Irony in the naming of Chief Joseph Dam

CHIEF JOSEPH DAM

In central Washington the second largest dam in the United States is located. It is named for Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Indians. The dam's name, however is ironic, given this quote from Chief Joseph: "I have carried a heavy load on my back ever since I was a boy. I realized then that we could not hold our own with the white men. We were like deer. They were like grizzly bears. We had small country. Their country was large. We were contented to let things remain as the Great Spirit Chief made them. They were not, and would change the rivers and mountains if they did not suit them." Naming the dam for him, thus, seems a dishonor, not an honor.

I saw an article in ASCD on what brings success to schools where many students are economically disadvantaged and why it is rare.

High-poverty Texas school finds formula for success

"Reaching such an achievement isn't because of one single factor. Bowling said she's selective in her hiring. Many teachers will stay as late as 5:30 p.m. to work with children. "...
"The twice-monthly parenting lessons address topics such as preparing children for the transition to middle school and teaching the adults math lessons so they can teach their children."...
"Bob Sanborn, president of Children at Risk, a Texas-based research and advocacy group, said many factors go into successful poor schools. He calls such campuses "outliers" because of their rarity.Other factors he listed are strong parent involvement, small class sizes, good hiring practices and high attendance rates."

"We tend to see they have good leadership," he said. "It's either very experienced leadership that knows the community or engages parents or very young and energetic with lots of ideas. It's not normal leadership – it's extraordinary for many reasons." ...

Everyone wants success for all students and most believe in magic bullets, like charter schools, merit pay or more money, but rather hard work, experience and community connections, engaging and training parents, and passion that leads staff to giving their all seem to be what makes a difference regardless of the economic strata of the students. There are no cookie cutter assembly line approaches that automatically make a difference. Knowledge of strategies that have worked elsewhere is invaluable, but the will to implement them and keep trying until success is attained (persistence) are needed.

A second article about teacher merit pay reinforces this.

Study: Paying Teachers for Student Performance Doesn't Raise Test Scores

Vanderbilt did a study in Tennessee that found that bonuses up to $15,000 for teachers whose students received higher test scores had no effect on student achievement.

What does all this say to the millions of dollars just given to Newark schools by the founder of Facebook? Time will tell if it will make any difference.