Reports

As schools continue to foster 21st century skills in students in order to prepare them for the demands of a global workforce, K–12 will see the adoption of more makerspaces and research efforts to surface best benefits and practices. Furthermore, the report noted that “makerspaces were initially lauded for their role in stimulating interest in STEM fields,” but now they are often viewed as conduits to STEAM education with more emphasis on the humanities, visual arts, dance, drama and other areas of the arts.

The total score for each country--and thus the final overall ranking--is based on 81 criteria, collected under 7 ‘pillars’ that in turn represent 2 overarching sub-indices.  The five pillars under the Innovation Input Sub-Index are: 1) institutions, 2) human capital and research, 3) infrastructure, 4) market sophistication, and 5) business sophistication, all of which address elements of the national economy reflecting innovative activities.

The bulk of this report focuses on indicators of progress toward 10 policy priorities widely seen as central to broadening participation in K–12 CS education. These priorities were developed collaboratively by a 27-member Advocacy Coalition assembled by Code.org and are among the criteria used by other organizations as well.

As tech innovations unfold, China is stacking up to the United States as a leading force. Global tech industry leaders indicated, in KPMG’s tech innovation survey, the United States and China are the world’s dominant tech epicenters with the greatest potential to develop disruptive technology breakthroughs that will have a global impact. The strong showing for these two mega-powers is relatively consistent with earlier KPMG surveys, although this year’s poll reflects a slight uptick for China—25 percent compared with 23 percent the prior year.