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Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Skewed Values - Inside Higher Ed
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Tangentially relevant to AI safety discussions around the dangers of optimizing for measurable proxies over genuine values — a tech philanthropist case study illustrating Goodhart's Law dynamics in sociotechnical systems.
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Importance: 18/100opinion piececommentary
Summary
A critical opinion piece arguing that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's education programs reveal a mismatch between stated goals and underlying values, particularly around unproven personalized learning software and SAT-focused initiatives. The author contends that technology-driven education reform driven by Silicon Valley philanthropists often substitutes measurable proxies for genuine learning outcomes.
Key Points
- •CZI's Summit Learning Platform for personalized learning lacks evidence of effectiveness, with even industry pioneers admitting the 'engineering model' doesn't work.
- •Declaring goals like 'student potential' is meaningless without shared values about what learning and achievement actually mean.
- •CZI is structured as an LLC, not a charity, raising questions about the role of proprietary technology in its education mission.
- •Partnerships focused on SAT prep and AP courses may conflict with broader goals of helping every child realize their full potential.
- •Silicon Valley philanthropists risk repeating mistakes of earlier education reformers who optimized for measurable proxies over genuine outcomes.
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| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | Organization | 50.0 |
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July 12, 2018
# The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative's Skewed Values
You can't define your goals if you don't understand your values.
By [John Warner](https://www.insidehighered.com/node/7407)
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Stipulated: Everyone involved in education wants what’s best for students.
Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg are among those who have declared this desire and have put some money behind the goal of achieving the best for students with their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
In the first paragraph of their education [mission statement](https://www.chanzuckerberg.com/education), headlined with “Putting students and teachers at the center of education," CZI says, “The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative believes that every child should enter adulthood able to recognize and realize their full potential. This means that by age 21, everyone should be able to earn a living wage, build independence, and identify and pursue their passions.”
It’s a pretty solid mission statement. I’m willing to sign on.
But what the CZI is up to with its highlighted programs reveals the limits of declaring a goal without also discussing the values which underpin the pursuit of that goal. As education reformers have found out, declaring we want to raise student achievement is not particularly meaningful when that achievement is defined by standardized test scores which can be manipulated by cheating, as happened in Atlanta and Washington D.C.
A goal absent shared values in the pursuit of that goal becomes problematic. In fact, if the values aren’t shared, we may not actually be agreeing on the goal in the first place. We all want students to “learn,” but you’ll find many different definitions and ways to measure learning, some of which may be in direct opposition.
When values aren’t considered before setting goals, some odd things can happen.
Consider one of the CZI’s chief education projects, its Summit Learning Platform for personalized learning. I left out the final sentence of the first paragraph of the CZI mission statement, “We believe a whole child approach to personalized learning – focused on and led by the learner – is the most promising way to achieve this vision.”
So while there’s no doubt the CZI wants what’s best for students, that best must also involve technology-mediated personalized learning as housed in a proprietary technology developed by the CZI which is not a charity, but a limited liability
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