Gates: Pay top teachers more to accept larger classes
In Monday’s Washington Post, Bill Gates talks about the need to better recognize and reward good teachers. (Yes, this is another call for performance-based pay.)
But Gates also addresses the national emphasis on class size reduction, an education reform that he maintains is misguided. “U.S. schools have almost twice as many teachers per student as they did in 1960, yet achievement is roughly the same,” writes Gates.
He suggests paying the top 25 percent of teachers more money to accept four or five additional students into their classes. Those larger class sizes could free up money to raise the quality of other teachers, he says. (I am still not sure there would be agreement on who the top 25 percent of teachers were.)
Among his points:
We know that of all the variables under a school’s control, the single most decisive factor in student achievement is excellent teaching. It is astonishing what great teachers can do for their students.
Yet compared with the countries that outperform us in education, we do very little to measure, develop and reward excellent teaching. We have been expecting teachers to be effective without giving them feedback and training.
To flip the curve, we have to identify great teachers, find out what makes them so effective and transfer those skills to others so more students can enjoy top teachers and high achievement.
To this end, our foundation is working with nearly 3,000 teachers in seven urban school districts to develop fair and reliable measures of teacher effectiveness that are tied to gains in student achievement. Research teams are analyzing videos of more than 13,000 lessons – focusing on classes that showed big student gains so it can be understood how the teachers did it. At the same time, teachers are watching their own videos to see what they need to do to improve their practice.
Our goal is a new approach to development and evaluation that teachers endorse and that helps all teachers improve.
The value of measuring effectiveness is clear when you compare teachers to members of other professions – farmers, engineers, computer programmers, even athletes. These professionals are more advanced than their predecessors – because they have clear indicators of excellence, their success depends on performance and they eagerly learn from the best.
The same advances haven’t been made in teaching because we haven’t built a system to measure and promote excellence. Instead, we have poured money into proxies, things we hoped would have an impact on student achievement. The United States spends $50 billion a year on automatic salary increases based on teacher seniority. It’s reasonable to suppose that teachers who have served longer are more effective, but the evidence says that’s not true. After the first few years, seniority seems to have no effect on student achievement.
Another standard feature of school budgets is a bump in pay for advanced degrees. Such raises have almost no impact on achievement, but every year they cost $15 billion that would help students more if spent in other ways.
Perhaps the most expensive assumption embedded in school budgets – and one of the most unchallenged – is the view that reducing class size is the best way to improve student achievement. This belief has driven school budget increases for more than 50 years. U.S. schools have almost twice as many teachers per student as they did in 1960, yet achievement is roughly the same.
What should policymakers do? One approach is to get more students in front of top teachers by identifying the top 25 percent of teachers and asking them to take on four or five more students. Part of the savings could then be used to give the top teachers a raise. (In a 2008 survey funded by the Gates Foundation, 83 percent of teachers said they would be happy to teach more students for more pay.) The rest of the savings could go toward improving teacher support and evaluation systems, to help more teachers become great.
–From Maureen Downey, at the AJC Get Schooled blog
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75 comments Add your comment
Jackie T.
February 28th, 2011
11:15 am
@ justin,
I think I would go with 4 classes with 35 students as opposed to 6 classes with 23. If the total number of students don’t change, I would prefer having an extra planning period.
no mas
February 28th, 2011
11:28 am
Coming late to the discussion here, but I gotta say the first thing that struck me, too, was that in 1960, the public school was different. We absolutely cannot compare statistics, because it is apples and pears,at least.
I was *in* public school in 1960, and our classes were pretty large (maybe 30-35 in elementary school), but there was a very different classroom atmosphere. What the teacher said, you did. Many of the teachers lived in the town, and your parents might run into them. NOBODY wanted to go to the principal’s office. The parents believed the teachers’ opinions of the kids, and the kids caught it at home if the teacher said they were disruptive. There were expulsions.
My classrooms were always integrated, because there was only one school for any given grade level. There were all social and economic groups represented. However, the classrooms were still more homogeneous than today: most of the ESL kids spoke Spanish as a first language, but they all came to school speaking English, and there were no kids with disabilities in the regular classroom.
There was not ability grouping, but there were different reading groups, and there was also self-paced reading for the kids who read well. The teacher was then teaching reading to the smaller group that needed the help. We all did social studies and science together (no hands-on until 6th grade), and if you were good in math, you could work ahead.
Some of the teachers were better than others – the ones who did the best generally used the carrot rather than the stick (”If we get the spelling test done early, we can play seven-up for 15 minutes before lunch.”)
k teacher
February 28th, 2011
11:38 am
The reason we need smaller classes is because of IDEA and inclusion. When you have behavior issues and learning struggles that need special attention in your class, there is no way you can give those students the one-on-one attention they need while challenging the higher-achieving students and moving up the average students.
The regular ed parents need to step up and say enough is enough because so much emphasis is being put on Special ED .. and yes, I do have a Special ED son “included” in 1st grade, but I’m not expecting miracles from his General ED teacher or for that matter his Special ED teacher since inclusion and IDEA have things so messed up. I teach him as much as I can as a parent, his General ED teacher does what she can, and his Special ED teacher does what she can when she is resourced with him (at the most 2-3 hours per day).
Inclusion may sound good, but when you have 20-30 children in one room and you have 5 or 6 that need extra attention (whether academically or behaviorally), someone is going to go lacking, and for the most part it is our General ED students while the Special ED and strugglers are being given the extra support so schools can make AYP and the others get what’s left.
k teacher
February 28th, 2011
11:41 am
Also, all of the paperwork that goes along with those 5 – 6 students, RTI, SST, IEP, documentation, work samples, conferences, etc., etc. takes away classroom teaching time.
Dr. J
February 28th, 2011
12:10 pm
These are all great points, but the question remains…how can you accurately and effectively identify the top 25% of teachers? What is the criteria? I believe great teaching is innate and cannot be taught. Anyone can preach and lecture content, but there is a distinct skill in presenting material in a holistic manner, while making a connection with the content and EACH and EVERY student. You can try to define specific strategies, but a great teacher uses these naturally and with ease. This can be seen in colleges and universities across the country. You have highly qualified and intelligent professors who are experts in their field, but cannot teach to save their lives. They have a firm grip on the content, but cannot make adequate connections with their students. Again, teaching is a passion that comes with a set of distinct and unique skills. I truly believe this is why there is such a high turnover rate in the field…you either have it, or you don’t.
On a side note, don’t compare teachers to musicians and/or athletes unless you plan on matching their pay-grade.
amazed
February 28th, 2011
1:20 pm
Any skill can be taught. Some people have natural advantages, but that doesn’t mean others can’t work harder and become better than those with natural advantages who don’t work at it. Public speaking, which has some similar skills to teaching, is a perfect example. And. by the way, most teachers make more than the majority of musicians.
If teachers couldn’t be taught, there would be no need for them to go to college. Just send a bunch of HS grads out to the schools.
Jackie T.
February 28th, 2011
2:03 pm
@ Dr. J.
I completely disagree with you – you can learn to teach better. If teaching is an innate ability, why do we even bother having teacher education programs at all – not that all of teacher ed programs are great, but some are pretty good.
Dr. J
February 28th, 2011
2:05 pm
Sure, anything can be taught. But you bring up a good point…musicians, artists, athletes and even public speakers…do you really feel these talents and skills can be taught and equate with “natural” ability? Do you not believe that one’s cognitive map and/or genes present more than a mere “advantage?” Nature or nurture, people are given specific natural abilities that allow them to be great. Again, anything can be taught, but I believe natural talent plays a role in greatness.
Atlanta mom
February 28th, 2011
2:58 pm
Bill Gates last great education idea was small high schools or “small learning communities”. Unfortunately APS took the money and converted all the high schools. This past summer Bill came out and said “just kidding”. Small HS is not the way to go. So, why do we think his new idea is any better than his old idea?
Jackie T.
February 28th, 2011
3:01 pm
There are only so many Yo-Yo Ma’s Izzak Pealmans out there. But, what we need isn’t thousands of Yo-Yo Ma’s. What we need is thousands of good/compentent teachers – musicians who can play in HS or college bands are good enough. Unless you are completely tone deaf, you can be trained to be a decent musician in a band. In the same way, unless you are complete idiot, you can be trained to be good teachers – they can continue to grow throughout their careers.
teaching day
February 28th, 2011
3:45 pm
An example- A freshman Biology class in an affluent area. 34 students, 9 SpEd, 5 reg ed with ADHD and parents refuse meds, and a 17 yr old freshman. I am busting my tail everyday to motivate and teach. As soon as I stop talking they begin. Labs are dangerous because the groupsmust be so large due to lack of supplies. I had to take 4 cell phones and 2 i-pods (school rules require as much). Admin said to give them back to the student asap. Completed my 1st office referral in 6 yrs and it took a week and a half before admin dealt with the student. Then only one day of in school for a major rule infraction to begin in 2 wks.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 28th, 2011
5:03 pm
Fairness:I was in many college classes of 50 or more and the professors did just fine.
In all fairness, Fairness, a college class is SELF-SELECTED. Many of the students have paid tuition to be there. They have skin in the game, as they say. My elementary students, for the most part, would much rather be at home playing on their Wii, and do not yet understand how education can affect their lives.
In addition, professors often teach lecture style – standing in front and speaking while students are expected to take notes. Lecture style does NOT work well with this rising generation. Many of them do not have the attention span necessary. They are hardwired for informational input in short immediate bursts. They literally THINK differently than previous generations. The research into brain development of the computer/tech generation is fascinating (and perhaps a bit frightening.) We are beginning to see the effects of this in middle and high school classes where lecture is still common. Expecting 40 or 50 elementary or middle school students, many of whom would rather be somewhere else, several of whom are likely affected by various developmental/learning issues to sit and pay attention to a lecture is unrealistic.
Perhaps you are right about education by computer program – but seeing what is happening already in terms of lost ability to actually communicate effectively with another LIVE person in favor of texting, I fear a society where everyone is much more comfortable interacting with a screen than a fellow person.
And please, “Where there is a will, there is a way” is a lovely sentiment, but often falls short when reality comes calling. I can have all the will in the world, but is Johnny refused to do anything in my class, I have little recouse.
JW
February 28th, 2011
6:10 pm
Amazed,
I have nothing against Mr. Gates nor his interest in improving education or other various issues you mentioned in your 10:27 AM post.
However, I do have a problem with his vilification of teachers/public schools. Is he vilifying doctors as he tries to eradicate polio or increase vaccinations around the world? Does he vilify farmers as he tries to improve crop and food levels? If he has, I haven’t seen it or read it. I am sure he leaves it up to the appropriate experts in each of those fields. Well, the experts in education are in the classrooms.
I think the problem many have with Mr. Gates is not so much his interest in improving education, but how he is going about accomplishing his goal. I also think many classroom teachers (the experts) are tired of never being heard, while Mr. Gates’ thoughts and ideas are given forum after forum.
amazed
February 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
@JW
Certainly the teachers should be heard. But there are a lot of comments on here that noone else should be. Integrating knowledge from different fields can be helpful. And while I’m not saying I necessarily agree with paying for taking extra students, the idea is not an insult. It says take 5 from an average teacher and give to an expert, which will result in raising the overall results. And it recognizes excellence in teaching, which now, is mostly recognized only by the past students, not by the school districts.
I think one of our problems is that many people use school boards as a political stepping stone or to benefit their outside business. We could use more educators on school boards.
ivan
February 28th, 2011
6:37 pm
You guys are all insane. Gates is a billionaire who has read and consulted more experts in education policy than any of you ever will. And he has been working in this area for over a DECADE. His foundation is the most philanthropic institution that the United States of America has EVER seen. And he is attempting to solve one of the MOST challenging issues in this country.
Not only is he well equipped to have an impact on this problem (=$ and brains), I believe that he is making a real impact and by the time he passes on US schools will be much better off. So please, stop the personal attacks!
JW
February 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
Amazed,
Your point is very well taken, and I agree with you. I think there is something to be said for getting ideas and input from various sources, but not forgetting the voices of the teachers. One of my favorite quotes: “If you are sure you know the solution, you are part of the problem.”
@ Ivan,
You start your post with “You guys are all insane” and end with “So please, stop the personal attacks!” We will if you will! Ha ha!
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
February 28th, 2011
7:18 pm
Ivan: “…Gates is a billionaire…”
So? Does his income somehow make him worth listening to?
“… who has read and consulted more experts in education policy than any of you ever will. ”
I would be more impressed if he had consulted a few more of the folks who are actually in the trenches doing the work. You know – those TEACHERS! I was “taught” how to teach by a bunch of university “experts” at a research based university. Most of my professors had never set foot in a classroom, but learned all they knew from studies and text books. Guess what? A lot of what they taught simply did not WORK in an actual classroom! It looked good on paper, sounded good in lecture, but fell flat when implemented. It took a few years of actual teaching under my belt before I learned how to modify those “theories” to real world application.
“And he has been working in this area for over a DECADE.”
Well, I’ve been working in this area over TWO DECADES, and I can tell you, the solutions to what plagues education are never going to simple – they involve complex, multi-level societal problems. Focusing solely on teachers only leaves too many issues unaddressed and unresolved. Gates seems too focused on teachers alone, and teacher alone cannot fix this mess! It will take a societal effort involving teachers, parents, students, and the general public’s attitude towards education! He makes statements that suggest only 25% of teachers are any good at their job. I agree there are “bad teachers, but to suggest 75% of teachers are mediocre? That is too close to simply blaming teachers for all the ills which I see as the “easy way out” of educational reform.
“His foundation is the most philanthropic institution that the United States of America has EVER seen.”
Great! That doesn’t mean he knows beans about what goes on in an average classroom. Being a philanthropist doesn’t make you an educational expert.
“And he is attempting to solve one of the MOST challenging issues in this country.”
Kudos for him! That doesn’t mean that every idea he has is gold! Maybe some of what he has to offer is worth listening to and implementing – but I am not going to give him a free pass just because he is rich, he has consulted with so called “experts” and he cares…. I suspect I care a heck of a lot more, seeing as I have dedicated over 20 years of my life to trying to improve education for my personal students and those in the schools and communities I have served….. Which pretty much has guaranteed I will never be a billionaire.
.
Math Teacher
February 28th, 2011
7:36 pm
It’s frustrating how Bill Gates finds one statistic and uses it to justify his point, without any references or explanations. It sometimes seems that he doesn’t even know what his statistics mean. He says we have twice as many teachers in schools now than 50 years ago, but that they are almost all terrible. But, who is being counted in that number? We now have so many instructional coaches, counselors, graduation coaches, social workers, assistant principals, academy leaders, and administrators who don’t hold classes. You can’t look at the number of students divided by the number of teachers if a large proportion of the teachers aren’t teaching. (Nothing against them; I just want to make sure these things are clear.)
In Newsweek, Bill Gates also talked about the total amount of money being spent in schools and how the results are not what he wants. (Although, I don’t see how adding more money is going to help that statistic much.) You have to look at where the money is being spent. If we are upgrading the “technology” in our classrooms, make sure it is something that will be helpful. It doesn’t matter much that every classroom in an elementary school has a Smart Board if the kindergarteners are not able to reach the bottom of it (a true story). If the money is just being passed on to e-rate or some other company, it is not helping the kids learn.
From the posts here, it seems that most teachers are pretty tired of Bill Gates and his constant attacks on our profession. Unfortunately, it’s not a reasoned discussion or logical debate; it’s a PR campaign, and he has the money and the momentum on his side. If he really wants to prove his point, I would like to see him debate Diane Ravitch or someone like her. Or maybe come spend a week in a school teaching these students. Not a few hours to talk about how he loves children everywhere with his bodyguards and entourage; not in a first grade class where kids think anyone over four feet tall is awesome; not in a well-off neighborhood where the students will sit quietly for most of the day. Come spend a week teaching polynomial factor to students who don’t know their multiplication tables. Or students who can’t read about the Treaty of Versailles.
Plato said there were three types of people: those motivated by money, those motivated by honor, and those motivated by knowledge. I think the fact that Bill Gates dropped out of college to start a lucrative company is evidence of his motivations. I also think (as did Plato) the best teachers are not motivated by money but by the love of learning.
Tony
February 28th, 2011
9:25 pm
Dr. J. – your remarks about learning how to teach are completely off base. There are skills related to teaching that can be learned and I know many professional educators who have worked hard to learn about pedagogy and who diligently practice to improve their craft. It is not simply a matter of whether you “have it” or not.
The Gates foundation has an educational agenda that is based on snippets of research, but more on popular notions of education that come from the business arena. Anyone who has followed Gates Foundation funding knows that their agenda has migrated from the idea of recreating small schools (which did not work) to their new focus of teacher evaluations and performance pay.
Gates also chooses to ignore a relatively large body of research about the negative impact of performance pay (it almost never works) and how its use in schools has no effect. In addition, they have a well funded PR machine. Since the foundation is “philanthropic” in nature, their work is not criticized by the press. After all, you should not look a gift horse in the mouth. Here is where journalists are FAILING all of us. They do not dig past the superficial press releases to get to the meatier issues underlying their agenda.
People have sold more than their souls to the devil. Billionaires are now ruling the world.
long time educator
March 1st, 2011
7:44 am
How do you identify the top 25% of teachers? After teaching and supervising for almost 30 years, I will answer this. Great teachers are smart; they know their content and are intectually curious themselves. They are upbeat and interested in their students. They demonstrate a love of learning and it is infectious. Equally important is “people sense” ; they work and play well with others. This is essential in k-12; much of the job is interacting with parents, other teachers and students. Most of the supervision problems I had centered around this issue, not incompetence. Successful teachers also have a strong sense of personal responsibility and contribute to the good of the whole school. If you could measure these qualities: intelligence, engaging personality, people sense and commitment to the profession, you could identify your outstanding teachers.
Dr. J
March 1st, 2011
11:13 am
@ Tony
Please don’t focus on only one piece of my comment. I will say it again…yes, any skill can be taught. Individuals can work hard to be successful and qualified instructors. Motivation, dedication and a good work-ethic generally leads to success. As all this is true, I believe that with teaching (and any other talent and/or career), there is an innate characteristic that “great” teachers posses. This ability is natural and fluid in the classroom. Over the years, I have worked with and mentored sound teachers who have worked hard to be successful…nothing came easy. They had to increase professional development opportunities and read additional educational research to better understand how and why something should be implemented in the classroom. On the other hand, I have seen students right out of college implement these strategies and methods effortlessly. These are the individuals who become educational leaders in a short-time.
You can teach me finance and calculations. You can teach me formulas and mathematical processes. With this hard work, I can become a sound and functional accountant, but I will never match that of a true number-centered mathematician…it is a gift.
Through this process and my experience, I have seen many intelligent and motivated teachers leave the field because they could not hand the stress and pressure of being in a classroom…they are now back in the corporate world.
KIM
March 1st, 2011
2:34 pm
Outstanding teachers don’t care how many students are in the class. They are successful in spite of numbers.
I love teaching. I hate what it is becoming...
March 1st, 2011
5:56 pm
Kim. Do you actually teach, because with logic like that we might as well stick kindergarteners in large auditoriums and “teach” them in mass.
Cobb History Teacher
March 1st, 2011
9:28 pm
@teaching day
” As soon as I stop talking they begin.”
This seems to be a major problem these days. It is difficulty to teach let alone give instructions if every time you pause students begin their own conversation. How can THEY learn if THEY don’t want to let you teach? You can talk over them which does not work or you can wait for them to get quiet, but you end up wasting a lot of time and some have figured out they can actually avoid work by doing this repeatedly throughout class.
South Ga Teacher180
March 1st, 2011
11:31 pm
Bill Gates is nothing more than a present day Carnegie. He is the puppet now for the think-tanks and they are telling him what to say and how to say it…he is benefiting from it somehow. The think-tanks run the show and the look to big names to push their agenda. Carnegie and his foundation shaped education in the 20th century and now Gates is being used to shape the socialist agenda for education for the 21st century…..Carnegie 2.0