Code.org targets high school computer science

Code.org is teaming up with College Board to push for more computer science courses in US high schools and to increase the number of female and minority students taking those courses. The new partnership will encourage high schools in 35 of the nation's largest districts including New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles to offer Code.org's advanced placement computer science course Fall 2015. Code.org will provide curriculum, tools, training and funding to school districts that qualify, said Code.org CEO and co-founder Hadi Partovi.

College Board -- the organization that administers the standardized tests that help determine college entrances -- will help fund the work if the school district agrees to use the preliminary SAT or PSAT test for eighth and ninth graders to identify students who have potential in computer science, Partovi said. One of the principal goals of the partnership is to reach more female and minority students, Partovi said.