Bill Gates gives TED talk
I am not certain I regard Bill Gates as an expert in any area other than the business of technology. His philanthropic efforts warrant great respect.
In this talk he does present his views on education (toward the middle) – How do you make a teacher great? Claims there are effective teaches in a narrow set of places (20%). Teacher prep is weak and is getting weaker. Having great teachers is the key and the variability in teacher quality is immense (unclear this is how measured).
Characteristics of these teachers – not necessarily senior teachers (quality increases for only 3 years), MA/MS does not matter. Says we have done little to study the characteristics of effective teachers (don’t agree). Pushes KIPP. Big on test scores.
Use digital video to identify effective strategies (this was a big push in PT3 – hardly a new idea, but PT3 is gone). I wonder if Northern Iowa still offers these resources.
Bill Gates has also taken to writing an annual letter outlining some of his initiatives. Here is the portion of this letter dealing with education.