latino/a high school students receive the kind of institutional encouragement, educational opportunities, and preparation needed for them to choose computer science as a field of study and profession. In Stuck in the Shallow End, Jane Margolis and coauthors look at the daily experiences of students and teachers in three Los Angeles public high an overcrowded urban high school, a math and science magnet school, and a well-funded school in an affluent neighborhood. They find an insidious “virtual segregation” that maintains inequality.
The race gap in computer science, Margolis discovers, is one example of the way students of color are denied a wide range of occupational and educational futures. Stuck in the Shallow End is a story of how inequality is reproduced in America—and how students and teachers, given the necessary tools, can change the system. Since the 2008 publication of Stuck in the Shallow End, the book has found an eager audience among teachers, school administrators, and academics. This updated edition offers a new preface detailing the progress in making computer science accessible to all, a new postscript, and discussion questions (coauthored by Jane Margolis and Joanna Goode).
The race gap in computer science, Margolis discovers, is one example of the way students of color are denied a wide range of occupational and educational futures. Stuck in the Shallow End is a story of how inequality is reproduced in America—and how students and teachers, given the necessary tools, can change the system. Since the 2008 publication of Stuck in the Shallow End, the book has found an eager audience among teachers, school administrators, and academics. This updated edition offers a new preface detailing the progress in making computer science accessible to all, a new postscript, and discussion questions (coauthored by Jane Margolis and Joanna Goode).
Kindle Edition
Published February 24, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 13, 2023
I am a "Computer" teacher at a Title 1 middle school. I hate to say it, however I saw my school in this book, and not in a great way.
That said, the state I am in is also implementing a programme much like the one, in the book, at UCLA. I am in the programme. However, the real challenge is to get the school to move from teaching applications and to add more rigour. I will say, in our favour, that we have added a new class that moves up from the basics into coding and working with hardware components.
Returning to the book, it describes where we are now and discusses a path forward. I see my district easing toward this path forward, but with very little commitment. I would hope to have seen more of a cookbook "How to present this problem to the Administration and Board," along with a similar approach toward presenting a solution.
In all, it is a good look at what the state of computer education is in. We are still stuck with the basic question that plagues computer education, which is, "What is it that we want the student to learn in this programme."
That said, the state I am in is also implementing a programme much like the one, in the book, at UCLA. I am in the programme. However, the real challenge is to get the school to move from teaching applications and to add more rigour. I will say, in our favour, that we have added a new class that moves up from the basics into coding and working with hardware components.
Returning to the book, it describes where we are now and discusses a path forward. I see my district easing toward this path forward, but with very little commitment. I would hope to have seen more of a cookbook "How to present this problem to the Administration and Board," along with a similar approach toward presenting a solution.
In all, it is a good look at what the state of computer education is in. We are still stuck with the basic question that plagues computer education, which is, "What is it that we want the student to learn in this programme."
September 21, 2023
It is an updated version of the earlier edition. It tells the important story about an issue that continues to need addressing-the digital divide.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews