Lyndsey Kempf / Excellence in Teaching

In the 2011 Annual Letter from Bill Gates, his section on education titled "Excellence in Teaching" comments on the current low standing of American school systems when compared to the achievements of other countries' programs and offers advice to improve the level of education American student receive. Gates sites many studies that prove that American students are not prepared for higher education and are below average when it comes to core subjects. He show the faults our education and offers suggestions to improve, such as teacher incentive plans and study tools to demonstrate that, while the education problem is currently very large, it is not insurmountable. Gates addresses the people who donate and consider donating to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as concerned citizens so as to gain traction for the issues and uses strong persuasive language to convince the audience to pledge support and donations to the cause.