Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, July 31, 2011

An Urban Teacher's Education: Bill Gates Knows Best

An Urban Teacher's Education: Bill Gates Knows Best

Bill Gates Knows Best

According to the Huffington Post, Bill Gates told the National Urban League in Boston on Thursday that there is a myth out there that says poverty must be eliminated before education can be reformed.

I don't know about you, but not once in my career have I ever heard anyone claim that poverty must be eliminated before education can be reformed. I would love to know who told Bill Gates that.

My guess, however, would be that he's never heard anyone say it either.

Instead, I suspect Gates is using this talking point as a means of attacking anti-corporate reform advocates for attempting to explain the devastating effects of poverty on student achievement, and particularly on standardized test scores, which are being inappropriately used to judge the quality of teaching in learning public schools