Ball State University says it is creating a new degree to train more computer science teachers.  As IPR’s Stephanie Wiechmann reports, it’s part of a statewide effort to fill more STEM education positions in Hoosier schools.

Ball State President Geoffrey Mearns explains the proposed computer science education degree simply.

“The melding together of computer science as well as education, in similar ways that we do whether you’re going to be a math teacher or a history teacher.  We’re pretty confident that we can get students from the starting line to the finish line in four years.”

The plan’s details still need to be approved by the Ball State Board of Trustees and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.  Mearns says he hopes to offer it by fall 2019.

Until then, and if also approved by school trustees, students will soon be able to major in secondary or elementary education and add an already-existing Ball State minor or concentration in the foundations of computer science.

Mearns says he’s heard from the state that since 2010, only 130 teachers have received a computer science teaching endorsement.