The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is expanding its already significant teacher-quality work to include on-the-job teacher training.
Its education wing today announced the awarding of more than $15 million in 鈥淚nnovative Professional Development鈥� grants over a three-year period. The funds will be split among the Fresno, Calif.; Long Beach, Calif; and Jefferson County, Colo., districts, with each receiving about $5 million.
Using their grants, the districts will be expected to create new systems for professional development to deliver better-quality content and make use of new models of delivery such as in-class coaching, video, and online or blended learning. They鈥檒l also be asked to build both the collective learning of teachers, and to deliver personalized help for each teacher鈥檚 own needs.
(For context, it鈥檚 worth mentioning that, in PD circles, there鈥檚 been a lot of discussion about 鈥渋ndividual鈥� vs. 鈥渃ollective鈥� improvement. Popular PD models, such as grade- or district-level teacher teams, have bumped up a bit against the deeply individual focus of new evaluation systems.)
The work grew out of Gates鈥� support for implementing the Common Core State Standards through efforts like the , said Carina Wong, the deputy director of Gates鈥� college-ready team.
鈥淲hat we started to see was how powerful teacher鈥檚 voices were when they were at the center of those tools and how much they wanted to collaborate,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd we started thinking about things like, 鈥楬ow digital can we go? How data-driven can we get? What鈥檚 the next phase of supporting teachers? What鈥檚 an innovative, intelligent way to start thinking about PD?鈥� 鈥�
The districts will be expected to track the cost and efficacy of their new PD options (two big problems I鈥檝e written about before), and to share lessons learned with other districts. This will include new ways of using teacher time: At least one district has promised to revamp its schedule so as to provide teachers with a full day of professional learning each week.
The foundation鈥檚 theory of action is probably best summed up by this graphic.
Five districts in all got planning grants with which to pitch their ideas to the foundation; teachers made up at least half of the team that designed each district鈥檚 proposal. Two other districts, New Haven and Bridgeport, both in Connecticut, didn鈥檛 receive funds this go-around but could qualify later, Gates officials said.
Meanwhile, this isn鈥檛 all Gates has up its sleeve regarding professional development. A quick shows that the foundation also has invested in a number of specific professional-development platforms, including a $965,000 grant to LearnZillion and a $6.7 million one to TeachingChannel, both of which host video lesson exemplars for teachers. Wong said the foundation wants to help improve the quality of tools and services offered in what鈥檚 historically been a fragmented and somewhat parochial PD marketplace.
The field鈥檚 reception of these ideas will be important to watch. Many educators have criticized the foundation鈥檚 seeming emphasis on measuring teacher quality over supporting teachers in improving their craft. There are probably some who will be uneasy about Gates鈥� continuing interest鈥攁nd influence鈥攊n the teacher-policy world.
I鈥檒l be reaching out to the districts to gather more details from them in short order, so stay tuned.
(The Gates Foundation provides operating support to the nonprofit that publishes 91直播 and underwrites coverage of business & innovation topics. 91直播 retains full editorial control over this coverage.)