To Bill Gates’ credit, he periodically announces that some education reform fad boondoggle he has financed has failed empirically. For example, in the 2000s he dropped a huge amount of money on “small learning communities,” but then in 2009 came the news:
Bill Gates Admits He’s Blown $2 Billion on Ayers Brothers Small Schools Boondoggle
And now, from Education Week:
‘An Expensive Experiment’: Gates Teacher-Effectiveness Program Shows No Gains for Students
By Madeline Will
June 21, 2018The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s multi-million-dollar, multi-year effort aimed at making teachers more effective largely fell short of its goal to increase student achievement—including among low-income and minority students, a new study found.
This conclusion to an expensive chapter of teacher-evaluation reform shows the difficulty of making sweeping, lasting changes to teacher performance. The results also demonstrate the challenges of getting schools and teachers to embrace big changes, especially when state and local policies are in flux.
The evaluation of the program, released today, was conducted by the RAND Corporation …
