American Indians/Alaska Natives: Education Issues
 

The AIAN community faces educational issues similar to other minority groups, including the need for adequate funding for schools serving minority and disadvantaged students, as well as other issues with a special impact on the community:

• Student achievement gaps need to be aggressively addressed. For example, while 71 percent of AIANs age 25 or older had a high school diploma or more in the 2000 census, only 11 percent had a bachelor's degree or more, compared to 27 percent of Whites.

• There is an increasing need for quality teachers in Indian schools. Due to rural isolation, low teacher salaries, high poverty, and differences in languages and cultures, it is difficult to recruit and retain quality teachers in Indian schools. Further, the need for special education teachers is growing since representation of AIAN students in special education is at 18 percent, almost double the rest of the student population at 10 percent.

• The contributions of AIANs in American history and contemporary society have not been adequately recognized in public school curriculums. Too few students know, for instance, that the U.S. Constitution was developed in part upon concepts of

  Quinton Roman Nose, Tribal Education Directors National Assembly; Robin Butterfield, National Education Association; Carol Juneau, National Conference of State Legislators - Indian Caucus; and Verlianne Malina-Wright, President, National Indian Education Association gathered in Philadelphia July 4, 2007 during NEA's annual conference.

  democracy gained from the League of the Iroquois. Misconceptions about the "discovery of America by Columbus" do not recognize the pre-existance of sophisticated Indian nations. In addition, the "land bridge" theory of migration perpetuates the myth that all people immigrated to this continent. More needs to be taught about the value and importance of AIAN history and culture.
  

• Native schools continue to be plagued by safety concerns, with high suspension and expulsion rates, and the highest percentage of all groups to report injury with weapons and fights on school grounds.

NEA Resources

Native Education 101: Basic Facts about American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Education (PDF)
This helpful report by NEA and the National Indian Education Association looks at issues impacting academic achievment for these students including community concepts, types of schools, teacher preparation, class size, erosion of native languages, tribal sovereignty, and the need for self determination. (September 2007)

Status of American Indians and Alaska Natives in Education
On October 27, 2004, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) educators from Mississippi to Alaska gathered in Phoenix, Arizona, to share their knowledge of effective educational strategies for AI/AN students. They produced a report that discusses educational attainment and contributions of tribal schools and colleges, historical implications of indigenous/non-indigenous contact, and best practices for promoting success in Indian students. Finally, you'll find a timeline of selected dates in Indian history and education. (2006)

NCLB Leaves Native American Students Behind
A report by the National Indian Education Association shows the federal No Child Left Behind Act is contributing to "a crisis in Indian education."The report found a variety of barriers to learning faced by American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students. Among those barriers are stereotyping students and budget shortfalls. NEA President Reg Weaver concurred with the report. He said, "Labels don't help children learn. The report documents that American Indian children are internalizing the system's failures as their own personal failures." (October 2005)

Member Profiles

Meet A Lifetime Fighter for Rights and Respect
Retired special education teacher Agnes Chavis of North Carolina empathized with the discrimination experienced by her students. Find out why this Lumbee Indian and daughter of tenant farmers felt such a strong need to fight for the rights of all students regardless of ability and ethnicity.

Lesson Ideas

Lesson Ideas for American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month
From Native American recipies to oral histories, you'll find materials to that help you teach and learn about America's original inhabitants.

Native American Booklist
Check out NEA's literary picks that include titles from Pre-K through high school. All are listed by grade level and include fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

Activities to Celebrate Native American Heritage
November is National American Indian Heritage Month. Education World offers 12 lessons to help students learn about Native American history and cultures. Included: Activities that involve students in dramatizing folktales, learning new words, preparing traditional foods, and much more.

What's in a Name?
This lesson for all grades explores the Native American roots of U.S. state names.

"Focus On" reports

Learning the Culture of Native American Students -- Two States Step Forward ( PDF)
Research shows students learn best when they see themselves -- their culture, language, and experiences -- reflected in the curriculum. That's why Montana and South Dakota in 2006-07 funded or passed laws requiring educators to learn about the culture of American Indian students and integrate that knowledge into their lessons across the K-12 curriculum. Both laws reflect states’ efforts to improve achievement of its Native students and enhance inter-group relations between their Indian and non-Indian populations. (2007)

Endangered Indian Languages ( PDF)
For American Indians, the loss of languages has been intimately tied to the loss of major parts of their culture. Conversely, current efforts being made by American Indians/Alaska Natives to maintain or recapture their languages approach a nativisticrevitalization movement. (2006)

Indian Student Achivement Today ( PDF)
A recent longitudinal study of early childhood found that AI/AN students “enter kindergarten with significantly lower reading, mathematics, and general knowledge achievement scores than other students.” Yet, by grades 4 and 8, AI/AN students exceed African American and Hispanic students and narrow the gap with white and Asian/Pacific Island students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in reading and mathematics. The tragedy of the AI/AN achievement gap is in the subsequent drop off of these students as they progress through high school. (2005)

Resources from other organizations

Tribal College Resource Center
This White House initiative reflects the Federal Government's commitment to tribal colleges and recognized these schools are often the only postsecondary institutions within some of the nation's poorest rural areas. They help maintain and preserve native languages and cultural traditions as well as offer high-quality college education, job training, and career-building programs.

Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics examines the educational performance and challenges facing Native children and adults in this country. Additionally, the report shows that while there have been increases in educational attainment, differences persist between American Indian/Alaska Natives and their peers.

Study Finds Acquiring Heritage Language Helps Native Students Achieve Academically
(  PDF, 43 pp.)
Native American and Hawaiian children who learn their heritage language typically learn English no slower than their peers enrolled in English-only programs and generally outperform those same peers on standardized tests, according to "Language Planning Challenges and Prospects in Native American Communities and Schools," a study from the Language Policy Research Unit at the Education Policy Studies Laboratory at Arizona State University by Mary Eunice Romero Little and Teresa L. McCarty.

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