The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday that it will donate more than $1 billion as part of a national plan to improve math education over the next four years.
The goal is to help students succeed in school and get high-paying jobs when they graduate, following the publication of a study showing a strong link between math skills and successful careers.
The foundation, known for its controversial educational decisions, also said it would cut funding for other subjects such as reading, writing and the arts to put more money into math education.
The increased focus on math comes after the Covid-19 pandemic “wreaks havoc” on teaching in high schools and widened the gap between student achievement by race.
Black students’ test scores have dropped more drastically than those of white students, according to Bob Hughes, director of the Gates Foundation’s Elementary School Endowment Program.
The changes to the tuition funding policy come as the foundation believes that better math instruction in the early years is key to helping students succeed in school later in life.
Gates will then provide grants to prepare math teachers to better teach the discipline and for businesses and nonprofits to develop high-quality instructional materials.
The foundation will also support research in math education and make grants to help high school math programs prepare students for college and the workforce.
The investment of just over a billion dollars is equivalent to the amount spent on the entire primary and secondary education program over the last four years, during which only 40% of that money was dedicated to improving math education.
Source: TSF
