As Bill Gates weighs in on education, I can't help but think how clueless he is about education reform. In my book, I praise Gates for his efforts to focus on education issues, but I also point out that his efforts never seem to hit the mark. Now, Gates is discussing teacher pay. He states that the current pay structure in public education is unfair. No kidding!
You see, in a speech to the Council of Chief State School Officers in Louisville, KY, Gates says that 10% of all money paid to teachers does not result in gains to student achievement. This is because the salary scale that keeps teachers employed rather than changing jobs every year is a bad thing. Mr. Gates, do you really feel that educators have been over-compensated for their efforts?
While all the technology boom was going on in the early and mid 90's, driving around Silicon Valley, it was difficult to miss all young people in their 20's driving around in new BMW's. It was simply amazing to see such visible signs of opulence for such young people. Housing prices in the area were being pushed into the stratosphere and it would have been impossible to live in the area on a "teachers" salary. When the tech boom started to dry up and the government was faced with a stalled economy, it simultaneously created low-cost loans and a large supply of money. This government policy managed to artificially buoy the economy of the United States. During these "good times" in the economy, teachers didn't drive BMWs. We didn't make the huge salaries that executives made by creating economic Ponzi schemes. Teachers didn't get the benefit of the good economic times. Now that times are not as rosy, you think that teaching is a great profession to be in?
Let's give Gates his kudos for trying. There is an issue of constancy that Gates seems to ignore. Education will not survive on cycles of boom and bust. The school system needs continuity. The kids' needs are constant. How does Gates think he will hire these "great" teachers he seeks. There is no absolute way to screen for them. Besides, the system of education is more than individual teachers. It is an education system.
It is the system of education that needs to be improved. We need to find a way to improve the lessons that are delivered. We need better ways to match the lessons taught to student abilities. That is what needs to be done to improve the system. Teachers teach in a "system" and improving the system is the answer. All the steps in the education journey have to improve in order for the system to improve. Hoping to hire "super teachers" that will automatically excel at teaching and hoping that it will improve the education system is a bad idea.
Though one has to give Gates credit for continued effort, one would hope that he could look at the school system and understand the improvement that are needed. My book essentially says that we need to fix the school operating system. Of course, fixing operating systems have been a problem for Gates of late; perhaps he should be asking Steve Jobs for advice.
Showing posts with label Bill Gates. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Gates. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Friday, August 28, 2009
Learning online may be better,... well, maybe.
There was a recent post here that reported that on-line students (mostly in college) had performed better than students who were taught in the traditional classroom. Before anyone gets all charged up about effectiveness of on-line programs, one should recognize that the data were collected for people who were able to finish the class.
The beauty of statistics is that they give validity to the improbable and plausibility to the impossible. While there are reasons why on-line students might do better when tested than their classroom counterparts, one must also examine the population that completes a class versus one that completes an on-line class. It may be that there is a higher attrition rate for the on-line class, or perhaps the on-line learners may have higher skills than their classroom counterparts. This is not meant to negate the study that showed on-line studies to be superior, but to show that perhaps the superiority was skewed. Better information is necessary.
Then again, the on-line option might be the best way to go. There needs to be a system to analyze what works best. We're a country that loves freedom and self-initiative, but academic freedom is a bit of a crock when it comes to a classroom setting. As Bill Gates said with reference to problems with education, "It is the system." Bill was right. Unfortunately, we don't have the best system to make sure we're using what works the best. Until we have a means to find what works best with students, we might as well have Paris Hilton as the Secretary of Education. While not a role model, at least no one will take her seriously while she sells the bag of goods being sold by Arne Duncan.
The beauty of statistics is that they give validity to the improbable and plausibility to the impossible. While there are reasons why on-line students might do better when tested than their classroom counterparts, one must also examine the population that completes a class versus one that completes an on-line class. It may be that there is a higher attrition rate for the on-line class, or perhaps the on-line learners may have higher skills than their classroom counterparts. This is not meant to negate the study that showed on-line studies to be superior, but to show that perhaps the superiority was skewed. Better information is necessary.
Then again, the on-line option might be the best way to go. There needs to be a system to analyze what works best. We're a country that loves freedom and self-initiative, but academic freedom is a bit of a crock when it comes to a classroom setting. As Bill Gates said with reference to problems with education, "It is the system." Bill was right. Unfortunately, we don't have the best system to make sure we're using what works the best. Until we have a means to find what works best with students, we might as well have Paris Hilton as the Secretary of Education. While not a role model, at least no one will take her seriously while she sells the bag of goods being sold by Arne Duncan.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
The Gates Foundation - Cash for Clunkers in Education?
Over the last few days, several school districts including the Pittsburgh Public Schools (PA), Omaha (NE), and Hillsborough (FL) have been salivating over getting grant money from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve schools. They are using the good old method of incentives. They are trying out the idea of merit pay since their foray into funding charter schools didn't work as well as hoped. They are trying the idea out in charter schools in California as well. This does beg the question: Will providing merit be the answer to education's ills?
If Gates is correct on this matter, it will imply that the carrot (merit pay) will alter teacher performance and therefore, student performance. Will the promise of merit pay change the way teachers approach their jobs? In Hillsborough, they are training 200 "master teachers" to give evaluations to their peers and a person's pay could be determined by the evaluation. Thirty percent of a teacher's evaluation will be done by the master teacher and principal evaluation and test scores will apparently be figured into the equation. A novel idea will allow teachers to "jump up" in the salary schedule based on the outcomes of the evaluation and student performances. People can jump up on the salary schedule and earn a lot more money. I wonder if this change in status is permanent or year-to-year? In any case, it allows teachers to make more money.
The thing that makes this interesting is that success will mean that teachers were "dogging it." This program, apparently, is based purely on market incentives. There is some element of the Hawthorne effect in play here, so test scores might be increased due higher levels of attention and appreciation for what teachers do (by the evaluators), but over the course of a year, such effects shouldn't be that great. If nothing else changes (lessons, curriculum, books, facilities), the factor measured will be the incentive offered to teachers. If successful, what this study would imply is that teachers could do more, but are not. If paid better, they would try harder to teach the students.
The implications are that the free market will change education. The Gates Foundation has tried to demonstrate the power of free market forces in charter schools, and having (at best) mixed results there, has elected to try anther free market idea - cash incentives. This is an effort to get teachers to somehow teach harder. Somehow, the quest for gold will change how the teacher approaches his or her job, and they will be better teachers. In some ways, this is like the Cash for Clunkers program that allows people to trade in their old cars to stimulate the economy and clean the air. Here, The Gates Foundation is giving the money and keeping the same teachers. If Gates has it right, then the teachers could have done a better job teaching the students, but didn't due to the lack of a financial incentive. Most taxpayers and parents will not like the idea that teachers were mailing in their effort if scores increase a great deal.
Dr. Edward Deming was a management guru who said that people who worked in a well managed system did a good job. It isn't about the money, but the system. The Gates Foundation is giving the idea of cash incentives a try. The government enacted "Cash for Clunkers" to stimulate auto spending and reduce pollution. The incentives of the program were clear; a clear exchange. The stimulous programs offered to teachers imply that teachers are not doing their best. It is amazing that Bill Gates, who said the problem with public education is "the system" seems totally clueless about how to approach the problem.
If Gates is correct on this matter, it will imply that the carrot (merit pay) will alter teacher performance and therefore, student performance. Will the promise of merit pay change the way teachers approach their jobs? In Hillsborough, they are training 200 "master teachers" to give evaluations to their peers and a person's pay could be determined by the evaluation. Thirty percent of a teacher's evaluation will be done by the master teacher and principal evaluation and test scores will apparently be figured into the equation. A novel idea will allow teachers to "jump up" in the salary schedule based on the outcomes of the evaluation and student performances. People can jump up on the salary schedule and earn a lot more money. I wonder if this change in status is permanent or year-to-year? In any case, it allows teachers to make more money.
The thing that makes this interesting is that success will mean that teachers were "dogging it." This program, apparently, is based purely on market incentives. There is some element of the Hawthorne effect in play here, so test scores might be increased due higher levels of attention and appreciation for what teachers do (by the evaluators), but over the course of a year, such effects shouldn't be that great. If nothing else changes (lessons, curriculum, books, facilities), the factor measured will be the incentive offered to teachers. If successful, what this study would imply is that teachers could do more, but are not. If paid better, they would try harder to teach the students.
The implications are that the free market will change education. The Gates Foundation has tried to demonstrate the power of free market forces in charter schools, and having (at best) mixed results there, has elected to try anther free market idea - cash incentives. This is an effort to get teachers to somehow teach harder. Somehow, the quest for gold will change how the teacher approaches his or her job, and they will be better teachers. In some ways, this is like the Cash for Clunkers program that allows people to trade in their old cars to stimulate the economy and clean the air. Here, The Gates Foundation is giving the money and keeping the same teachers. If Gates has it right, then the teachers could have done a better job teaching the students, but didn't due to the lack of a financial incentive. Most taxpayers and parents will not like the idea that teachers were mailing in their effort if scores increase a great deal.
Dr. Edward Deming was a management guru who said that people who worked in a well managed system did a good job. It isn't about the money, but the system. The Gates Foundation is giving the idea of cash incentives a try. The government enacted "Cash for Clunkers" to stimulate auto spending and reduce pollution. The incentives of the program were clear; a clear exchange. The stimulous programs offered to teachers imply that teachers are not doing their best. It is amazing that Bill Gates, who said the problem with public education is "the system" seems totally clueless about how to approach the problem.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
We're all in this together...
When Bill Gates decided to put the power of a computer in everyone's hands, I wonder if he had any idea how consuming the technology would be to future generations of kids. Due to the computer, kids growing up today have more information available to them than at any time in history. However, if one looks at the top search terms over the last seven days, the terms are Facebook, Lyrics, Youtube, Yahoo, and MySpace ("you" and "my" were also terms for those struggling to spell Youtube or MySpace). With the exception of the term "lyrics," the rest of the terms are all directly related to computer related activities.
As the 2009-10 school year gets under way, in some ways the computer has not merely become a tool, but also a crutch for people. People use the computer for many things and are instantly updated on the trivia of the world. That is perhaps the problem with computers from an education perspective. Students want information instantly, and trudging though the process of learning isn't compatible to the computer generation. Some things take a lot of time to learn, and people have to develop skills that allow them to do more than put search terms into a computer.
Learning the basic skills such as writing, math, and application of information to the world (science) is tough. However, it is also rewarding.
American students are learning to be Twittered, Iphoned, and Facebooked so that they don't think about the future or even the present. They are thinking about looking at their electronic device in case they "miss" something. A friend asking "What's up," or that would be too taxing on time, so they would use abbreviations. It isn't just the high school group, it happens on colleges as well. As most older people know, one of the great things about going to college is having a group of people your own age, at the prime of life, who you can meet. Walking through the local university last year, I was amazed to see a class let out and a hundred kids streamed out. None of them were talking to each other, they had all whipped out their cell phones so they could discuss how boring their class or to find out if they'd missed anything in the previous hour.
There they were, all streaming out of class, ignoring the opportunity to get to know each other face-to-face. It was an appalling site. We used to think of people that behaved in that way as geeks, but I guess we're all becoming geeks in a way. The geeks I used to know were in their own world and their own thoughts. The technology geek now is consumed by thoughts of what might have happened in the last minute, and seems to have little thought of the future.
I don't know what the future holds for this country. Each generation looks at the kids that follow them and wonder if the world will continue; it does. However, it seems that as technology permeates the landscape, and instant gratification is measured in minutes and seconds, something has been lost. Obviously, we've all gained from the advantage of the computer, but perhaps there are some virtues that are lost. Life doesn't always entertain us, and sometimes we have to face problems that the internet won't solve. That's one of the lessons we should put into the school's curriculum. It might even be possible to program the lesson on a computer!
As the 2009-10 school year gets under way, in some ways the computer has not merely become a tool, but also a crutch for people. People use the computer for many things and are instantly updated on the trivia of the world. That is perhaps the problem with computers from an education perspective. Students want information instantly, and trudging though the process of learning isn't compatible to the computer generation. Some things take a lot of time to learn, and people have to develop skills that allow them to do more than put search terms into a computer.
Learning the basic skills such as writing, math, and application of information to the world (science) is tough. However, it is also rewarding.
American students are learning to be Twittered, Iphoned, and Facebooked so that they don't think about the future or even the present. They are thinking about looking at their electronic device in case they "miss" something. A friend asking "What's up," or that would be too taxing on time, so they would use abbreviations. It isn't just the high school group, it happens on colleges as well. As most older people know, one of the great things about going to college is having a group of people your own age, at the prime of life, who you can meet. Walking through the local university last year, I was amazed to see a class let out and a hundred kids streamed out. None of them were talking to each other, they had all whipped out their cell phones so they could discuss how boring their class or to find out if they'd missed anything in the previous hour.
There they were, all streaming out of class, ignoring the opportunity to get to know each other face-to-face. It was an appalling site. We used to think of people that behaved in that way as geeks, but I guess we're all becoming geeks in a way. The geeks I used to know were in their own world and their own thoughts. The technology geek now is consumed by thoughts of what might have happened in the last minute, and seems to have little thought of the future.
I don't know what the future holds for this country. Each generation looks at the kids that follow them and wonder if the world will continue; it does. However, it seems that as technology permeates the landscape, and instant gratification is measured in minutes and seconds, something has been lost. Obviously, we've all gained from the advantage of the computer, but perhaps there are some virtues that are lost. Life doesn't always entertain us, and sometimes we have to face problems that the internet won't solve. That's one of the lessons we should put into the school's curriculum. It might even be possible to program the lesson on a computer!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Facebook and the Tour de France
While in India, Bill Gates told an audience he'd given up on Facebook due to too many friends. If ever there was an advertisement for the value of education, there it is. Everyone wants to be Bill Gates' friend. He also said the "text messaging" wasn't his style either.
Bill Gates knows the value of education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has taken on many challenges; one of them is the state of American education. The Gates Foundation has had mixed success, but one thing they're doing is trying new ideas. They have thrown some money into the education arena and found that success can mixed and unpredictable.
This week President Obama came out with a plan to spend about $4 bn on American education. The problem is that the ideas being paraded about seem very similar to those of the previous administration. Yet, it is sort of like the opening day at the Tour de France race. Everyone's excited when the race starts. Where will the Obama education "plan" be when the race gets to the tougher stages; that is the question that needs to be answered. Right now, with money to wave around, both Bill Gates and Obama have lots of friends.
What we need are leaders.
Bill Gates knows the value of education. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has taken on many challenges; one of them is the state of American education. The Gates Foundation has had mixed success, but one thing they're doing is trying new ideas. They have thrown some money into the education arena and found that success can mixed and unpredictable.
This week President Obama came out with a plan to spend about $4 bn on American education. The problem is that the ideas being paraded about seem very similar to those of the previous administration. Yet, it is sort of like the opening day at the Tour de France race. Everyone's excited when the race starts. Where will the Obama education "plan" be when the race gets to the tougher stages; that is the question that needs to be answered. Right now, with money to wave around, both Bill Gates and Obama have lots of friends.
What we need are leaders.
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