The blog post Blacks in HS CS: Blame AP Envy! introduced several metrics that illuminated how well states encouraged and supported Black high school students taking CS courses in 2021. These metrics were reVISIONed using Tableau in the post Black/White Relative Strength CS Education Metrics Dashboards 2021. Data from these posts showed that although Black students participated in HS CS at a slightly higher rate than White students, they were about half as likely to take an AP CS exam, and half again as likely to pass an AP CS exam.
This post provides an update to these Black/White relative strength statistics with data from 2022. All of these statistics are based on data provided in the 2022 State of CS Education report published by Code.org, CSTA, and the ECEP Alliance and data on the 2022 AP CS exams from Barbara Ericson’s Computing for Everyone blog. Note that 2022 state-specific dashboards published in early 2023 used AP data from 2021. However, as AP data for 2021-22 became available in April 2023, future posts on 2022 results will use this cleaner and better synchronized dataset instead.
| Metric | 2021 Nat Avg | 2022 Nat Avg | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black/White CS School Attendance Relative Strength | 92.7% | 92.0% | Black students are 8% less likely as White students to attend a high school with a CS course |
| Black/White CS Uptake Ratio Relative Strength | 106.2% | 105.5% | Black students are 5.5% more likely than White students to enroll in a CS course in schools that offer CS. Data available for 36 states. |
| Black/White AP/CS Uptake Ratio Relative Strength | 44.6% | 51.6% | Of students enrolled in an CS course, Black students are 48.4% less likely to take an AP Exam than White students. Approximately five times as many students enroll in an CS class as take an AP exam. Data available for 36 states. |
| Black/White AP All Uptake Ratio Relative Strength | 46.8% | 51.9% | Of students in a HS offering CS, Black students are 48.1% less likely to take an AP Exam than White students. Logically, this metric is the product of the CS Uptake Ratio and the AP/CS Uptake ratio. However, this metric covers the 51 states reporting whereas the CS Uptake Ratio and AP/CS Uptake Ratio is available for only 36 states. |
| Black/White AP Pass Rate Relative Strength | 46.6% | 45.7% | Of students taking an AP CS exam, Black studenrs are 54.3% less likely to pass the exam than White students. |
Although other relative strength metrics declined slightly, the rate that Black students took an AP CS exam increased by more than 5% and is a significant gain.
Black/White Relative Strength Calculation 2022
| Metric | All Students | Black | White | Relative Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS School Attendance | 74.8% | 72.3% | 78.5% | 92.0% |
| CS Uptake Ratio | 7.3% | 7.5% | 7.1% | 105.5% |
| AP/CS Uptake Ratio | 18.3% | 8.5% | 16.5% | 51.6% |
| AP All Uptake Ratio | 1.4% | 0.6% | 1.2% | 51.9% |
| AP Pass Rate | 64.6% | 32.0% | 70.1% | 45.7% |