Osage students score high in computer science

OSAGE — Students at Osage High School outscored their peers in Iowa and the world on the A-P Computer Science Principles standardized test taken earlier this spring. Sixteen of Osage’s students scored an average of 3.25 compared to 305 other students in Iowa who recorded a 3.06.

Superintendent Barb Schwamman says the district edged the world-wide average of 3.15.   Schwamman says it is “awesome” for a school of their size as it shows their learning process is working. Kids in grades 9-12 were eligible for the test. They were graded on a scale of 1-5 on their knowledge and abilities of the discipline.

Schwamman says the results mean students are learning on a “high level.” “When you look at the individual scores it talks more about which kids were more successful than others,” Schwamman says. “But when you look at it collaboratively — it shows how the system is working — and again for us, we look at the big picture as well as the individual picture on each one of the children,” Schwamman says.

The district has classes available as early as middle school. Osage became one of Iowa’s first schools to mandate computer science as a high school course. She says the curriculum allows for students to be ready for the job market and college plans.  She says if they get through the first course and love it in high school, then they have a five-course pathway in computer science that prepares them for the next level.

Nearly 94,000 students were tested worldwide. Osage had 87.5% of their students who scored a three or higher while, the state average was 69.8% and a global average of 73.3%.