Bill Gates lectured the Nationally Board Certified Teachers on Friday about the joys of Common Core and why standardization unlocks creativity. Not being a NBCT, I was not there to hear him, but this teacher was there.
She writes:
“As a high school English teacher, one of the first things I taught my 11th grade students was to know their audience when speaking and writing; knowing about the expertise, hopes, fears, vision, etc. of the audience is essential for getting one’s message across and engaging in dialogue that can foster learning and evoke meaningful change.
“As an NBCT who came to the Teaching and Learning Conference to engage in meaningful dialogue to evoke change in the teaching profession, I was insulted to see that Bill Gates did not seem to “know” the expertise represented in the audience.
“I didn’t need to hear a history of, or plug for, Common Core standards. I know them backwards and forwards. The standards are actually pretty good – the demoralizing high-stakes strings attached, and the reason they came to be, not so much.
“I didn’t need to hear more about the miracles of the Khan Academy. I saw the TEACH film during the pre-conference where it was plugged plenty. I get it: technology is a useful teaching tool. Duh.
“I didn’t need to hear more about what a flipped classroom was. That’s called Tuesday in room 741.
“What I *needed* was a flipped-conference in which NBCTs could broadcast *their* expertise out to people like Bill Gates.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I too am an NBCT, 2012, Early Childhood Education and I continue to wonder why Education policy makers never seem to solicit our advice on much of anything to do with our specialty, Education of children.
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Megan, follow the money and it will be obvious
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And that is the point! Bill Gates is using his $$ like the Kochroaches use theirs: to sell an idea, ideology that they believe in. Gates is not listening, he is not trying to improve by listening to professionals. He is not hearing the message, that common core which teaches to the test is not much better than NCLB and that it stifles creaivity in the classroom. Teachers inspire, admonish, encourage and promote learning every hour of every day to classrooms full of kids eager to learn. They needs tools to deliver the product of competence, confidence, creativity and imagination. Too bad GATES is so full of himself. His kids go to private schools with no computers, so they will learn to think.
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He doesn’t listen because he thinks he is superior to you.
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What I *needed* was a flipped-conference in which NBCTs could broadcast *their* expertise out to people like Bill Gates.”
Amen.
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The reason these “conferences” are structured this way is because it is no longer an opportunity to dialogue and collaborate, but instead an opportunity to forward an agenda.
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I have commented several times to say that I honestly believe that Gates has Asperger’s syndrome. I do not believe he has the kind of empathy capability that is necessary to teach children. He seems to be able to deliver his ideas much like Sheldon on The “Big Bang” comedy program.
It isn’t that he is a bad guy. He is “driven” in a different way than most of us are driven, especially those who have been drawn to teaching because we want to assist all learners. He is of an age when diagnosis was at a different level than it is today as to the autism spectrum.
What he believes and controls is “correct” and he doesn’t seem to understand many teachers, particularly teachers of k-4. The designers of CCSS don’t get that piece either.
They seem to be data and technology driven. Sure, that made him wealthy. So what? Do we all wish to be like Bill Gates? No. Should we? No. But money drives this big “reform” movement”. And with our economy in shambles so many are jumping on the wagon because choices are otherwise limited.
So I not saying to cut him any slack. I saying that we need to understand what drives him to this behavior.
Over the years I have taught many students k-9. I have seen many conditions, anomalies, behaviors, and diagnosed or not, dealt with individual kids. I see these ECOT ads on tv in Ohio and parents who talk about this healing education some receive from it. Some. It: s a tool, not a replacement.
Not every kid or adult is able to or wants to focus intently on computers or video games or programming, just as not every kd wants to focus on a sport or art or music, or even on math or science, or fiction and drama, or informational texts and he story. We are all different.
I have read that Asperger’s is sometimes referred to as extreme “maleness”..not with regards to testosterone but with regards to demands, control, order, structure, data, proof, statistics, and constant efficiency…on THEIR OWN terms.
I see this “takeover” of education as a way to take out the nurturing, understanding, humane, kind, caring, maternal or female approaches to teaching, call out the profession as a failure, and replace it with a paternal, money driven, for-profit venture based on (faulty) data. Then they use that data to bash those that don’t fall in line. They simply aren’t able to see it any other way.
Just my opinion.
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It’s not that he is afflicted with Asperger as it is he and all of the other billionaires are afflicted with AFFLUENZA. They are totally arrogant with an entitlement mentality that they are superior to the rest of us and feel they can tell us what to do and how to do it.
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Brilliant thank you for saying this!
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I’ve been an NBCT since 2008.
I refused to even consider attending this conference due to the speakers chosen. It was clear to me from the advertising that it was all about capitulating to the commands of the reformers and the nonsense they are peddling, like the Danielson rubric and CCSS, and not in any way a forum for discussing good teaching or offering opportunities for actual accomplished, experienced teachers to publicly showcase their expertise.
Looks like I was right.
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@Chris in Florida.. yes you are right that is pretty much what it was about – corporate “ed reform” nonsense peddling. I went as it was not complicated for me to get there and it was offered free. I think it is important (no matter how anger-inspiring) to keep eyes WIDE OPEN about corporate “ed reform” and to learn as much as possible about it and to stand up to it. One example… Charlotte Danielson read from a pre prepared power point (rather ironic considering the nature of the conference) and would add an occasional joke. But one NYC teacher challenged her willingness to promote her way as “the way” when so many school systems are using her system to numerically rank and rate teachers. The teacher also noted that this becomes a basis for bad evaluations in NYC. When asked her thoughts, Danielson meekly said, “I don’t agree and never intended my system to involved ranking teachers”. Well, she certainly can tour the country and world promoting her system but is not at all vocally protesting how school districts are abusively using her ideas!
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Danielson was funded by and is a creation of Gates. Enough said. Glad you went to witness the horrors.
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One thing that all the charter boosters and the Bill Gates of the world do not seem to do at all well is listen. Yes, there may be research, but in a classroom the stories are everything. Here are a few: http://maestraG.blogspot.com
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Great minds thinking alike (and including Arne Duncan’s remarks in the mix):
http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teacher_in_a_strange_land/2014/03/arne_duncan_instructional_shifts_and_the_bad_old_days.html
Particularly sad to see NBPTS getting on the corporate reform train. When I read about the size and purpose of the Gates grants they’re getting, it all made sense.
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When I worked on Wall St in the late 80’s I saw Gates speak at a MSFT analyst mtg and he exhibited many ASD stim behaviors – like rocking when he spoke and lack of eye contact. He’s improved those things now. I later married and had a son, who was diagnosed with Asperger’s. I had the great fortune to attend several lectures by the wonderful Asperger’s expert, Dr. Tony Attwood, and he often referred to Gates as an “undiagnosed Aspie”. I see this in his attitude that his vision for the world is THE vision, and the inability to accept that other viewpoints have validity – despite the fact that they are backed up by research, data and logic, which are the very things upon which he claims he is basing his vision.
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Yes. And my cell moments were not made out of disrespect. They view the world differently. That is fine…for them…as it should be for all of us. I don’t find him to be capable if real eye contact.
I have had students that have become successful in my class because 1) I let them be themselves but 2) made them look me in the eye when they, talked and 3) refused to let them hover with no recognition of their or my personal space. This is learned gradually, but it did make a difference in their social skills and ability to participate in class.
I don’t believe Bill Gates was given this opportunity to actually connect with a nurturing teacher. No student except kids with a computer fixation will succeed if schools are converted into tech modules with proctors. Gates can’t accept what he can’t accept. Many of his peers are the same.
Again. Just my opinion. (My research is my own experience.)
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Comments not cell moments. Argh. Android.
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The trouble with that is this isn’t limited to Gates–this is virtually everybody in the billionaire and near-billionaire class who is trying to affect policy. Labeling him an aspie doesn’t cut it with me–it lets him off the hook when in fact there are many others who are also involved in “reform.” He’s just the most visible, but he’s no less evil than the rest of the bunch regardless of how screwed up in the head he may be.
This is all about the arrogance of the parasitical financial elites who have literally bought our government.
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Oh he has a condition. It isn’t letting m off the hook. And no he isn’t alone. Michelle Rhee. Others. Myopic. Driven. Into self. One way. They do not behave like we typically expect others to behave.
While there may be some validity to what you said, it serves no purpose to call him “evil” or other names. That stops discourse, drains people because of the energy required to be angry at him, and solves nothing.
Like some have noted, there are those who seem to focus on esoterica and having their own way all the time. They have issues that need to be dealt with. And Gates needs to realize that it isn’t “throwing good money after bad” to fund PUBLIC schools. He shouldn’t get to be the “king”. Still, he has problems that no one else should want to emulate. JMO
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I am a NBCT, 2002, who has nothing but great respect for Bill and Melinda Gates. I appreciate that while they could be they could be leaving a huge carbon footprint by jetsetting around the world partying, they are instead trying to make the world a better place.
I like the new Common Core standards and am excited to see the new educational and technological experiences they will create in my urban, low socioeconomic classroom. The Gates make an easy target. Too bad so much time, energy, and press is spent villifying them instead of working with them so all students have meaningful, productive eduacational experiences.
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I do think much can be accomplished with constructive dialogue with the community. I applaud Gates’ concern for education. I just wish that more teachers were featured as the key speakers at their own conferences. Kind of felt like a group of VERY talented professionals were being “schooled” by someone who was not as accomplished. I would never attempt to give Bill Gates a history of standards for technology / his profession. Things just seemed mis-matched with the speaker and audience here.
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Carbon footprint or no, the real fact on the ground is Gates is doing a lot of damage to real kids, and his work is not going to result in the “meaningful, productive educational” experiences you claim. Obviously, you already know you have absolutely no evidence upon which to claim that they will. Why does Gates decide who should write (or amend) the standards ? Why not teachers working in classrooms and writing standards ? What is wrong with local control and local accountability ? And why are the CCSS so good for you ? I am very familiar with the math standards. They are “more of the same” at the high school level and below that, just a lot of everything being shoved one or two or three levels below current practices — many think “not developmentally appropriate” and as they are untested, no one can claim that we know that they are developmentally appropriate. Regardless of whether it is developmentally appropriate, it is clearly completely unnecessary to do this. And “more of the same” is not so good in math. We need “deeper” work on fewer topics. Common Core isn’t going to provide that. I liked Common Core math at first — the more I learned, the less I liked them. I realize now that there is nothing at all redemptive about the standards. And I don’t personally know any teachers who feel otherwise. So, my sense is Gates would do a lot less damage to our world if he were “jetsetting around the world partying”.
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Well Janet, thank you for supporting the destructive policies of Bill and Melinda Gates which will cost this NBCT and many, many others here in Florida, not only my teaching job but my license to teach in this state as well, all because I have chosen to spend my 20 year career working with poor children of color.
Since Gates convinced the US Dept. of Education to tie my yearly evaluation to the test scores of children I don’t even teach I will be unemployed in 2 years.
At least I know for sure that you and other teachers like you will stand by and turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to my plight and the plight of thousands of your colleagues who will lose their careers, their teaching credentials, and the livelihood that supports their families, all because Bill and Melinda Gates have lots and lots and lots of money.
According to you he gets to implement policies that destroy the lives of fellow citizens even when those policies are not supported by research, experience, or truth.
Solidarity? Not in today’s USA.
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Do you have any idea how much damage this man has done to the education field. There are a lot of teachers who have suffered because of this man and his bs agenda. That is why people on here can’t stand him.
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To say that one likes “the” standards ignores the fact that “the” standards affect k thru 12 classrooms nationwide in two core subjects. The problem is not with some teachers liking CCSS; it is that CCSS is rigid and cannot be adjusted by the scores of teaching professionals now bound to “the” standards without any recognition of the need to adjust “the” standards according to individual teachers’ professional judgments in light of “the” students each teaches.
CCSS does not work in my classroom. It does not fit my students; it does not fit my teaching style, and it ignores the “dynamic” part of the teacher-student dynamic.
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deutsch29: you are more polite and restrained than I am.
When a comment is full of qualifiers such as “like” and “great respect” and “trying to make the world a better place” and “easy target” and “villifying” the writer is deliberately making it personal without addressing important questions like—
Who wrote them and what were their qualifications and experience, i.e., did they know what they were doing? Have they been extensively, or at all, given trial runs, i.e., so that corrections can be made?
I know you understand all this, better than I do, but it is hard to take such comments seriously.
Thank you for your response.
😎
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Janet Parker:
One reason Bill Gates is an easy target is that more than half of what he says about education is patently false. Listen to his speeches and interviews and read his op-eds. His ignorance about learning, teaching, and schools just boggles the mind. And it’s willful ignorance, because, as many have pointed out, neither he nor his hirelings pay much attention to credible research or the testimony of actual teachers. (Thousands of professionals have been paid to agree with him, however.)
I’ve come to believe that his intentions are at least twofold: 1) to lower the cost of education (by reducing the number of teachers and suppressing their pay and benefits, thereby lowering taxes), and 2) to create and capture new markets for educational technology. These appear to be the wellsprings of his stated beliefs about education. He isn’t really in the business of learning how to help children. He uses his endless stream of cash to pay anyone willing and able to further his selfish aims.
Gates is a clumsy but effective venture philanthropist. That is, he’s using the wealth of his “nonprofit” foundation to purchase influence in every imaginable venue. He seems to think he has enough money to drown out the credible voices. I hope that some day those in his thrall will wake up. Until then, I’ll be grateful to people like Diane Ravitch, Anthony Cody, and Mercedes Schneider for digging deep to find out what he’s really up to.
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Janet, I have great respect for him as well. I also see that although a lot of his money went to developing the CCSS, I also see that a lot of the money was requested by teachers who were working to develop the CCSS.
I think the CCSS allows us an opportunity to begin to examine what works. since the standards are the same, the reduces at least one variable in the complex system that is education.
that being said, I would like to invite him to an Open House at our school. While some students have parents who come to school clean (even if they have dirty clothes from work, the rest of them is clean) and modestly dressed, a great portion of them shine a dim light into the challenges before us.
As an NBCT, I do not see this as an excuse, but a view into the reality that we teach with variable products that do not all respond equally to stimulus. (speaking to the standards of the cords Gates referred to)
I believe that the CCSS allows us to focus on a variety of teaching methods to reach our varied audiences, rather than changing the standards to meet their needs.
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Is there a transcript of the speech somewhere?
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Deb: I would definitely concur that Bil Gates has some type of disorder whether it be personality or Asperger’s syndrome. Though I haven’t met him personally to confirm that, my observations when I see him speaking in front of the camera is a man on a mission with a definite message that is dictatorial, persuasive, and narcissistic (You can see it in his eyes; it’s creepy). His weapon is his money. Unlike Hitler who killed by the thousands, Gates, as you indicated, is destroying millions of young, impressionable minds. And people don’t take this seriously enough.
The scary thing is that many children especially in title schools already come from tramatized homes with symptoms of anxiety, aggression, depression, inattentiveness, etc. I have observed 6th grade girls/boys stuck in their younger years emotionally because of neglect, abandonment, sextual/physical/psychological abuse. What they need are standards of well-being.
As you coined the term common core education (CCE) is abuse. Like Bill Gates, CCS doesn’t include emotional standards which perhaps is a reflection of his Asperger’s.
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Jon: I agree with what you have observed about Bill Gates “disorder”. I worked in human resources as a social worker liaison at NASA for many years before retiring, so I developed some expertise in recognizing the characteristics, even before the more recent research about Aspergers became available. Most of the mental health professionals in Houston fondly call NASA a “sheltered workshop” for Asperger engineers. I’m guessing that Microsoft is the same?
If you have a relationship with someone who has Aspergers, you will be aware of their extreme Narcissistic characteristics. It is not by choice, but their disorder causes them to become self absorbed with their own obsessions, especially their work. You will also be aware that they do not have the ability to empathize with others because they are emotionally detached from compassion for others, but they do have potential for impulsive aggression and angry outbursts, since they have a very low tolerance for frustration.
Most with ASD lack spontaneity and appear robotic. Joint communication is difficult and awakward for them. They tend to be hyper focused on their own needs and interests. They require others around them to help them relate both socially and emotionally. In the case of Bill Gates, it is unfortunate that his wife or other close relatives have not helped him get the support that he needs in order to recognize the emotional distress children are experiencing from the Common Core. What happens when there is no one brave enough to say “The Emperor Has No Clothes!”
What is disturbing is that mental health professionals with the insight to this problem are keeping silent. Those mental health professionals are neglecting their duty to bring awareness that could help children who are suffering the consequences of Bill Gates “disorder”.
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Gates is the ultimate hypocrite!
He spends profusely to force our kids into cookie cutter, one sized fits all educational schemes, which will narrow the public school curriculum to little more than the tested subjects; language arts, math, science, and maybe social studies, while his children are educated like real human beings used to be at the prestigious Lakeside School in Seattle. They get to be ‘whole children’.
Straight from the Lakeside ‘overview’ on academics:
“A Commitment to Excellence Lakeside’s 5th- to 12th-grade student-centered academic program focuses on the relationships between talented students and capable and caring teachers. We develop and nurture students’ passions and abilities and ensure every student feels known. The cultural and economic diversity of our community, the teaching styles, and the approaches to learning are all essential to Lakeside academics. We believe that in today’s global world, our students need to know more than one culture, one history, and one language. Each student’s curiosities and capabilities lead them to unique academic challenges that are sustained through a culture of support and encouragement. All students will find opportunities to discover and develop a passion; to hone the skills of writing, thinking, and speaking; and to interact with the world both on and off campus. Lakeside trusts that each student has effective ideas about how to maximize his or her own education, and that they will positively contribute to our vibrant learning community.”
From the mission statement:
“The mission of Lakeside School is to develop in intellectually capable young people the creative minds, healthy bodies, and ethical spirits needed to contribute wisdom, compassion, and leadership to a global society. We provide a rigorous and dynamic academic program through which effective educators lead students to take responsibility for learning. We are committed to sustaining a school in which individuals representing diverse cultures and experiences instruct one another in the meaning and value of community and in the joy and importance of lifelong learning.
SOUNDS JUST LIKE COMMON CORE- DOESN’T IT!!
Thanks for judging my children and proclaiming that ‘college and career ready’ is all they need/deserve Mr. Gates. Community college and an associate degree will guarantee a fruitful and joyous life.
I’m sure they would serve you and the plutocracy well, save for the fact that I/we, the little people, will make you rue the day you decided a bottomless bank account gave you the right to turn America’s schools into your pet project.
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He needs to pour his money into making PUBLIC schools vibrant learning environments.
And really good, dedicated teachers should not, each only for the altruism! They deserve vevery penny they earn.
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Jonboy: you are quite right to point out the obvious difference between what Bill Gates and so many “education reformers” SAY they want for OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN and what they ACTUALLY DO—
and what they SAY and ACTUALLY DO FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN.
I have done so myself numerous times on this blog. It makes it clear—beyond any doubt—that the leaders of the “new civil rights movement of our time” are often very conscious of what they are ensuring FOR THEIR OWN CHILDREN and what they are mandating for OTHER PEOPLE’S CHILDREN. *Of course, they can be completely clueless too—but studiously, deliberately, self-servingly clueless.**
For example, one or both of Michelle Rhee’s girls go to Harpeth Hall. Take a gander at just-concluded “Winterim”:
“Begun in 1973, Winterim is a three-week program of on and off campus opportunities meant to broaden the intellectual horizons of our students. Taking place every January, Winterim has become a hallmark of Harpeth Hall’s innovative curriculum.”
And while not aligned to the Commoners’ Core, er, Common Core, just what do those little tykes waste their time on?
[start quote]
Winterim offers students the very best in experiential learning, creating for them a chance to see their academic studies take a tangible, dynamic form. They are immersed in environments where they use language skills during a home stay in France or Argentina, math skills to design a model home, analytical and science skills in a Cryptography course, or writing and communication skills at a local or national news station.
During Winterim, juniors and seniors have traveled to Argentina, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Qatar, South Africa, and Spain. These academic trips and cultural exchanges have fostered a deeper understanding of the world and the world’s needs.
In New Zealand, students studied marine biology, ecology and native cultures while participating in service learning. In Japan, students studied the art and culture of that country, in South Africa, students were immersed in service learning and issues of global poverty. In England, Greece, and Italy, students experienced the rich history and culture of civilizations that have so impacted and shaped our own American heritage. In Argentina, France and Spain, students were immersed in the language of the three countries during home stays and while interacting with their exchange hosts at local schools in Bonpland, Paris and Malaga.
[end quote]
Link: http://www.harpethhall.org/podium/default.aspx?t=151822
I don’t think we need to mount a rescue operation to save them from Winterim.
😎
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Brace yourselves for more big business promotions of the Common Core, in a new ad campaign aiming to garner Tea Party support: “Big Business Takes on Tea Party on Common Core”
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/03/big-business-takes-on-tea-party-over-common-core-104662.html
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I have no idea why any teacher would think that the 1,620 CCSS are perfectly fine unless they have looked only at a few standards in one subject and grade-level, disregarded parts a through e of these standards, and have not yet experienced the full force of federal/state policies that will make scores on the CCSS determine how you and your school, district, and state are stack ranked.
And if you are teaching ELA beware of the proprietary Lexile scores that you should be using to select instructional materials, the beware of the use of these metrics to score writing assignments, and the variant for teachers of math called Quantiles.
Or consider this example of Lexile-appropriate reading from Blaine Greteman:
“Here’s a pop quiz: according to the measurements used in the new Common Core Standards, which of these books would be complex enough for a ninth grader?
a. Huckleberry Finn
b. To Kill a Mockingbird
c. Jane Eyre
d. Sports Illustrated for Kids’ Awesome Athletes!
The only correct answer is “d,” since all the others have a “Lexile” score so low that they are deemed most appropriate for fourth, fifth, or sixth graders. This idea might seem ridiculous, but it’s based on a metric that is transforming the way American schools teach reading.”
Found this at Susan Ohanian’s website. Susan is an experienced teacher of English and independent researcher. Find more reasons to question the CCSS at http://www.susanohanian.org/core.php?id=607
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And , of course, never mind that the subject matter in these novels isn’t appropriate for 4th, 5th, or 6th graders. Do the creators of such materials even know children? Do they relate to average children at all? Sure, there are exceptions, but this is atypical.
If parents can’t even help their children with homework when they are 8-11 years old, there won’t be many people that relate to it.
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Although I am a strong supporter of this blog, every now and then a bit of misinformation makes its way into the argument. In the interest in making certain that support our opinions with correct facts, I hope you will not mind a shoring up of your interpretation of the role of lexiles in the text complexity model aligned with Reading Standard 10 of the Commmon Core Anchor Standards for ELA & Literacy. Appendix A of the Common Core presents a 3-part model for determining materials of appropriate text complexity at a given grade level or grade band. The lexile is just the initial starting point in evaluating text complexity. The document makes the same argument illustrated in argument you are making about the titles listed above by you. The document tells us that with Lexile being one piece (the quantitative factor) of the process, we must next look at qualitative features of text which require teacher judgment about the knowledge demands of the text. There is a table In Appendix A that lists several of these features to consider, many of which address the kinds of questions Deb is asking below. Things like is the theme or content too mature for the student, figure into the many domains of knowledge demands listed in the table. Then finally, to reach our determination about the appropriateness of the text’s level of complexity, we must evaluate the student and task considerations in addition to quantitative and the qualitative pieces. The student and task considerations include such issues as the background knowledge the student brings to the text or the purpose for which the text is being assigned. In other words, are we asking students to work with the text in an appropriate way given their level and background as learners at this stage. It is my understanding the Dr. Elfrieda Heibert lended her research to this 3-part model of text complexity, and she has a solid reputation as a researcher and scholar; she is not a “shill” of the organizations that produced the CCSS.
I hope it is understood that I present this explanation only so that we strengthen our position, based on solid understanding of the fact. It is my opinion that we will weaken our position if we fall into the trap of offering up incorrect evidence that can allow others to poke holes in our arguments as we speak publically about our dissent for what is happening to education at the hands of the corporate reformers.
One more minor point of clarification is that Appendix A of the CCSS-ELA very clearly states that they have chosen to use Lexiles when presenting examples of the 3-part model only because it is widely available for free use to educators, yet any number of quantitative scaling systems can be used when teachers are using the 3-part text complexity model to make their evaluation of whether or not to include a particular text in the curriculum at a specific grade level.
I apologize for the length of this post. I hope you find it informative. However, I also hope you understand that I am in solidarity with the members of this blog, and I have not partaken of the corporate Kool-Aid. I just happen to research this sort of topic a lot in my job as a currriculum administrator and also in my doctoral studies.
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Well said, Laura. And this mismatch between the readability and the Lexile runs both ways. I recently ran a Lexile on “Paul Revere’s Ride.” Post college level.
from The Reformish Lexicon:
readability. A numerological determination of the complexity of a text based on word frequency and sentence length (e.g., Dylan Thomas’s “Time held me green and dying” is at the 1st-grade reading level).
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Part of this presentation by Yong Zhao was linked to by another poster. This is the entire presentation and is well worth listening to:
Duane, you will really connect with about the last five minutes or so, but listen to the whole presentation. There are no wasted words, and even if you don’t agree completely, it will make you think.
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“Making every child the best they can be….” Thank you for sharing this 2Old2teach ( from a Never 2Old2Learn retired teacher) Absolutely brilliant.
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“What I *needed* was a flipped-conference in which NBCTs could broadcast *their* expertise out to people like Bill Gates.”
Some day, maybe?
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Before the conference, NBCT sent me an “invitation” from Microsoft based on my National Board Teaching status to attend a free training seminar on how best to use Microsoft products before the NBCT conference. It comes from Ronald Thorpe, President & CEO of National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. It comes with the stomach-churning enticement: “Be a Microsoft Innovative Educator.”
Talk about oxymoron.
This sort of oligarch flattery and the lure of “special offers” are being used to “buy” our support and our imprimatur and blessings. In much the same way that sneaker and Athletic companies “give away” their products to star athletes of schools to gain the allegiance of “the troops”, it seems obvious that the corporations are going to use this same strategy to win over leader teachers to their side. No doubt there will be a host of other freebies and goodies Gates and his ilk will dangle at us in the future.
They figure they have a good shot at winning just enough of NBC Teachers because who doesn’t want to be noticed and rewarded for work that often goes unheralded? And the fact it is a brainy, bigwig like Bill Gates who is fawning over us telling us how essential and important we are to society….why that would make anyone’s head spin.
I am furious that National Board invited Gates as our Keynote speaker because they are offering him credibility with this star platform and he will make the most of the opportunity to “sell” us on him, his products and his educational philosophy. (BTW…We also got to have the hideous pleasure of Arne Duncan in the mix too!) Gates tells us what a great “team” we “elite” teachers make with him and how much he wants to support what we do.
Suck Up City.
My fear is that when National Board even tacitly endorses Gates’, everyone hears it. Obama. Duncan. Congress. Students’ First. The Charters. And all the other companies that need that entryway into the classroom. The teaching population in general is diminished by the actions of the National Board and for all their talk of “raising the profession”, they are actually acting as Fifth Columnists in our demise. I do not believe that NBCT CEO Ronald Thorpe is passive in the spectacle of what is happening in public education and fear his allegiances, and those of the National Board hierarchy, have already been compromised.
I wish National Board was MORE political in its positions and used their alleged concern about the direction of education to champion teachers and students against those who would poison public education with their drivel. They are embarrassing at times in their “neutrality” on many of the life and death issues that imperil our profession.
NBC already gets so much money from Gates and company that it is hard to ever see the National Board EVER standing up to those who make a mockery of the skills and aspirations many teachers diligently struggle with that are diametrically opposed to Billionaire Education Pedagogy.
Is National Board a compromised entity?
They would say no. Their lack of spine speaks otherwise.
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Remember, it was MSNBC! Mr. Gates just wants to own everything, schools included.
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I’m surprised NBPTS accepted his financial contribution. Is it no wonder why he was there.
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I am astonished at the rudeness and crudeness of the personal comments about Bill Gates. It is fair enough to disagree with his policies but I am astonished that Diane would apparently condone such comments by not calling a halt to them.
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Sounds a bit concern trollish to me. Gates is allowed to call us lazy, incompetent, unqualified, overpaid, having low expectations, lacking rigor, in need of firing, etc. but if we reciprocate you clutch your pearls?
Really?
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TAGO, Chris!
Bernie, PLEASE be careful clutching those pearls. You might strangle yourself, and we need you on this blog as some comic relief . . . .
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Robert Rendo: TAGO!
Although was “might” a typo originally meant as “will”? [You can blame it on Microsoft EduAutoCorrect]
Pardon the presumption, but a little advice from your friendly neighborhood KrazyTA. Keep in mind that if people actually took to heart those old Greek guys like Homer:
“Words empty as the wind are best left unsaid” —
We might be lacking in comic relief.
And as Mark Twain said so well:
“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.”
May we all be blessed.
😎
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KTA,
Humor is indeed a great health benefit.
No disrespect to Bernie1815, but really Bernie, if you’re going to troll on this blog, look to your fellow trollers and see how they do it. They are among the most disapproved of writers, and there is great hostility towards their views. I would be remiss to say that I don’t have have hostility toward them because of their troglodyte and Randian views.
You, however, are merely disliked and laughed at for your lack of substance, critical thought, and experience in education.
Please throw away those cheap pearls you bought at Walmart. The shellac coating their plastic is being absorbed into your jugulars and traveling up to all four lobes, affecting your capacity to think. . . . .
C’mon, Bernie, you can do better. Harlan, can you help this guy? The other camp seems to be dying down as a result of my camp’s pushback and fight to preserve public education and fight privatization . . . . .
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“Clutch your pearls”…*snort*
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Bernie, Speaking truth is necessary, even if different from your opinion. Bill Gates is a “sophisticated covert” child molester. He is destroying the “humanness” of our children and turning them into robots like himself!
He can’t change the fact that he is Asperger, but he could at least accept it and educate himself about his limitations.
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Aspie,
Sometimes the truth really hurts. Thank you for pointing out how Bill Gates’ social and emotional disabilities coupled with his money and connections render him one of the 10 most dangerous non-terrorist people in this country with regard to destroying democracy . . . . . .
Gates is a mad, mad scientist, and he experiments on ordinary people.
Excellent post!
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Aspie Teacher:
As I said, this type of name calling does this blog and you no credit. You can argue that his policies hurt the education of children and threaten the livelihood of teachers, but your use of phrase would be actionable if you weren’t protected by the cloak of anonymity. Diane needs to be careful because she can be held responsible for such excesses.
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Bernie1815, whether you like it or not, I allow readers to say whatever they want so long as they don’t insult me–it is my blog and my living room. I assume Bill Gates has the same rules on his foundation’s blog. Sometimes people make overheated comments, sometimes they lash out because of frustration. Please don’t make any threats because of the absence of censorship on the blog. You can always go elsewhere to find opinions more to your liking.
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Diane:
I am not threatening anybody. The is a pretty good guide on the overall topic: https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation
I find it odd that you would address my comment but leave the unfounded and truly gross charge by Aspie without comment. It is indeed your blog.
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Bernie,
Shame on you. You did not follow David Coleman’s close reading rubrics (which I actually like if applied judiciously in one’s pedagogy).
Aspie was citing facts here, not name calling.
Read the not-so-fine print Bernie. Then really digest it. I suggest you go back and skim it, go back again and circle key words and phrases, then go bac one more time to take notes and summarize important points and main ideas.
Bernie, Diane is exercising her right of free speech and does not have to be careful outside the legal realm of actionable libel, slander, and defamation, none of which even remotely evidences itself here on this blog.
But if I were you, Bernie, I would be careful not because of any legal repercussions but more about leaving an impression to others about your social skills and capacity as a critical thinker.
You already have one strike against you because you’re not a teacher (I know, I know: your wife taught English in a public school. . . .okay, okay. I get it . . . . ).
C’mon, Bernie, I’m rooting for you, and I know you have the potential.
If Harlan can fulfill even 1/1000th of his potential, so can you.
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Robert Rendo: apparently for some folks the owner of this blog is wrong no matter what she does.
If she even hints at exercising the slightest control over the comments on her own blog, she is (among many many other truly horrible things) a “Stalinist.” If she allows a very wide range of expression and opinion on her blog, she is responsible for every last jot and tittle of objectionable prose.
Kind of like public schools. For example, public schools offer too much and they unfairly crowd out all those inherently deserving charterite/privatizer competitors—paired with public schools don’t offer enough and that’s why we need those inherently deserving charterite/privatizer competitors. *Either argument to be used in utter disregard of the other—and when someone points out that the same commenters can’t have it both ways, it is claimed that the owner of this blog permits ad hominem attacks. Yawn.**
So, Señor Rendo, I remind you once again—
“Humor is mankind’s greatest blessing.” [Mark Twain]
And in these times, comic relief is a necessity not a luxury.
😎
P.S. Although to paraphrase an obscure numbers/stats fella named Albert Einstein:
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and the inability of some people to understand logic and facts, and I’m not sure about the former.”
BTW, do you know what happened to him? Did he ever do anything as notable as, say, that EduGenius Bill Gates?
😉
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Thank you, KTA.
I agree with all you say.
And goodness, Einstein was a poor student, not the best spouse, and discovered and proved relativity, which was a game changer in the world of science. He also shunned standardization in people. . . .
I will try and find humor in most everything while focusing on the most important things yet to come. . . .
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Bernie, here is another view of your hero and his philanthropy around the world. He meddles in many things he knows little about. His motives are not pure, see his eugenist roots.
Opinion | Bill Gates’ support of GM crops is wrong approach for …
seattletimes.com/html/…/2017612869_guest28ashton
The Seattle Timesthe w
billmoyers.com/…/vandana-shiva-on-the-problem-with-ge..
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Old Teacher:
Thanks for the links. I read both articles.
When I come across articles like this in areas where I have limited knowledge, I look for an empirical statement and then try to see if the statement is accurate or not as a way of gauging how reliable the source is. Dr. Shiva’s empirical assertion that Bt cotton caused increased suicides among cotton farmers appears to be problematic, a distortion, if not plain wrong: http://www.ifpri.org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp00808.pdf . A more recent report might shed more light on the issue of farmer suicides linked to GM based agriculture.
Ashton’s piece contained the assertion that 900 scientists worked on the IAASTD Report. In fact it was 900 participants some of whom were indeed highly regarded scientists from fields relevant to assessing the suitability of GM seeds and farming, but many others were scientists from less relevant fields or NGOs with clear political agendas. Mr Ashton himself has little background in this area.
All this says nothing about either the viability of GM seeds and science-based agriculture, but I would be cautious in taking the pronouncements at face value.
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Ah Bernie the troll from other blogs. Bill has called us far worse, and has acted in a far more harmful manner towards us. Medical researchers and relief agencies also are not thrilled with him. He also does not believe in competition for Microsoft, see the numerous anti trust rulings against him. Ask Xerox what happens when you partner with him, since he nearly killed them.
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Old Teacher:
When did Xerox partner with Microsoft?
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Old Teacher:
What is your definition of a “troll”? Where have I operated as a “troll”? Is everyone who disagrees with Diane’s perspective a “troll”?
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From rational wiki:
“A concern troll visits sites of an opposing ideology and offers advice on how they could “improve” things, either in their tactical use of rhetoric, site rules, or with more philosophical consistency.”
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Well, Chris, if that’s the definition of a troll, then I guess any dissenter is a troll.
Bernie has the right to dissent. It’s just too bad he’s such a nincompoop in his thinking and rhetoric.
Bernie, get a life and stop complaining. Why not form your own blog or blog on Michelle Rhee’s site or some other deformer blog. You would fit in better there and feel more like your old self. It would build your self-esteem. Wouldn’t that be a benefit to you? . . . . .
Don’t you want to feel good about yourself, Bernie. I would venture to day that hardly anyone here feels particularly good about you. Why not take care of that sort of thing yourself? . . . . . .
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While people have a right to be who they wish, I have never found the role of troll to be admirable.
If one wishes to speak his/her mind, there are places to find others who feel similarly. There is a difference in posting a myriad of ideas that are pondering heading toward a mutual goal and entering conversations to judge, thwart, or distract away from the goals.
It is a waste of time. But the trolling type are so patient. They ignore being avoided and return to spin topics again and again. Everyone recognizes the behavior. Yet they proceed.
Some people thrive on being annoying, disruptive, and distracting.
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Robert, I know you like to side with the underdog and be generally curmudgeonly (in a lovable way) but where, pray tell, did I say or imply that bernie1815 doesn’t have a right to express his opinions?
He fits the standard definition of a “concern troll”, a name and definition that I did not originate but agree with.
So I agree with you that bernie1915 and HarlanUnderhill have the right to come here and dispute all they wish. However, if the first comment they make is a tone argument then I will call a concern troll a concern troll.
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Dear Chris in Florida,
My assertion is not proof positive that one was to infer from you that either guy does not have the right to dissent or pose their view.
You’ll please forgive my New York attitude and lack of Southern gentility or Midwestern politeness. Sometimes I may come off as Robert Deniro because I perceive many a tone here to be Bob Newhart. Take that statement with a grain of salt. Still, civility and good solid arguments are always a best practice.
And for the record, I probably disapprove of Bernie1815 and Harlan as much if not more than you. . . . not that it’s a contest. I do not consider Bernie1815 an “underdog” at all; he’s more like the slobbering Doberman Pinscher who polices the free world with fangs bared. . . . or maybe he’s a yappy little lapdog chiuaua whose bark annoys the Ducolax out of you. . .
I offer you my morale support and solidarity. Florida’s state government is villainous toward public education and civil servants. I suggest the governor try and partner with Disney World and open a new attraction to the public: “It’s a Sinister World” or “The Land of Tomorrow’s Privatization”.
I hope you find resolution personally and communally to all the injustices that have been foisted upon you. None of us indeed are immune to it . . .
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http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/science/billionaires-with-big-ideas-are-privatizing-american-science.html?from=homepage
Gates is listed in this article as well…is there anything that he does not want to control…it is like education reform but on science. Who knows…maybe scientists will start to get judged on whether their hypothesis are working out at a high enough percentage…
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Gates and Jobs took their ideas directly from Xerox and their Palo Alto Reseach Center. Xerox, admittedly did not understand what they had. They let Gates help them develop the ideas, and he and Jobs, (see Jobs biography) argued about who stole what. As for you, Bernie, either you are part of, or dream of having the influence of the oligarchs and do not really care about your fellow man, or you really don’t examine things very carefully. Bill Gates only acts when he can gain something, power, influence, or more wealth.
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Old Teacher:
So did or did not Gates “nearly kill” Xerox?
How on earth do you know whether I care about my fellow man? What is the basis for your contention that I do not examine things very carefully?
As for what motivates Bill Gates, I frankly have seen nothing to suggest that he is motivated any differently from you or I, namely, by what we see as our self-interest including a desire to leave the world a better place.
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bernie1815:
In what way is Bill Gates qualified to set educational policy for our nation? Being a college dropout who attended private schools and having children in private schools prepared him how to pontificate on what goes on in public school classrooms and what is needed to succeed in college? How is Bill Gates self-interest related to silencing all critics and dismissing all criticism in public education? Why is having more money than anyone else, especially money that was largely gained through questionably moral means, a qualification for setting national policies in fields where one has zero expertise or experience?
Defend yourself, if you can. You never do, though, do you?
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Chris:
“Defend yourself, if you can. You never do, though, do you?”
Even within the narrow confines of this thread, how do you draw this conclusion? “Never” is an awfully strong qualifier.
Bill Gates has as much right to comment and push for what he considers improvements in Education as our host, and you and me. His reform ideas may well be flawed. Diane says that some of her previous ideas were flawed. I came to this site because I thought her previous book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education, was very good as was her NYRB article on Pasi Sahlberg’s Finnish Lessons. I return because there are a few topics I know something about, e.g., psychometrics, performance evaluations – and I learn from many of the substantive comments of Bob Shepherd on ELA, Joe Nathan and TeachingEconomist as well as, of course, Diane. If that makes me a “concern troll,” then so be it.
As to your other comments, in what ways is Bill Gates “silencing all critics and dismissing all criticism in public education.” Diane’s earlier books contain countless examples of local, State-wide and National efforts to push particular reform efforts. Historically all serious reform efforts involve loud arguments and strong emotions and attempts to remove or silence the opposition. They seldom seem to work. Critics of the current reforms certainly have plenty of venues to have the voices heard. For example, IMO, the debate on the validity and effectiveness of educational achievement testing is more vigorous today than it was in the 1970s and 1980s.
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Well bernie1815, you did reply so I thank you for that. You did not, however, defend anything you’ve said here, including attacking people who criticize Bill Gates and speculate as to why he gets to call all the shots regarding public education.
No one elected him. No one hired him. No one asked him.
He simply inserted himself in the mix, not as a public school graduate or a public school parent, but as a bored rich man who thinks he knows more than anyone else what is good for everyone.
By judiciously “donation” lots and lots of money he gets to decide what is best, not because he is an expert, not because he has credentials or experience, but because he pays for it.
Therefore he becomes a keynote speaker at the NBPTS conference that is purportedly about “teaching and learning” and not about how to market an OS and productivity software.
Microsoft abandoned stack ranking as harmful to the health of the company yet Gates has foisted it onto teachers and school through VAM tied to RTTT funding.
I and directly harmed by Bill Gates wacky ideas and my years and years of teaching experience, my 3 costly college degrees, my lengthy and costly pursuit of National Board certification are all being nullified by his “interest” in public education.
I will fight him and what he is doing with everything I’ve got because he’s taking away everything I’ve got. If you can’t understand that then so be it. When you come here and chastise me with a lame tone argument then I get riled up and I’m ready to defend myself.
My life and career are not abstract theories to be discussed with respectful restraint or toyed with by venture philanthropists with shady backgrounds in corporate malfeasance. Got it?
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Bernie, my mistake, instead of Xerox I meant IBM, Xerox did provide gates with the technology to produce windoes.
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Old Teacher:
At the time IBM agreed to license Microsoft’s DOS, Microsoft was a miniscule start up. IBM dominated the world’s computer industry and was fighting lawsuits to prevent its own break-up for monopoly practices. Nothing Gates and Allen did at that point in time can be viewed as nefarious. IBM simply made an extraordinarily bad business decision. There are other aspects of the story that put Gates and Allen in a poorer light, but not their negotiations with IBM.
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Did Bill Gates and some of these other morons ever even finish college (or high school for that matter)? Who the hell do these education “experts” think they are?!? The collective education, experience and knowledge of educators can bury them and should!
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There’s an interesting interview in Rolling Stone with Bill Gates. He’s asked about Edward Snowden, income inequality, climate change, health care and polio, religion and God, but NOT education “reform.”
One has to wonder what reporter Jeff Goodell was thinking (or NOT thinking).
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/bill-gates-the-rolling-stone-interview-20140313
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democracy:
Thanks for the link. The lack of any questions about education is surprising and the interviewer did not pick up on a few of the available entry points. Overall though I thought it was a pretty good, if largely softball, interview. The comments on the article, however, look as though they are knee jerk responses to what he said. Gates’ analysis of the Snowden disclosures seems to be the litmus test.
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CC is pretty good? I think not. Careful, Diane, people will think YOU’RE changing course on CC by publishing a letter that says this.
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Jon: I agree with what you have observed about Bill Gates “disorder”. I worked in human resources as a social worker liaison at NASA for many years before retiring, so I developed some expertise in recognizing the characteristics, even before the more recent research about Aspergers became available. Most of the mental health professionals in Houston fondly call NASA a “sheltered workshop” for Asperger engineers. I’m guessing that Microsoft is the same?
If you have a relationship with someone who has Aspergers, you will be aware of their extreme Narcissistic characteristics. It is not by choice, but their disorder causes them to become self absorbed with their own obsessions, especially their work. You will also be aware that their disorder causes them not to have the ability to empathize with others because they are emotionally detached from compassion, but they do have potential for impulsive aggression and angry outbursts, since they have a very low tolerance for frustration.
Most with ASD lack spontaneity and appear robotic. Joint communication is difficult and awakward for them. They tend to be hyper focused on their own needs and interests. They require others around them to help them relate both socially and emotionally. In the case of Bill Gates, it is unfortunate that his wife or other close relatives have not helped him recognize and accept his Aspergers disorder. Is this what happens when there is no one brave enough to say “The Emperor Has No Clothes!”
What is disturbing is that mental health professionals with insight to his problem are keeping silent. Those mental health professionals are neglecting their duty to bring awareness that could help children who are suffering the consequences of Bill Gates “disorder”.
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