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Gates Learns to Think Big

After a massive investment in small high schools, the foundation is seeking to broaden and deepen its reach.

Coverage of new schooling arrangements and classroom improvement efforts is supported by a grant from the Annenberg Foundation.

When it comes to reshaping the American high school, few names, if any, come to mind more immediately these days than that of Bill Gates.

The philanthropy that the Microsoft Corp. software magnate co-chairs with his wife, Melinda, has put the issue on the national agenda like never before, with a commitment of more than $1.3 billion this decade toward the foundation’s agenda for improving high schools. Mr. Gates bluntly declared the American high school “obsolete” in a high-profile speech to the nation’s governors last year, and took that message to a nationwide television audience last spring on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

But it’s not simply a matter of money and fame. Increasingly, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has become strategic about expanding its reach. It now touches on virtually all the key levers in K-12 education, from schools and districts to states and even the federal government. And the foundation is underwriting research and backing groups deeply involved in...