http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/living-in-dialogue/2012/07/...
The Gates Foundation work is and will likely continue to be disastrous for public education in the U.S. It is simply an attempt to push education into the private sector.
"Microsoft's review system, in which a mid-level manager has significant control over all the review scores within a 100+ person group (so it's in your best interest to get on his/her good side), and conversely needs only a fraction of that group's total support to succeed as a manager (so it's in his/her best interest to cultivate a loyal fanclub to provide that support). The cult gives the manager the appearance of broad support, and makes the few people who speak out against him/her look like sour grapes unrepresentative of a larger majority. After a string of successes, the manager is nearly invincible."