Bill Gates Impact On Education

Bill Gates is considered by many to be the most successful man in America, and since the 1990’s he has been one of, if not the richest person in the world. He was the co-founder of Microsoft and has since become synonymous with computer engineering and software. However he has also become known as a critic of the current American public school system, stating that America is falling behind the rest of the world and the reason is that we are not producing enough knowledge workers, which are vaguely workers that deal with information. Gates’ proposal would change the education system dramatically, creating students who are well equipped to get jobs within the technology sector. Which in theory does sound like an admirable plan considering technology

He is generally in favor of the Common Core, a standard that is criticized by most education advocates, and his opponents accuse him of trying to corporatize the American public education system. Though I agree with Gates in many instances I believe that the public school system should be producing freethinking creative individuals and not simply knowledge workers that will be employed by corporate America. If The United States is expected to keep leading the technological revolution our school system must generating student who are able to think critically and problem solve. On October 7th 2015, Bill Gates gave a speech outlining his ideals for a more effective public school system. His foundation has given tremendous amounts of funding to public school reform. Included in his proposals

It is not a surprise than that testing and the Common Core are such integral pieces in his plan. He admits though that the Common Core has not yet achieved what it set out to by saying, “There’s one other pivotal step in the movement for strong feedback and improvement systems, and that is the adoption of high, consistent academic standards throughout the country…. Unfortunately, when it comes to the Common Core, the attacks have drowned out the facts—and the fact is, the standards are starting to work for students and teachers. […] If we want to achieve excellence, we have to define excellence. And you can’t define it based on politics or individual preferences. You have to define excellence by anchoring it in something real—like getting a good job, or getting a higher ed degree that means something in the workplace. That’s what these standards do: They ensure that students are gaining the skills and knowledge they need to get a good job or succeed in college. ” I agree that the Common Core was rolled out to soon and the public does not have a firm grasp on its aims. The Common Core addresses some effective learning goals in reading, writing, speaking and language that outline important skills students will need to develop. Still I disagree with Gates that each learner needs to be prepared for higher education. Just