To advance national conversations about the role of K-12 education in developing students’ competencies in data and computing, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will convene an expert committee to conduct a consensus study that will identify competencies needed for students to navigate and succeed in the changing computational landscape and describe the role that K-12 education can play in the development of these competencies. The committee will give particular attention to approaches and experiences that promote the success of all students. The committee will address the following questions:

• What are the shared foundational competencies associated with the range of fields related to computing including data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer science? What competencies might be unique to these different fields? How are the foundational competencies for these fields related to foundational competencies in other STEM fields?
• What competencies and awareness are needed for learners to develop basic literacy in data and computing?
• What are the learning progressions needed to reach these competencies (for both basic literacy and to pursue careers)? What is developmentally appropriate? How are these competencies currently captured in existing content areas in school? At what point is it necessary to provide specialized training?
• What are the ethical practices and reasoning competencies that need to be considered? Are these practices and competencies adequately addressed in other school subjects?
• What should relevant learning experiences look like in practice and how might these experiences be tailored to meet students’ interests and lived experiences? What are examples of programs or approaches that hold promise for developing the necessary competencies? What are the tradeoffs and affordances between different pedagogical tools and curriculum? What kinds of opportunities exist for building high-quality learning opportunities related to data and computing into existing school subjects?
• What are the implications for K-12 curricula? What might be done in the short-term and what long-term transformation might be necessary for the development of equitable opportunities? To what extent are separate pathways needed for different specialties? How could existing STEM subjects be revised to include opportunities to learn about computing and data?
• What research is needed to provide an evidence base for advancing the development of competencies in data and computing that promote the success for all K-12 students?