Gates: Not Much To Show For $5B Spent On Education 496
theodp writes "Since 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has poured some $5 billion into education grants and scholarships. Ten years into his record-breaking philanthropic push for school reform, the WSJ reports that Bill Gates is sober about the investment and willing to admit some missteps. 'I applaud people for coming into this space,' said Gates, 'but unfortunately it hasn't led to significant improvements.' This understanding of just how little influence seemingly large donations can have has led the foundation to rethink its focus in recent years. Instead of trying to buy systemic reform with school-level investments, a new goal is to leverage private money in a way that redirects how public education dollars are spent. Despite the good intentions, some are expressing concerns about how billionaires and the Gates Foundation rule our schools, including the lack of transparency and spotty track record of the wealthy would-be reformers. Perhaps Gates should consider funding a skunkworks educational project for retired Microsoft CTO Ray Ozzie, who was working on networked, self-paced computer assisted instruction in 1974 — 36 years before Bill and Google discovered Khan Academy!"
WSJ Fights back against the middle and lower class (Score:-1, Insightful)
What, no one size fits all solution? (Score:5, Insightful)
If I learned anything from my teacher wife*, it's that there are dozens of ways that children (and adults) learn, and you have to tailor the learning experience for each of them.
Some children may do very well with things like the Khan Academy. Others will not.
Anyone who tries to shoehorn all children into the same learning solution is likely to leave a large percentage of them behind.
* and my own experience in contrast to my brother, and my own two childrens' very different learning experiences in public schools.
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Throwing money at the wrong thing will never fix a problem.
You can spend all the money you want on your plumbing, if you gaskets are salvaged from a junk yard, and can't make solid seals, you are going to have leaks.
The problem with the modern education system is parental apathy. Observe the better school districts, you'll have more parents that care, but not necessarily better teachers or equipment (though usually at least better equipment). Now, look within a school district, and compare students who do well, vs. those who do poorly (excluding those with learning disabilities), the better students, in general will have parents who have more concern with their kids education, and play a more active role.
Parental education is a better place to start with reform. Getting them to care about their kids future, and teaching them that their kids have more than just McDonalds and WalMart in their employment future is what is needed.
not surprising. (Score:5, Insightful)
I did a Master of Arts in Teaching in the early 90's. What I think I learned from my History of Eduction Reforms was this: 1) kids will learn given half a chance, 2) most (if not all) education reforms have had AT BEST marginal impacts, 3) so you can do something good or screw up and it doesn't matter all that much. Education and the drive to become educated starts at home.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Self-paced computer assisted instruction - yeah! (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:$5B spent on education "reform" (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems like the vast majority of people think that education and job training are the same thing or at least should be the same thing. My opinion has been that this is actually the root of the problem. If this actually is true then making schools "accountable" actually makes the problem worse.
I know talking with those older than me that companies didn't used to expect people to know everything before they could be hired. Now companies don't want to hire except when the person is perfect. It's not only education that has changed.
Re:What, no one size fits all solution? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
What you have to understand is that large areas of American cities are not part of the civilized world.
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
I"d argue that's a correlation and not a cause.
People who have money will tend to value knowledge, because it's how they got the money. They'll tend to pass it on to their kids, and even if they don't agree with the education system as it is, they will encourage their kids to learn, which will help them in school.
It's not the money, it's what got the money, that helped those kids.
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:$5B spent on education "reform" (Score:5, Insightful)
Now companies don't want to hire except when the person is perfect.
That's a symptom of oversupply of labor, not a structural change. With unemployment so high, if I'm looking to hire someone, why would I hire someone who needs training if I there are 10 people in a line with high experience who are competing for the same job? When demand outstrips supply, you'll see this trend reverse, as it did during the dot-com boom of the 90s, where any fool was being hired as a "web developer".
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
Unions are not necessary for filling the ranks of teachers; there are numerous professions without any unionization that have no trouble being filled.
Furthermore, while parental apathy is certainly a problem, parental antipathy is far worse! Nowadays, many of the "involved" parents are actually doing more harm than if they did nothing at all.
"My little Johnny is just being creative when he breaks all the crayons and throws them at other students."
"My little Susie is a genius and is not being challenged enough, that's why she fails all her tests and doesn't do her homework."
Or my favorite: "My children are your responsibility while they're at school" shortly thereafter followed by "You can't discipline my children, you're not their parent."
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:4, Insightful)
I'd agree with the other reply, it's probably the biggest factor, although I'd put classroom size as #2.
I've been between multiple school districts, and it seems the more parents cared, the better the district, regardless of all other factors.
Yeah, it's anecdotal, but it's rather hard for a teacher to convince a student an education is important, when his/her parents have convinced him/her that the maximum that can be achieved is working at McDonalds, dealing drugs, or collecting welfare/disability checks, and that school is just a government funded daycare.
And? (Score:2, Insightful)
The second district had parents who cared. They wanted their kids to be successful like they were. The teachers however, were there for a 8 to 4 job, and didn't give a damn if the students learned or not.
And?
Where is the rest of the story/comparison with the first district?
Did the kids in the second district get better education/better grades?
Or did they win the basketball game with the help of a crazy inventor/a teenage werewolf?
You can't just leave us hanging there.
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
There is definitely a cultural aspect to this problem. Consider the 2011 Intel STS, for example: 60% of the finalists were children whose parents entered on an H-1B visa, even though former and present H-1B holders make up less than 1% of the US population (source [nfap.com].) These children are American citizens, and educated in American schools, but for some reason being born to non-American parents gives them a significant advantage in STEM subjects even when controlling for their parents' education and socioeconomic status.
Formula for success (Score:4, Insightful)
The problem with the United States is that people are deluded by the belief that throwing money at a problem will fix it. The thing is that the US already spends way more per student than any other developed nation. Teachers and school administrators are certainly part of the equation, but the true source of the problem are the parents and popular culture. American culture glorifies the celebrity and the athlete. It creates the expectation that a person can get rich overnight and that everyone will be fabulously wealthy. When isn't there some celebrity dipshit on television flaunting their wealth? There's no idolization of the hard working individual, of the person who studies hard in school. American parents care more about having a child who is popular than they are having one who's studious. The mindset that is endlessly perpetuated is that you should do something you love, because it's fun.
Look at Asian kids going through the same exact school system. They consistently excel. Not because they're innately smarter than anyone else. Live in Asia any length of time and you'll be cured of that misconception. Asians excel because from birth their parents are pushing them to work hard and do well in school. As a friend explained to me, your average American parent is happy with a child getting B's in school whereas an Asian parent will tolerate nothing less than straight A's. So from the start a child is learning that good enough is all they need to do to satisfy people.
Every single thing they do is aimed at ensuring their kids not only do well but can get into a good university. This means everything from no computers or televisions in the bedroom to no socializing during the school year. And the parents are always aware of what their kids are doing. Too many American parents are too concerned with giving their kids freedom, with being their buddies.
And this has nothing to do with the academic system in Asia because most of these Asians kids were born in the States and are growing up here. For a while I considered moving back to Asia and for a variety of reasons stayed here. One of those reasons was the school system here versus in Asia. The thing with the American system is that it's problems can be easily countered with parental involvement. In Asia, on the other hand, there is little that can be done to address the problems there. Asian schools still suffer the problem of focusing on rote memorization, parroting the teacher, and a fixation on taking tests. Study schools are still huge there. After school kids go to these cram schools in the evening with the purpose of studying to pass tests more effectively. School there is a lot more oppressive. I suppose the upside to all that is that at least they're still very focused on academics.
And of course, the final piece here is that when Asians choose careers they consistently choose those which will ensure the greatest success. They're much less likely to choose a career that merely feels good. So this means that they get into finance, technology or healthcare. But even those who don't go that route, when they've had such a strong work ethic instilled in them ultimately find another path to success, even if they've started off in construction. Where your average individual will remain stuck working for someone else indefinitely, they'll find a way to grow to the point that they've got their own thriving business, as is the case with a good friend of mine. And the funny thing is that I've known Asians who've been fully Americanized, and they pretty much end up in the same situation as the average American; they've lost the formula for success.
The thing here is that these techniques are especially important for a child growing up in lower to middle-class environments. These are the kids who are less likely to be exposed to successful role models. A kid growing up in an upper-class neighborhood has little to worry about. The success of everyone around them will rub off on them, and if it doesn't, well, they're connected enough that they wi
Re:Goes to prove the point . . . (Score:5, Insightful)
Money might be a good start. Even in schools where this $5 Billion reaches, they still expect to pay teachers poverty wages.
The social contract was you pay them poverty wages at age 22 right outta college then every year they get inflation adjusted PLUS 5% more. So rather suddenly they find themselves middle class, and by the time the gray hair arrives, they're doing pretty darn well.
This is completely different from the private industry model, where you hire at 22, pay pretty good wages, fire at 35 due to ageism, and after that they ... I donno what we/they do.
The problem is we're having a second great depression, and the hiring has stopped, and the laying off has begun. So they no longer hire at 22, they hire at, say, 35. Not so easy to get 40 years in if you're not hired for your real job until 35. So the social contract has gone from "you'll start out young and poor, and retire rich" to "you'll work as a day care worker and/or bartender until middle aged, then be dirt poor, and maybe with luck retire as almost middle class".
The other problem is the union busting government wants to change the social contract to the private industry model, yet not modify salaries to match. So they wanna hire them at 22, tell them they'll get 5% wages until they retire, then fire them at 35 once they get too expensive relative to a new grad who will hear the same old lie about starting out in poverty but you'll get 5% raises until you retire (forgetting to mention they'll be forcibly retired at 35 now instead of 65)
The only solution is to let it completely blow up and self destruct, then start over with something new.
Re:$5B spent on education "reform" (Score:3, Insightful)
Do not forget that if Kahn Academy is a watershed for education that it will be attacked by the entrenched powers that need education to stay "as is".
I think that Kahn Academy is great for education. I do not think though that it will be able to stand against big money union propaganda and government hatred on the Local, State and Federal levels that will surely come down upon it.
Re:$5B spent on education "reform" (Score:4, Insightful)
The basic fact is the public education system, as it's currently constituted, is beyond reform. I don't know if Gates has come to that realization yet although he seems to be headed in that direction with his enthusiasm for Khan Academy and the change of focus to the politics of public education. There seems to be a gradually building national consensus in favor of the view that the public education system is beyond redemption which is what's propelled charter school law adoption in forty states and, more recently, a burst of legislation to enact vouchers, tax credits, trim tenure and increase accountability. All those are the sorts of substantive changes that erode the foundation of the monopoly the public education system enjoys and as the catastrophes predicted by the supporters of the status quo fail to emerge they'll be the encouragement for more such law.
While much is broke about our educational system, charter schools, as currently operated, will do little to fix the structural problems. Rather, they will respond to market pressures in way start maximize their profit, which does not necessarily equate to improving the educational system.
For example, charter schools do not want to operate on the basis of providing an appropriate education to everyone within their district - they want to be free to pick and chose who can attend - essentially cherry picking the most capable / least problematic students. What happens to the others? Who now pays for the kid that needs a para-pro for feeding during the school year?Who tells the school they have to accept someone and allow them to attend unit the are 21? More to the point - what happens to those the charter school doesn't accept?
We really don't value teachers. We expect them to deal with all sorts of social and behavioral issues with students *and* the students to *achieve* and then blame the teachers when that happens. Is it any wonder teachers leave as soon as they can? Or that, in areas where their skills are more marketable working for a private company - they bolt at the first chance they get? Try hiring a math or science teacher in a lot of districts - and see how many people you get when they can make 2x in a private company and not have to deal with a bunch of students and parents every day. Sure, there are bad teachers - but there are plenty more who care about the kids and do whatever they can to help; but at some point they have to decide if it is really worth it.
Accountability is great - many teachers would love real accountability - but what they get instead is parents who say "What are you going to do about my kid who is failing math? It's not *his* or *her* fault she skips school, never turns in assignments, and is drugged out when they are here." i've even had college professors tell me they get kids who call Mommy and Daddy during a meeting because *they* aren't getting an A and what Mommy and Daddy to tell the prof to give them an A. Until we realize teachers are one small part of the solution it isn't going to get fixed.
I'd say - make the charter school splay by the same rules - take all comers, make all legally required accommodations (and get sued when a parent doesn't like what you did" and let them charge no more than what the voucher is worth - and reduce their payment based on scores. Let them take over an entire district - and see who long they last on vouchers and a population that can vote on how much to give them and vote themselves out of paying if they want.
Until the fundamental issues are fixed, all we are doing is creating a few pockets of success that rally have no relevance to the overall solution. Of course, it's easier to point to the system and say it's broke than it is to really try to fix it; which is why most politicians simply pick a favorite solution an push it.
Re:What, no one size fits all solution? (Score:4, Insightful)
Who is qualified to make that judgement? I say stop being a dick and let the children define their own lives.
I think you'll find that people excel in fields that they like, and fail in those that they don't. One problem I see with today's educational system is the idea that we should educate people in fields that have the greatest chance for employment instead of what is in the best interest of the child. This lead to the decline of the "fundamentals" (ie Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic) in exchange for "technologies" (ie computer science, trade skills).
If we actually taught the fundamental subjects in a way that didn't require it being reviewed at almost every grade level, we could actually have an educational system worth bragging about. Not to mention, we would have more time to really teach the advance topics instead of pretending.