Bill and Melinda Gates are now focusing on higher education, teacher quality, research, and performance-based pay.
Bill Gates has funded educational projects in the past. The Gates Foundation poured $130 million into New York City schools alone in a period of five years to break apart large schools and form learning academies. Some of these specialty schools were
High School of Violin and Dance
The Peace and Diversity Academy
Academy for Careers in Sports
The Food and Finance High school
Academy for Hospitality and Tourism
Academy for Visual Arts and Theater
The results of these projects were disappointing. While some schools performed better with the downsizing, the initiative did not have the effect everyone hoped. And, students did not attend college at a higher rate.
Gates Consultant
The Gates Foundation hired Hilary Pennington to research what other foundations were funding and find the gaps. Bill and Melinda Gates wanted to fund areas that were being neglected. This brought them right back to schools.
Gates Foundation Calls a Meeting
On November 11, 2008, Bill Gates met in Seattle with a large group of individuals interested in education.
Superintendents from schools in large cities like Washington, D.C., Chicago and New York City
Advisors for newly elected Barack Obama
Leaders from two of the largest teachers unions: National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers
All listened intently while Bill and Melinda unveiled their plan.
The Gates Education Plan
The meeting began with the statement that only 22% of low-income children graduate high school ready for higher education. Gates finds this totally unacceptable and would like to raise this to 80% by the year 2025.
Gates also wants to lead efforts to create national learning standards in high school. The new standards will be shorter, tougher and clearer than most states presently have. This may be a difficult sell to strong believers of local control.
$500 million will be spent in the next five years to improve teacher quality. While only a few schools will receive this funding, they will be used as a research model for other schools. Another $500 million will be spent on research. Gates said, "Doctors aren’t left alone in their offices to try to design and test new medicines. They’re supported by a huge medical-research industry. Teachers need the same kind of support." [Linda Shaw, education reporter, Seattle Times, November 12, 2008]
Gates wants more effective teachers to be paid more. He expressed great disbelief that teachers are paid by experience and education instead of high-performance. "That’s almost like saying teacher performance doesn’t matter, and that’s basically saying students don’t matter," said Gates. [Linda Shaw, education reporter, Seattle Times, November 12, 2008]
The foundation also wants more emphasis on junior colleges. This is where many students could greatly improve their lives by learning a skill. The foundation wants to research ideas to keep students in school so they will attend a junior college in the future. Melinda Gates commented that the U.S. is now in 10th place for college completion. It used to be 1st. She wants to reverse that trend.
Reactions
While most individuals attending the Gates forum were positive (many were recipients of Gates funding), some expressed concerns. National standards were not warmly received and neither was performance based pay. Randi Weingarten of the American Federation of Teachers said that she was very willing to listen but if teacher pay is going to be based on test scores, "that’s where the conversation stops." [Linda Shaw, education reporter, Seattle Times, November 12, 2008]
Barack Obama is a supporter of performance based pay. The devil is in the details. Who determines what good teaching practices are? Research funded by the Gateses may be the answer to that question.
Source: Linda Shaw, education reporter for The Seattle Times, November 12, 2008.
The copyright of the article Latest Bill Gates Education Initiative in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Latest Bill Gates Education Initiative in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
As a teacher of 35 years and a mother of two sons who completed higher
education I have some real concerns about this plan. Salaries based on test
scores will not produce better educated children. This causes educatores to
teach to a test which in turn will not have the children prepared for a
future. We can also set standards, but that also does not mean we will have
more students completing high school nor comleting further education. These
sound good, but not functional for best use of teacher time nor student
learning.
Dec 1, 2008 6:25 AM
Guest :
Haven't we tried judging teachers by test scores in the past? Wasn't it a
total failure? Who is holding the students and their parents responsible?
Many parents won't read to their children, don't care about education,
don't get them to bed at a reasonable hour, don't provide food and safety.
Then, the school is supposed to work miracles with the children they
themselves have neglected. And now, teachers can lose their jobs if these
children don't do well? Hello! What is wrong with this picture?
Hopefully, Gates will figure this out.
Dec 1, 2008 2:13 PM
Guest :
The issue isn't the educator not providing adequate teaching, it is in the
students not seeing a value in getting an education. If you can make
unrealistic money playing sports or entertaining, why bother getting an
education. Until society demands more equitable compensation for careers
that add value to society and less for the glamor, we can expect the
current environment to continue.
Dec 2, 2008 6:37 AM
Guest :
I totally agree with the last comment. A doorman makes more than a teacher
in many cities. Actually, I'm rather surprised that education is as good
as it is in the US for the low level of respect we show teachers by what we
pay them.
Dec 2, 2008 12:32 PM
Guest :
I do agree with Gates on doing research. Colleges are often filled with
instructors that have not been in a classroom for 20 years and totally out
of touch with today's classrooms. I doubt if they are teaching the latest
best practices. But, perhaps Gates can accomplish something of great
value. I agree that we need to be very careful about how value as a
teacher is determined. To some it may be the type of discipline used, to
others it may be popularity, and in some schools I've taught in, it was
determined by how short a skirt you wore...the shorter the skirt...the
better the performance.
Dec 5, 2008 12:53 PM
Guest :
The administrator of Washington D.C. is proposing a two-tiered teacher
performance plan. The NEA is against paying one teacher more than another
so she is proposing a level 1 salary schedule with tenure. Level 2 salary
schedule is about 20% higher but without tenure. I'm assuming that a
teacher would give up her NEA membership? Under her level 2 plan, teachers
could make up to $120,000 per year but could be fired. She maintains that
the reason many children underperform is because their teachers
underperform. She would like to see what happens in a free market in
education. After all, in the business world, there is pay for performance
and not merely experience. Comments, anyone?
Jan 2, 2009 3:12 PM
Guest :
How can one say that they can be pleased with education in the US. Did you
even read the article, it stated that only 22% of lower income children
graduate high school. That shows how poorly these schools are performing.
I agree that teachers should not be payed based on test scores, this is
because many times children are not motivated enough to study and get a
good grade. I do not think this plan will raise the graduation rate to 80%
by 2025, but I do think that it will raise the graduation rate a fair
amount.
Apr 2, 2009 12:01 PM
Guest :
I'm a teacher in Nova Scotia Canada. The problem as I see it is that we are
not creating the kinds of educational vehicles needed to work with todays
child. They are different from us in that the context of their world is
vastly different from our own experience. When we were young, we had a
choice between Crest or Colgate (Bad or worse) we had to accomadate. Today
if they don't like one brand, they can choose from a hundred and get
satisfaction. No need to accomodate and adaptation is not something they
are use to. Our school models are a hundred years old We require our
students to jump through the traditional academic hoops before we let them
move on to something that interests them. many refuse to do so. Children
today text each other and share information, collaborate, and synergise
information beyond our dreams. We really have no clue how to take advantage
of this to promote a better life for them. Perhaps the traditional school
model has outlived its usefulness. Think about your favorite rock group.
When were they the most successful and at the top of their game. When they
were twenty something?? Why do we not allow our children to use the
creative gifts early and foster them as opposed to dismantle iniative.
Control??I used to teach industrial arts a truely hands on experience, th
kids loved it so the system took it away. Now I teach resource with two
years left and to be honest all I see is a bunch of bored kids with no idea
how to create something for themselves.
Jun 1, 2009 10:08 AM
Guest :
The actual quote is, "only 22% of low-income children graduate high
school ready for higher education." So while they may be graduating,
they are lacking the tools to go any further in their educational careers.
The United States has some of the best, most sought after higher
education opportunities in the world. There are students from all over the
world trying to attend our colleges and universities, but many of our young
people do not have the tools to take advantage of these opportunities.
What does that say about our public education system? Who should be
held accountable for this? The answer is all of us. The parents who don't
give encouragement, the teachers who have lost interest, the state and
federal governments who don't think our children are worth spending money
on. The single most valuable resource this country has is its
children, yet the investment in the tools necessary in developing this
resource is far down on the list of priorities. Yes, uninvolved parents
need to be made aware that their uninvolvement is unacceptable. Yes,
qualified, effective teachers need to be paid what they are worth. Yes,
teachers who don't care and have given up need to find other jobs because
in the long run they are doing more harm than good. And a resounding yes,
the government needs to wake up to the reality that if we don't develope
this resource, there won't be anyone left to lead us into the future. Just
my 2 cents. For what that's worth in the current economy. hehehe
Jun 4, 2009 7:10 PM
Guest :
I would really like to thank all hardworking teachers, but we have to look
at it like this we can do almost anything in todays world and you will
hopefull be able to do more in tomorrow's. So if students can get judged
and labeled by test such as SOL's how can you not judge the teacher by that
same score after all it is your job to teacher them what they are tested on
or catch them before they fall between the cracks. Now i understand that
there are some kids who you can't reach. Ok tell someone see if he can get
tested or moved to another class maybe he doesn't understand your method.
Have a talk with him because if the one that suppose to teacher you drops
the ball then these kids future start out handicapped. And I am a parent of
three with two in school. I am there right with them in homework ,
volunteer and classroom visits. If I see that this teacher is really doing
her job for my kids how can I not meet her 100%.
Jul 4, 2009 12:08 PM
Guest :
AM QUITE IMPRESSED WITH WHAT BILL GATES HAS DONE IN EDUCATION IN U.S.A.AM A
PRINCIPAL OF A MIXED SECONDARY SCHOOL IN KENYA WHO FACES ENORMOUS
CHALLENGES WHILE IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE.GIVEN THAT BILL GATES IS 'A CHILD OF
THE UNIVERSE' IS HE ABLE TO ASSIST OUR SCHOOL PUT INFRASTRUCTURES IN PLACE
FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE?
Nov 29, 2008
