Scrutinizing Gates's claims

[Cbgord@aol.com]

I came across these comments by Bill Gates this week to a Senate  Committee 
on "Strengthening American Competitiveness." I've excerpted a couple  of his 
most "amazing" claims, involving spectacular gains in high school  graduation 
and in acceptance to four-year colleges. Does anyone on the list know  more 
about these "examples"? For example, who goes to these schools? How many of  them 
require students/families to sign a contract as a precondition for  acceptance 
and meet its requirements or get booted out? How are the "average  graduation 
rates" calculated? And so on.
Thanks.
Craig Gordon
 
 
Thursday, March  08, 2007
Bill Gates: U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on  Strengthening American 
Competitiveness  

http://allintellects.blogspot.com/2007/03/bill-gates-us-senate-committee-heari
ng.html

 
 
New  York City  has opened almost 200 new schools in the last five years, 
with many replacing  the city's most underperforming schools. Our foundation 
supports this effort  through advocacy and grant-making. The first set of new 
schools achieved an  average 79 percent graduation rate compared to graduation 
rates ranging from 31  to 51 percent at the schools they replaced.

Early-college high schools  are perhaps the most innovative initiative 
underway nationally. The approach is  to recruit low-performing students to attend 
high schools that require  enrollment in college courses. The results are 
astounding. Currently, there are  more than 125 early-college high schools in 
operation around the country. So  far, more than 95 percent of the first class of 
ninth graders at the original  three early-college high schools have graduated, 
and over 80 percent of students  have been accepted into four-year colleges.


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