Northwest Regional Comprehensive Center

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American Indian/Alaska Native Students

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students have the lowest graduation rates of any racial/ethnic subgroup in the Northwest region. In addition, a disproportionate number of non-Native teachers work with AI/AN students and traditional teacher preservice programs frequently do not prepare teachers to work with these students, whose everyday lives may differ dramatically from their peers. As a result, culturally incongruent practices can inhibit improved student achievement. The NWCC provides technical assistance to build Northwest states’ capacity to support their schools and districts in meeting the unique social and cultural needs of AI/AN students.

The following resources related to this priority area have been compiled by NWCC staff.

Resources


National Indian Education Study The National Center for Education Statistics released the National Indian Education Study (NIES). The study is designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the United States.
Strengthening Indian Country Through Tribal Youth Programs The American Youth Policy Forum recently released a report examining how Tribal Youth Programs (TYP), supported by the office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) at the U.S. Department of Justice, are succeeding in improving the lives of youth and strengthening families through detailed case-studies of five tribal communities.
Indian Education Policies in Five Northwest Region States This REL Northwest report categorizes the Indian education policies of five Northwest Region states based on 13 key policies identified in the literature. It also describes the legal methods used to adopt them, such as statutes, regulations, and executive orders.
Native Education 101: Basic Facts About American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian Education The National Indian Education Association and the National Education Association recently released a joint publication that helps educators, lawmakers, and the public better understand Native education in the U.S.
National Indian Education Study - Part II: The Educational Experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native Students in Grades 4 and 8 The National Center for Education Statistics recently released a report presenting information about the educational, home, and community experiences of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN. fourth- and eighth-grade students that was collected during the National Indian Education Study (NIES. of 2007) AI/AN students represent about 1 percent of the student population in the United States.
Examining American Indian Perspectives in the Central Region on Parent Involvement in Children's Education The U. S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) recently published a report prepared by the Regional Educational Laboratory Central (McREL) examining American Indian parents' perceptions of parent involvement in their children's education and factors that may encourage or discourage involvement.
Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives: 2008 The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) has released a report examining both the educational progress of American Indian/Alaska Native children and adults and challenges in their education.
Achievement Gap Patterns of Grade 8 American Indian and Alaska Native Students in Reading and Mathematics REL Northwest recently published a report focusing on student proficiency in reading and math from 2003–2004 to 2006–2007.

NWCC is part of a nationwide network of 15 regional technical assistance centers established by the U.S. Department of Education. The Comprehensive Centers were created to deliver high-quality technical assistance, information, and resources to state education agencies (SEAs). Chartered in the Pacific Northwest in 1966 as Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Education Northwest now conducts more than 200 projects annually, working with schools, districts, and communities on evidence-based solutions to the challenges they face.