摘要：Scott Hamilton is the Forrest Gump of education reform, although with a lot more IQ points and fewer chocolates. He worked for Bill Bennett in the U.S. Department of Education and for Benno Schmidt at the Edison Project. He authorized charter schools in Massachusetts, co-founded the KIPP network, quadrupled the size of Teach For America (TFA), and introduced blended learning at urban Catholic schools. He's been around.
He's proud of what he's done. "There are 40,000 kids in KIPP schools who will have a very different life," Hamilton says. "Thousands of TFA teachers are having a terrific impact."
But that's not enough to "move the needle" on American education, he says. He wants to do more.
Now 47, he's started a new initiative called Circumventure, based in San Francisco. Through surveys, focus groups, field tests, and interviews, Circumventure is asking fundamental questions: Do people want what schools are offering? If not, what do they want? Can technology make it happen?
Hamilton's "aha moment" came in a conversation with a friend who worked for the Gates Foundation's global health initiative.
"We've spent billions on K-12 with little to show for it," Hamilton said. "What should we in education learn from global health people?"
"What's the demand?" is the first question, the global health specialist said. "Do people want what you're trying to provide?"
"Of course they do!" said Hamilton. Then he thought, "Do they?"
