The annual meeting of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) is convening this week in Philadelphia, and I’m a Montana delegate to the Environment committee and to the Agriculture/Energy committees. This morning, the week-long convention began with Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, delivering a keynote address on education.
The statistics on US students for science and math proficiency are lower than other nations’, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is donating to schools to try to improve students’ performance and to encourage students to excel.
Gates said that teachers should be evaluated on student test scores and on number of students advancing (graduating classes or grades), and that the US must invest in education. He supported distance learning and online tutorials, videos, and information. He mentioned high-tech high schools, talented and engaging teachers that make learning fun, and investing time and energy into teaching; it’s one of the best returns-on-investment we have.
more later. very tired.