Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > November > 30 > Entry
Bill Gates: Small isn’t so big anymore
(Bill Gates, education philanthropist)
There was a little rumble in the education world earlier this month that I’ve been meaning to write about because even a little tremor at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation can have aftershocks throughout the education landscape.
Tom Vander Ark, who built the foundation’s education program into the influential powerhouse it is today, is departing the organization. (A big nod here to my pal Alexander Russo at This Week in Education who’s been tracking the change in outlook at Gates for much of the year and predicted the Vander Ark departure.)
It was Vander Ark who really pushed the Gates emphasis on small schools as an antidote to failure. And, perhaps not coincidentally, just a few months ago the foundation backed away some from the idea that small schools by themselves can make significant change.
Recently, the Seattle Times recapped the Gates experience with small schools and their now realization that perhaps school structure matters less than curriculum and instruction.
As the story states, the original small school idea was born of studies that showed high performing high schools were often small. Gates himself sometimes cited high powered New England prep schools as examples.
The foundation began throwing tons of money as schools that would agree to be redesigned either into separate, small schools or as smaller “schools within schools.” Its even had an impact in Dayton, where new high schools are being designed with self-contained wings for up to 400 students with the idea each wing could virtually operate as an independent school, sharing common building space like the gym, cafeteria and media center but combining only for activities like sports teams and band.
But the bottom line is that so far these schools within schools have had trouble operating efficiently and the overall performance of Gates-influenced small schools has been disappointing. So now Gates is focusing on improving curriculum and Vander Ark is looking for work.
Teachers, what experience have you had with the small school idea?
Permalink | Comments (15) | Categories: Teaching and Learning
Comments
By dps teacher
December 4, 2006 8:54 AM | Link to this
Hey Terri, I was calling DPS a sloth because it slow to react to change while the other effective districts are quick to react to change quickly and efficiently. Those districts do not have the bureaucracy that DPS does. Even Trotwood is quicker to react to change and they are not as beholden to their clientele. So maybe the analogy was not good but I think it got the point across.By keith
December 3, 2006 1:39 PM | Link to this
His company essentially was a monopoly of the operating system until Linux came around. His company bought up any company that was competition to the often poorly designed software from his company’s nonoperating system offerings. What competition? If other competitive operating systems were to have been allowed to develop we would have multiple choices. Software shouldn’t be hundreds of dollars for Office, e.g. Volume should lower price. Apple was the only minor alternative through the years and now Microsoft even bought part of Apple so they could keep something that looked competitve out there. If the oil companies operate the same way, that’s awful; Microsoft because they now donate lots of money, they’re okay? I don’t think so. As for the knowledge he has to share because his mother was a teacher, that reminds me of people who think schools should be run like businesses—like oil companies? I don’t think so. Now they’re changing their theme of small schools will solve all the problems to something else. I am always amused when gurus change their direction which had been the savior of education. Maybe some of the teachers here remember the Ben and Jerry’s (right company?) owner who went around telling teachers how it should be done in the late 80s. Ten years later he had changed his tune about how classrooms work; they weren’t ice cream marketing companies. But he knew all the answers. Oldprof may know the person about whom I’m talking; I’m suffering a brain cramp on the name.By lou
December 3, 2006 12:04 PM | Link to this
How can you call Bill Gates money dirty. He worked harder and smarter than ther software companies. He donates millions, and his employees are nicely taken care of. I also think he knows something about education, his mother was a teacher. The schools that were involve in Knowlegde works (the small school program) were involved in all decisions. The schools wrote the plan, set up the schools and then the Gates Foundation gave the money. The only part Bill Gates really played in the whole things was the money.By Mary
December 2, 2006 11:12 PM | Link to this
Keith, I think everyone deserves a voice in education, including Bill Gates and classroom teachers.By keith
December 2, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
It’s nice to pontificate about how things should work in schools, which is what people like Gates do. But reality is better. If having run a company that gives a lot of wealth collected from creating a monopoly and charging outrageously high prices for software to make that money doesn’t impress me as being a person to emulate for my teenager. It’s nice that he bumps elbows with Ophrah and others and gets interviewed for all the “wonderful” things he does with the dirty money, but he would be better serving the education community to let classroom educators tell what needs to be done.By lou
December 2, 2006 12:20 AM | Link to this
I didn’t mean anything negative about Bill flunking out. I just thought I had heard that. I actually think that he gives a lot. More than he really has to. I have nothing but positives to say about Mr. Gates.By Terri
December 1, 2006 10:12 PM | Link to this
Hey - dps teacher - who are the cheetahs and who are the sloths? I understand your meaning but find the comparison more than a little insulting. You seem to imply DPS students and/or teachers are lazy. Some are, some aren’t, just like in Oakwood and Centerville. A better comparison might be a cheetah in the wild versus a cheetah in a zoo. The former need to fight and scrounge while the latter are given all they need.By Oldprof
December 1, 2006 10:05 PM | Link to this
Gates didn’t flunk out, he dropped out. Having a family that will stake you and your bud to initial operating capital for a new technology firm gives you those options. As the family Christmas card said in that first year, “Bill and his friend have started a business. The profits are murky. (Hope it’s not a turkey!)By Mary
December 1, 2006 8:53 PM | Link to this
Lou, I do not believe Bill Gates flunked out of Harvard. I think he decided to drop out and start Microsoft. Now, he could probably buy Harvard.By Dave
December 1, 2006 8:04 PM | Link to this
Thanks, Lou. I stand corrected.By lou
December 1, 2006 4:02 PM | Link to this
Dave, Bill Gates is from Seattle. He went to public elemetary school and Lakeside (could be lakeview) school there. I think the only New England school he went to was Harvard. I believe he flunked out of there.By Dave
December 1, 2006 1:14 PM | Link to this
Bill Gates came from a New England prep background, and those prep schools are highly respected (I can’t say if the respect is deserved or not). He went with what he knew. The biggest question on the Gates work is, “How small is small?” My senior class (in rural Ohio) was the first in my school’s history to be above 100 students. When I taught in Texas, I was at the smallest HS in the district (2650 students in 9-12 grades). I also subbed quite a bit at the largest school (3500+ students in 10-12 grades). They could offer additional classes (up to 6 years of Mandarin Chinese in Jr. High and High School), but it was extremely easy for students to fall between the cracks.By dps teacher
December 1, 2006 11:16 AM | Link to this
I find it interesting that “research based” practices are not necessarily the best practices. I applaud the Gates Foundation for recognizing this and refocusing on other educational issues. If I was Bill Gates, I would start a consulting organization that districts could use for a more customized approach to their needs, primarily at the building level, and focus on the low performing districts. NCLB claims to focus on the individual student but educators look for a quick cookie cutter way of addressing these needs. Legislators cannot compare the Centervilles and Oakwoods with the Trotwoods and Daytons. It is like comparing cheetahs with sloths. Similar basic functions but entirely different environments. Why would the Gates Foundation base their view of education on New England prep schools? Isn’t that out of touch and unrealistic?By Terri
November 30, 2006 6:23 PM | Link to this
Centerville High School has operated “schools-within-a-school” for ages. They consistently score at the highest levelsBy lou
November 30, 2006 5:06 PM | Link to this
I teach in a school that has been divided. I am not sure that we are really divided. There are many crossovers by the students. Maybe when the new schools are built it will be better. The big problem is that DPS does not have enough elective courses, or inclusion for the students with special needs to be really seperated.