A Quiet Revolution
During my first year working full time in philanthropy, I met a variety of brilliant people, including AIDS researchers, agronomists developing drought-tolerant crops, and teachers trying to find new ways to inspire students. These people all have different jobs, but they have at least one ambition in common: a desire to innovate. As the world struggles back from the recession of 2009, it's hard to be hopeful about the future. But because of our constant search for progress, I am very optimistic. It's our ingenuity that makes the difference between a bleak future and a bright one.
If we project what the world will be like 10 years from now without additional breakthroughs in health, energy, and food, the picture is quite dark. People in poor countries will continue to die from preventable diseases, energy costs will escalate, and the world's population will overwhelm the land available for farming. But innovations will allow us to avoid these bleak outcomes, improving lives in the U.S. and around the world. With better access to vaccines and drugs, health in poor countries will continue to improve. With better seeds, training, and access to markets, farmers in poor countries will grow more food. With a clean way to produce cheap electricity, we will reduce emissions and avert the worst effects of climate change.
But unfortunately, society does not generally invest enough in innovation—especially in areas where it would help the poor (who aren't an attractive market) and where there isn't an agreed-upon measure of excellence. In the U.S., that means we have not invested nearly what we should in innovation for education. Our education system has been fundamental to our success as a nation, but the way we prepare students has barely changed in 100 years. If we don't find ways to improve our schools, making them more effective and more accessible, we won't fulfill our commitment to equal opportunity, and we will become less competitive with other countries.
It's amazing how much a teacher in the top quartile can help a struggling student. But when it comes to feedback, many teachers lack the guidance to help them be great. Instead of specific reviews that discuss their performance, they often get a checklist of basics, like showing up on time and keeping the classroom clean. We need a new system of evaluation, one that delves into specific weaknesses and suggests ways for teachers to work on them. Such a system must also be predictable, of course, so teachers won't fear that it's capricious. It also needs to incorporate things like feedback from students, parents, and fellow teachers, as well as time spent reviewing actual teaching.
In pursuit of this new system, our foundation has pledged more than $300 million to districts in Tampa, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and a coalition of charter schools in Los Angeles. Teachers in these cities will be among the first in the country to receive incentive pay that is based on effectiveness. We have also set aside $45 million to study fair, reliable measures of effectiveness. If most of the teachers in these locations like the new approach and share their positive experiences, then these methods will spread. Our goal is for them to become standard practice nationwide.
Another crucial innovation in education involves using interactive technology to deliver high-quality materials for teachers and students. Now that watching videos is a standard part of the Internet experience, we can put great lectures online so that everyone can benefit from the best teachers. (Personally, I like the online physics and chemistry courses from MIT.) Alternatively, software can also be used to tailor lessons to individual students, so kids can stop spending time on the things they already know and focus on the areas they are confused about. While it won't replace face-to-face teaching, it could make remedial courses far more effective—helping students move on to the next phase of their education instead of discouraging them into dropping out. That's the kind of innovation that can lead to a brighter future for everyone.
一场静悄悄的革命
在我全职工作于慈善事业的第一年里，我遇到了各种各样的优秀人物，其中包括研究艾滋病的科学家、为了开发耐旱作物的农学家、以及尝试用新方法激发学生潜力的教师。这些人的工作都不相同，但他们至少有一样抱负是相同的：渴望创新。当全世界都在从2009年的经济衰退中挣扎的时候，想要对未来抱有很大的希望是很困难的。但是由于我们为了进步不懈追求，我还是很乐观。正是我们的创造力决定了我们的未来是暗淡无光还是前程似锦。
未来10年里，如果在健康、能源和粮食方面没有突破的话，那么我们的未来将会是漆黑一片。贫穷国家的人民还会继续死于可以预防的疾病，能源价格将会逐步上涨，世界的人口将要把耕地完全侵占掉。但是创新将会使我们避免这些暗淡的前景，创新将会提高美国人民以及全世界人民的生活。当获取疫苗和药品变得更方便的时候，贫穷国家的健康水平将会继续提高。贫穷国家的农民在获得更好的种子、培训以及农产品市场后，他们会生生产出更多的粮食。通过采用清洁的方式来获得廉价的电能，我们将会减少二氧化碳的排放，从而阻止气候变暖带来的最严重的影响。
但是不幸的是，社会在创新上通常投资不足—尤其是在那些能帮助穷人（他们不是一个具有吸引力的市场）的领域以及那些对优秀没有确定标准的领域。在美国，这意味着我们在教育创新方面的投资不够。作为一个国家，我们的教育体系对我们的成功起着根本性的作用，但是在100年里，我们培养学生的方式几乎没有什么改变。如果我们找不到提高我们学校质量的方法，从而使得我们的学校更加有效，更加开放的话，我们将不能实现我们所做的机会平等的承诺，我们国家的竞争力将会下降。
一名优秀的老师对一名“后进”学生所起的作用简直难以估量。但是当说到反馈的时候，很多老师缺乏指导来帮助他们成为伟大的老师。老师们得不到有关他们表现的具体评价，检查他们的都是一些非常基本的东西，比如是否准时上课，是否保持教室干净。我们需要一套新的评价体系，这种体系深入到老师的具体缺点，然后为老师提出建议改进这些缺点。当然，这样的评价体系必须是可预测的，这样老师们就不会感到无所适从。这种体系也需要把学生的反馈、家长的反馈以及同事的反馈考虑进来，同时也需要考虑花在评估实际教学的时间。
在探索这种新的评价体系中，我们基金会拿出3亿多美元提供给坦帕市（Tampa）、孟菲斯市（Memphis）、匹兹堡市（Pittsburgh）的一些学校，以及洛杉矶市的一个政府特许学校联盟。这些城市中的老师将成为美国的第一批获绩效奖励工资的老师，他们的绩效工资取决于他们的教学成效。我们还拨出4千5百万美元用于研究教学效率的公平、可靠的测量方法。如果这些城市中的大多数老师喜欢这种新方式，而且分享他们积极的经验，那么我们就会把这些方法扩展开去。我们的目的是让这些老师成为全国的实践标准。
教育中另外一个关键的创新包括使用互动式的技术为老师和学生提供高质量的素材。既然在网上观看视频是家常便饭的事，那么我们可以把优秀的授课视频放到网上，这样每个人都可以从最好的老师那里获益。（对我个人来说，我喜欢MIT的物理和化学在线课程。）另外，可以使用软件来对课程进行调整，以适合不同学生的需要，这样孩子们在已经学会的课程上就可以不用花时间了，而是把时间集中在他们不清楚的地方。虽然互动式技术不会取代面对面的教学，但是这种技术能使补课的效果高很多—帮助学生进入到适合他们的下一个学习层次，而不是使他们灰心丧气地辍学。这就是能让每个人拥有更加光明的未来的教育创新。
Vocabulary:
Revolution: 革命
Philanthropy: 慈善
Variety: 各种各样
Brilliant: 优秀的
Agronomist: 农学家
Drought: 干旱
Innovate: 创新
Recession: 经济衰退
Optimistic: 乐观的
Ingenuity: 聪明才智；独创力
Bleak: 无望的；荒芜的；
Escalate: 使逐步扩大，加剧；升级；
Vaccine: 疫苗
Avert: 防止，避免（危险、坏事）
Fulfill: 实现
Commitment: 承诺
Evaluation: 评估；评价
Delve into sth: 探索；探究；考察
Capricious: （态度或行为）反复无常的；多变的
Incentive: 刺激；鼓励；激励
Crucial：关键的
Interactive：互动的
Remedial：补救的；（为后进学生）补习的
英文原文来自 www.newsweek.com 作者Bill Gates. 该英文改编自比尔•盖茨2010新年公开信的前言部分。 （编辑：姚阿珊）
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