Bill and Melinda Gates have poured their fortune into, among other things, the push for common standards, small schools, and efforts to overhaul teacher evaluations. Reflecting on these funding initiatives in a recent interview with the Associated Press, the billionaire husband and wife team admit they haven't worked.
"It's in taking all of those lessons and saying, 'OK, but did they reach the majority of the school districts? Did they scale and change the system for low-income and minority kids writ large, at scale?' And the answer when we looked at it, it was no," Melinda Gates told the AP.
The two have acknowledged missteps before, most recently with the Common Core State Standards. As Liana Heitin (now Loewus) reported in May of 2016, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation acknowledged having underestimated the amount of resources and support public schools would need to incorporate the standards.
But the admission that the push for tougher teacher evaluations—including tying student test scores to teacher performance—has fallen flat is notable considering the contentiousness of the debate over how to judge teacher quality, and how influential the Gates Foundation has been in shaping that realm over the last decade.
But the admission that the push for tougher teacher evaluations—including tying student test scores to teacher performance—has fallen flat is notable considering the contentiousness of the debate over how to judge teacher quality, and how influential the Gates Foundation has been in shaping that realm over the last decade.
If Bill and Melinda Gates concede that having teacher ratings based on student test scores isn't working, that would seem to leave UFT President Michael Mulgrew as the most notable figure out there waving the flag for teacher evaluations based on student test results or other assessments.
Mulgrew is not only a clown, but he is truly detrimental to the teaching profession in NYC.
ReplyDeleteIt's obvious Mulgrew is way over his head in regards to being a leader. He is NEVER at the forefront of defending what's good for his teachers, nor the students under their tutelage. He is not only a cowardly follower, he cheerleads the reformers destructive policies for them.
ReplyDeleteBy far, NYC teachers have the worst union leadership, and Unity hacks support them to the fullest.
Unbelievable.
And they keep voting to continue it. Whose fault is that?
ReplyDeleteDid they scale and change the system for low-income and minority kids writ large, at scale?'
ReplyDeleteWow , they are so concerned with the low income and minority! What a strange way to show it. The policies they established are exactly the opposite of that which would support the disadvantaged.
So the capitalist couple, Gates, see that evaluating teachers by test scores is a mistake. But Farina, whose boss is supposedly a progressive, evaluates schools (PS 42) by test scores. Way to be behind the curve!
ReplyDeleteHere we go again. And? What will change after this? Will we get a good contract now? NOPE...Same shit.
ReplyDeleteGuess what hurts low income and minority kids? Evaluating their teachers on how they, the students, perform. They will always perform poorly, which in turn will make their teachers move to a better performing area, quit, or get fired. High teacher turnover really helps these kids out since the rest of their lives are so secure and dependable.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm under 40 years old and plan to quit in June. Just not worth the torture. And for the record, a whole career of positive ratings.
ReplyDeleteGod, I hate this job now. (I'm a 23 year veteran teacher in NYC)
ReplyDeleteBillions of dollars wasted. Countless hours wasted. Tens of thousands of people whose lives were made demonstrably worse for no purpose. All for a quixotic dream for plutocrats who had a few ideas, none of them tested or validated, but who thought they could tell other people that they just didn't know as much as the Gates, the Broads and the Waltons.
ReplyDeleteAnd a shrug of the shoulders and a "my bad...."
Follow the money.
ReplyDeleteI think that, far from showing how "honest" and "contrite" the Gates' are, this is an attempt at misdirection on their part, and pure duplicity.
Aren''t they funding the same things they have been all along? Has there been a shift in their investments in education? I may have missed it, I don't think so. They're still obsesses with privatization, data as a commodity and weapon and the de-skilling/"Temp-ization" of the profession.
Until demonstrated in practice by a track record of actually humane and developmentally/pedagogical valid investments in public schools ( don't hold your breath), I'd call this a change in tactics, not strategy or ultimate aims.
And here's the thing about Bill Gates--he never learns anything. Also, every time he makes a little mistake, school systems suffer for years. He went back on small schools but NYC hasn't. He may have dropped the ball on Common Core, but its ghost is alive and well in curriculum with a new name. And he may finally admit that the junk science isn't working out the way he'd hoped, but we're still stuck with it. Finally, count on Bill Gates to come up with some even worse idea that's also completely unproven, that will work even worse. Then, expect to be stuck with it for a good decade before he admits it. He and what's her name are Beavis and Butthead with Billions.
ReplyDeleteLike Charlotte Danielson, these reformers provide lip service to the pain and worthlessness of their reforms, but, at the same time, are taking their destruction and malfeasance to the bank.
ReplyDeleteScrew them and the union leadership who allows and condones it.
Teachers could have saved the Gates their money because educators knew it was not a good system. The problem is, no one consults the educators. Onto the next system with no educator input.
ReplyDeleteBill Gates has sooooo much money. He could give everyone Windows for free and still never go broke.
ReplyDeleteDude, instead of offering failed ideas, offer resources. Provide high needs schools with tech. You'd do so much more for these kids than you would through your awful education ideas.