When Anna Otto evangelizes about the power of computer science to transform lives, she鈥檚 not just talking as the computer science coordinator for a suburban Colorado district.
She鈥檚 speaking as a mom.
Otto鈥檚 son, Aiden, now 9, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy as a baby. He underwent extensive surgery when he was 6 to be able to walk independently. Computer science undergirded every part of that process鈥攆rom harnessing 3D motion-capture technology to determine if he was a candidate for the surgery, to stimulating sensory nerve rootlets during the procedure to determine which to cut, to using robotic legs to teach Aiden proper gaits during rehab.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really motivated me,鈥� Otto said. 鈥淲e need to get this opportunity in front of more people because it鈥檚 not just people who go into the field of computer science that need to learn this. 鈥� Any field you go into, if you have a basic understanding of computer science and what it鈥檚 capable of in terms of problem-solving, just imagine the solutions we will come up with as a society.鈥�
Otto is the computer science and online learning coordinator for the Adams 12 Five Star Schools district in the Denver metro area, a role she鈥檚 held since 2016. A former elementary and middle school teacher, Otto was previously the instructional technology coordinator for the district.
But the seeds for Otto鈥檚 mission were planted much earlier: Her father was a programmer and her mother a tech-sector executive. Otto grew up with computers and watched her mom in a tech leadership role. She never doubted her place in technology when so many girls and women do.
Nationally, young men are twice as likely as young women to take a foundational computer science course, according to the nonprofit Code.org鈥檚 2024 State of Computer Science Education Report. Nearly 33 percent of students enrolled in a foundational computer science course were girls, and about 68 percent were boys. Hispanic students are also underrepresented in computer science classes.
Many students who may be interested in taking computer science attend schools that don鈥檛 offer it. Code.org鈥檚 report found that, nationally, 60 percent of public high schools and 37 percent of public middle schools offer foundational computer science classes. And students who are Black, Hispanic, or Native American are less likely to attend a school that offers a foundational computer science course.
Otto, a 2025 EdWeek Leaders To Learn From honoree, is changing that narrative in Adams 12 by making computer science available to all the district鈥檚 roughly 31,000 students and closing stubborn participation gaps among students by gender and race.
While the number of girls and Black and Hispanic students enrolled in computer science remains stubbornly below where Otto wants them to be, she has overseen a big increase in the number of students overall taking computer science.
In the 2018-19 school year, 5,584 students in K-12 were taking computer science. By this academic year, that number had nearly doubled to just shy of 10,000, even as the district鈥檚 overall enrollment declined over that same time period.
To make that happen, Otto has had to be part fundraiser, part data analyst, and part evangelist, said Beau Foubert, the district鈥檚 deputy superintendent.
鈥淣o matter the challenges, the headwinds, the naysayers, she has been constantly at the pulpit,鈥� said Foubert. Otto has advocated that computer science is not just nice to have but a fundamental skill for today鈥檚 K-12 students.
Many of the obstacles to expanding computer science access in Adams 12 are challenges that bedevil schools nationwide: shortages of qualified teachers, lack of buy-in and resources, and pervasive stereotypes that dissuade girls and Black and Hispanic students from taking computer science. Those challenges are like Russian nesting dolls, open one problem up and you鈥檒l find another one inside.
Although Otto knew that expanding access to computer science first meant that more schools had to offer it, she also realized early on that just having the courses wasn鈥檛 enough. The content of the district鈥檚 offerings at the time was haphazard among schools鈥攕ome taught coding, while others focused on computer skills such as typing and making brochures.
The district needed a standardized curriculum that created a pathway for students in earlier grades to gain and build on their skills in preparation for advanced computer science classes in high school鈥攋ust like in a core subject like math.
So, in 2014, while Otto was still an instructional technology coordinator, she kick-started the long process of overhauling the district鈥檚 computer science offerings while developing a curriculum for middle and elementary school designed to appeal to students of all backgrounds.
That meant making sure curricular materials represented women and people of color in the field and were aligned with research showing how to engage those groups. For instance, to appeal to girls, Otto sought to play up collaborative learning opportunities, such as group projects and .
Throughout, Otto has made teachers a central part of the process.
The first step was to convene a group of teachers monthly for a full day to develop a curriculum for an 8th grade course that would prepare students for the Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles course offered in the high schools.
Among those teachers was Bobbie Bastian, who teaches in the district鈥檚 career and technical education program. Giving teachers a lot of say in what the curriculum looked like helped create important buy-in among them, she said.
鈥淚f teachers are doing it, they鈥檙e going to use it,鈥� she said. Bastian also appreciates that there is a variety of computer science classes now available to students. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that all kids should have not just access but also be able to take a course that is on their level鈥攕omething that is introductory enough or advanced enough depending upon where they are.鈥�
Today, the district鈥檚 computer science curriculum covers kindergarten through 12th grade.
All five comprehensive high schools in the district, as well as its online school, now offer computer science, as do all but one of the district鈥檚 12 middle schools. Nine courses are offered at the high school level, and seven courses are offered in the middle schools, including networking, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.
Most states do not make computer science a requirement for graduation, said Pat Yongpradit, the chief academic officer at Code.org.
鈥淪o, the work of people like Anna is so important because schools are choosing whether to offer computer science and kids are choosing whether to take computer science right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need advocates who are identifying the different demographics that need more attention and more encouragement to take computer science.鈥�
Committed to making computer science accessible
Otto doesn鈥檛 plan to stop with middle and high school: Her vision is to have a licensed computer science teacher in every elementary school. Currently, 12 out of 34 schools have met that goal.
鈥淭here鈥檚 really compelling research that shows that students as young as age 6 start forming stereotypes about who is good at computer science,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to fight stereotypes. How do you do that? Well, by doing computer science, you start to see, 鈥業 can do this.鈥� If we want to fix this equity issue in terms of not enough girls and students of color enrolling in computer science, I believe we need to start them young.鈥�
Funding has been a barrier to getting computer science teachers for every elementary school鈥攁 mill levy that would have paid for this failed to pass in the last election.
But through Otto鈥檚 constant advocacy, district leadership saw an opportunity to use the subject to provide more planning time for teachers. In elementary schools where at least one grade has exceeded three classrooms, the school can hire a computer science teacher who is integrated into the schedule the same way the art and physical education teachers are: teaching their specialized topic to students while the regular classroom teachers get planning and collaboration time.
Persuading district and school leaders to dedicate resources to classrooms, curriculum development, and staffing has been no easy task. Accomplishing that goal has required not just persistence on Otto鈥檚 part but also for her to hone her pitch to every group鈥攖eachers, school and district leaders, and the community, said Foubert.
It鈥檚 in these conversations and presentations that Otto discusses not only the opportunities computer science has created for her son but her personal experiences using it in the classroom to engage hard-to-reach students.
For instance, Otto recalls how a programming game gave an immigrant student she once taught a vital avenue to express herself. The experience grew the young girl鈥檚 confidence in class, even when she could barely speak English.
Otto makes a case for computer science and the need for all students to have access to it that is hard to argue with, said Foubert.
鈥淪he can be really fierce,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard her in a room channel this oration that borders on spiritual around the work. But then I鈥檝e also seen her in rooms almost on the verge of tears because she鈥檚 so troubled by barriers that so many face in just getting into STEM and computer science pathways.鈥�
Addressing teacher shortages
But there are challenges that great oration can鈥檛 solve completely鈥攕uch as teacher shortages.
One middle school in Adams 12 isn鈥檛 offering computer science this year because its computer science teacher retired, and the school hasn鈥檛 found a replacement yet. That is a conundrum facing both Otto鈥檚 district and schools nationwide: Computer science teachers are notoriously difficult to recruit and retain because they have a marketable skill in the private sector, said Yongpradit.
鈥淭he salary trajectory for a teacher is vastly different than the salary trajectory for anyone going into any tech-ish field,鈥� he said, even though many careers in tech and education require about the same amount of education.
But Otto needs teachers to meet her ambitious goals, and she has had to get creative to tackle the problem. She鈥檚 taken a 鈥渂uckshot approach鈥� to recruitment鈥攖rying lots of different approaches at once to find teachers.
Part of the solution lies in curriculum development. Otto and her team of teachers designed the curriculum so that teachers with limited computer science experience could still lead the courses, creating optional-to-use resources such as scripted lesson plans, sample code, slide decks, and examples of common mistakes students make and how to work through them.
Otto has also developed extensive professional development offerings for teachers, often writing grants to fund them. She鈥檚 tapped computer science teachers in her district and experts outside it to help develop online courses on how to teach coding and other skills using popular block-based programming languages, robotics kits, and small, programmable computers called micro:bits.
In 2019, Otto also helped launch the annual Rocky Mountain Computer Science Conference, or Rock CS, in collaboration with another local district after hearing from educators that opportunities for professional development in the area were limited. The conference was initially funded through a state grant, but it is now self-sustaining with conference fees and partnerships with for- and not-for-profit companies, Otto said.
The annual conference, which convenes around 150 teachers, serves a dual purpose, Otto said. It鈥檚 a recruitment tool, highlighting the work that Adams 12 is doing in computer science. And it鈥檚 a training opportunity for teachers interested in switching to computer science.
Otto said her team is also playing 鈥渢he long game鈥� by recruiting high school students enrolled in computer science classes or in the district鈥檚 teacher-cadet program to lead activities in the elementary schools during the national Hour of Code event.
Her hope is that these students will catch the bug and decide they want to teach computer science over other subjects or even other careers in science, technology, engineering, or math.
Otto has also had some success with teachers transitioning from other subjects, including an English/language arts teacher.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to have a computer science background to be a highly effective and engaging computer science teacher,鈥� she said. 鈥淎t the high school level, yes, you need a lot of training in computer science, but coming from English/language arts is not an obvious connection but a very effective one.鈥�
Reaching students where they are
Creating computer science classes doesn鈥檛 matter if students don鈥檛 elect to take them. The subject is not required for graduation, so a major part of expanding computer science is making it as appealing as possible for students.
Otto鈥檚 team started formally seeking input from all middle school students enrolled in computer science two years ago, surveying them before and after they take a class to gauge their perceived ability to learn the subject and find out if they see it as relevant in the real world. Otto hopes that if she can get inside students鈥� heads on what might be holding them back, she can move the needle on participation.
鈥淏lack and Hispanic students, special-needs students, multilingual learners: They鈥檙e all underrepresented in computer science,鈥� said Otto. 鈥淪o, we wanted to make sure that we were developing curriculum that was inclusive, that made them feel welcome and successful in our courses.鈥�
Currently, 43 percent of students enrolled in computer science at Adams 12 are girls. While Black and Hispanic students make up 53 percent of the district鈥檚 enrollment, they comprise 46 percent of computer science enrollment.
This year, the surveys showed an increase in the number of students saying they feel confident that they can learn computer science, with 90 percent saying they agree or strongly agree with that statement, up from 83 percent last year. But the data show there are still gaps between racial groups.
Many students revealed in their surveys that family members have not urged them to take a computer science course. Research has found family encouragement is especially important for girls, Otto said.
That had Otto wondering: 鈥淎re there ways that [we] can help build awareness of the courses we offer and their value amongst families? How might this impact enrollment?鈥�
Among this year鈥檚 students taking a computer science class for the first time is 16-year-old Nevaeh Chin, a sophomore. She saw that a cybersecurity class was available and decided to take it to surprise her dad, who works in that field.
Nevaeh didn鈥檛 have any plans to pursue cybersecurity as a career herself until she took the class. Now, she says, it鈥檚 what she wants to do when she graduates from high school. Neveah has seen first hand what working in cybersecurity looks like through class field trips, which, she said are especially engaging.
鈥淏ecause we actually get to go out in the field and talk to professionals鈥攊t鈥檚 really cool,鈥� she said.
She has also enjoyed participating in CyberPatriots, a national youth cyber-defense competition that pits middle and high school teams against one another.
Initially, Nevaeh was hesitant about enrolling in the class because she had never taken anything in computer science before鈥攁nd it wasn鈥檛 a subject any of her friends took, either. Nevaeh is one of three girls in her cybersecurity class of 15.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 just because the girls think that it鈥檚 a boys鈥� thing,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut in reality, I feel like cybersecurity is for everyone.鈥�
How to convince more students of that is a problem Otto is constantly chewing on. Moving forward, she plans to incorporate more culturally responsive teaching practices. And she recently started wondering if computer science classes are being offered at the same time as other subjects typically popular with girls, like art. She plans to take a deep dive into school schedules to see what might be siphoning young women away.
For Otto, the stakes are high. Not only does she believe that computer science careers are lucrative and every student should have equal access to them, but society needs people from all backgrounds fluent in computer science principles and skills.
鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have that diversity, you鈥檙e gonna miss enormous opportunities to make the world better,鈥� she said.
Her son, she said, is living proof.
