Gates Foundation

Federal Opinion Is a High Stakes Moratorium Worth Embracing?
As a thought experiment, what would it look like if the Gates Foundation truly was attending to the research and evidence that is showing how damaging the new Common Core tests and high stakes accountability systems are?
Anthony Cody, June 21, 2014
•
6 min read
Standards & Accountability Opinion John Thompson: Time for a Truce in the Battle Over Education?
I believe we must fight competition-driven, test-driven reform with all our power, but we must also be willing to offer and/or accept an olive branch.
Anthony Cody, June 20, 2014
•
7 min read
Ed-Tech Policy Opinion From Common Core, to Vergara, to VAM, Gates Foundation Fingerprints Everywhere
Someone in the mainstream media finally asked Bill Gates straight out what his role was regarding Common Core. What a concept!
Anthony Cody, June 11, 2014
•
6 min read
Federal Gates Foundation: Teachers, Students Should Get Two-Year Accountability Pause
"A rushed effort to apply the assessments could punish teachers as they're trying new things," a Gates Foundation official wrote in announcing the group's new stance.
Andrew Ujifusa, June 10, 2014
•
5 min read
Standards & Accountability Gates Foundation: Wait Two Years Before Attaching Consequences to Common Core
A top official from the biggest common-core funder in the country says districts and schools should wait before basing teacher evaluations and student promotion decisions on tests based on the new standards.
Andrew Ujifusa, June 10, 2014
•
5 min read
Standards & Accountability Gates Foundation Backs Two-Year Accountability Delay Under Common Core
In a June 10 letter, a senior Gates Foundation official says the philanthropy supports a two-year moratorium on using assessments aligned with the common core to evaluate teachers or promote students.
Andrew Ujifusa, June 10, 2014
•
8 min read
Ed-Tech Policy Opinion John Thompson: Corporate Reformers' "Race to the Moon" Low on Fuel
It is up to the Gates Foundation to decide whether it defends its quest for a better bottle rocket to drive school reform, or to heed the research of independent scholars.
Anthony Cody, June 5, 2014
•
6 min read
Budget & Finance Opinion Book Review: Mercedes Schneider's "A Chronicle of Echoes" Offers Tools for Defense Against Corporate Reform
Fans of Harry Potter will recall the most valuable class at Hogwarts: "Defense Against the Dark Arts." With her new book, "A Chronicle of Echoes," Mercedes Schneider has provided those of us working to defend public education with a work that could be called "Defense Against Corporate Reform."
Anthony Cody, June 2, 2014
•
3 min read
Teacher Preparation Opinion How Will Market Forces Transform Teacher Preparation?
We need the process of becoming a teacher to be well-designed and structured, so credential candidates participate in solid courses focused on pedagogy and human development, as well as other aspects of teaching.
Anthony Cody, May 29, 2014
•
7 min read
School & District Management Opinion Devastating Report Condemns Corporate Reform as Civil Rights Fraud
As the 60th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education arrives, a report has been released by the Journey 4 Justice Alliance, a coalition of community, youth and parent-led organizations, which declares corporate education reform a civil rights fraud.
Anthony Cody, May 16, 2014
•
3 min read
Education Funding Opinion John Thompson: Can the Gates Foundation Learn?
Reformers once won a series of political victories, even as their educational theories were repeatedly defeated by realities in schools that are far more complex than anything they imagined.
Anthony Cody, May 5, 2014
•
5 min read
States Opinion What Will It Take to Educate the Gates Foundation?
Bill Gates has made it clear that this was an experiment from the start. What he did not seem to allow for in his scenario was the possibility that his experiment would not succeed.
Anthony Cody, April 24, 2014
•
7 min read
Reading & Literacy Opinion The Classroom of the Future: Student-Centered or Device-Centered?
A basic question is emerging as our schools are urged to embrace the Common Core and the computer-based learning systems aligned to the standards. Are these digital devices becoming central to the classroom -- and coming to dominate the way we teach and learn?
Anthony Cody, April 6, 2014
•
5 min read
Federal Opinion John Thompson: Legal Woes Growing for VAM-Based Teacher Evaluations
Since teachers must basically prove that value-added terminations are based on an irrational use of the model, it is no surprise that the first suits include cases where teachers are held accountable for the test score growth of students who they did not have in class.
Anthony Cody, March 30, 2014
•
7 min read
Load More ▼