ALASKA NATIVE EDUCATION RESEARCH SUMMARY

Since the first Russian schoolmaster began teaching Aleut youth on Kodiak Island, a non-Native education system has determined educational policies and programs for Native people. Like American Indian nations in the Lower 48, Alaska Natives have struggled to make the system work for them, sometimes without success. Nationwide statistics indicate that Alaska Natives and American Indian students are the most at risk of all minority groups for failure in school. ¹ When compared to non- Native students, they drop out of school more frequently, are less likely to graduate, and generally have lower educational attainment.

For generations, various approaches have been taken to improve education outcomes. These range from attempts toward complete cultural assimilation to protection and inclusion of Native languages and culture. While there are some successes, statistics show much room for improvement. Results from McDowell Group research indicates that Alaska Natives value classroom education and can identify ways to improve their education as well as their educational experience.

Trends are clearly seen in the findings from the four methods of investigation. Each trend is summarized below. These include perceptible barriers to education, the role that language and culture play in learning, and the role that family and community play in success in school. Finally, Native students may struggle whether they are in a large urban or small rural school, but rural schools cannot compete for teachers and staff, nor offer as many academic opportunities as urban schools.

Barriers to Education

Educational statistics often paint a rather dismal picture of the academic achievement of American Indian/Alaska Native students. The research identifies barriers to academic success that begin in pre-school or kindergarten, and may continue throughout a Native student 's academic experience. Among other things, these barriers include:

• Language and culture differences among students, parents, and school staff.
• Ignorance of Native culture among teachers and other school staff.
• Curriculum, learning materials and teaching styles that do not relate to Native cultural experiences.
• Standardized tests that do not take into account language and culture differences.
• Differences in learning styles between Native and non-Native students.
• Lack of educational role models and parents'attitude toward education.
• Problems at home, including alcoholism, neglect and abuse.
• Other factors that affect students 'performance, such as poverty, indifference, or ambivalence toward education, boredom, and low self-esteem.

  Respondents in all levels of the research agreed these and other factors contribute to the gap that sometimes exists between the educational needs of Alaska Native students and the educational services they receive. The perception of a gap was most apparent in the household survey, in which four in ten respondents (42 percent) said Alaska 's educational system favors non-Native students. They did not believe Native students receive the same educational opportunities as non-Native students.

Role of Family and Community

Success in school is very dependent upon personal history. In the household survey, personal and family history was the primary reason given for the high dropout rate of Alaska Natives. When grouped by subject, 61 percent said substance abuse, pregnancy, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, peer pressure, and other personal issues led Native students to leave high school before graduation. Thirty-eight percent blamed family background:They said many Native families do not encourage schooling and youngsters lack role models in their homes. Violence in the home and family responsibilities also were given as reasons to stop attending school.

Thirty-six percent of survey respondents cited cultural reasons, including the cultural divide between Native students and non-Native teachers. Only 19 percent of respondents listed academic reasons for dropping out of school.

Focus group participants put the onus on parents to set high expectations for their children in school and help them succeed by becoming involved in their education. They looked at education as the combined responsibility of the school system, parents, and all parts of the community. As Native education experts noted -- from their experience and research -- good parenting skills and community involvement are important at all levels of a child 's education. They count the most successful school districts as those that have parental and community commitments.

Schools do not exist in a vacuum. If parents and communities are involved in the local school, the likelihood is greater that educational goals will be achieved, according to the literature. Called "mutual accommodation "in the literature, many studies show that schools and communities need to be engaged in shared leadership, where the school shares decision-making with the community. In communities where this has occurred, student performance reportedly has improved and greater trust exists between school staff and the community (Reyhner, 2001;Yazzie, 2000; Kushman, 1999;and others) . Kushman states that "many parents and community members are content to leave education to the educators "unless they have "a compelling goal deeply rooted in community values, like preserving language and cultural knowledge " ((Kushman et al, 1999, p. vii) .

Role of Language and Culture

The inclusion of Native culture and language in the classroom promotes academic success for Native students, according to the literature (Yazzie, 2000;Reyhner, 1993, 1995;Lomawaima, 1995;Peacock &Day, 1999;and others) . Household survey respondents, key informants, and focus group participants agreed that Native language and culture should be included in Alaska 's school curricula.

Classroom education is generally inconsistent with Native culture and the rural lifestyle. To close the divide between Western education and Alaska Native culture, experts and parents alike suggest that "Native ways of knowing "will improve Native students 'success. Among Native households, more than 80 percent said it was important to teach Alaska Native culture and language. In varying degrees, Alaska Native culture and language studies are being included in school curricula across the state.

Experts agree that Native knowledge should not be limited to language development, history, and traditions. The inclusion of Native knowledge in the teaching of mathematics and science are equally important. Integrating indigenous and Western knowledge into the Alaska school curriculum is the focus of the Alaska Rural Systemic Initiative. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the Annenberg Rural Challenge, AKRSI is attempting to meld traditional knowledge with public school curriculum including math, science, technology, language arts, and social studies. The pilot program is geared toward rural Alaska, but urban schools would benefit as well.

The McDowell Group research shows the importance of a balance between Native knowledge and classroom education. The incorporation of local knowledge also strengthens the ties of the school to the local community.

Education in Urban and Rural Settings

Over four in ten Alaska Natives say the Alaska educational system favors non-Native students. Households with and without children held similar views. In urban Alaska, Natives feel inequality in the classroom more strongly than do those living in rural Alaska.

Other data in the McDowell Group research verifies a strong perception of prejudice in urban Alaska, where Native students are more likely to be in the minority. The transition from rural to urban Alaska is especially difficult for school children.

While McDowell Group focus group participants indicated that Alaska 's cities should do more to welcome and support Native students in transition, the students may lag behind academically long before they reach the cities. The National Indian Education Association indicates that racism is often a large factor in urban schools, making it even more difficult (NIEA, 1990) .

Not only is the urban/rural divide geographic, economic, and cultural, it is also academic. Rural Alaskans do not believe their schools can compete with larger communities to attract good teachers. The high turnover of teachers, counselors, and administrators is also a problem in rural Alaska. Residents complain of poor teacher quality as well as teacher ignorance of Native and rural life. They say their students are not academically prepared for post-secondary education or the world of work.

Alaska Natives students who move from the village to Anchorage are not competitive with their peers, or given enough attention to succeed, according to the research. A focus group participant expressed the problem like this:

Very rarely does an Anchorage Native student have the attention needed to give them confidence to succeed, and a rural student coming into Anchorage does not have a competitive edge because the schools they come from are too small.

Not only do rural schools have difficulty attracting and retaining good teachers and staff, rural schools lack course options offered in urban schools. Native education experts, business leaders who participated in focus group discussions, and Native household respondents said rural Native students are not well prepared for the transition to post-secondary education or to a job.

Sixty-five percent of respondents in rural communities favored regional boarding high schools, compared to 57 percent of urban respondents. Focus group respondents saw regional schools as a way to expand village education and help students make a more successful transition from the village to the city. They perceived that regional schools would be better able to compete with urban schools, so their children would get a better education in a regional school.

Rural schools often lack academic courses, counselors, athletics, music, libraries, and many other amenities that are offered in larger schools. Whatever the solution, rural students need greater educational opportunities.

Improving Education for Alaska Native Children

A major purpose of the McDowell Group studies on Alaska Native education was to identify methods to improve and enhance education programs. History cannot be changed, and many of the difficulties Alaska Natives face in school reflect failed education policies, an education system that inherently favors the majority Euro-American culture, and discrimination.

It is up to parents and communities, as well as the educational system itself, to insist that all Alaska children have equal opportunity to be successful at learning, whether they live in rural or urban Alaska, are Native or non-Native.

Alaska Natives value education in the schoolroom and the traditional classroom. To make school more relevant, Alaska Natives support a curriculum that embraces Alaska Native culture, language, ecology, and other Native ways of knowing. They want better teachers in their classrooms and more Native role models. They hope that parents will become more involved in their children 's education. They want communities and families to share in the responsibility of education. After all, Alaska Native culture already teaches that it takes a village to raise a child.

¹ American Indian Relief Council, http://www. airc. org/living/education. html.

Return to the Alaska Native Education Study: A Summary of Research

Return to the McDowell Final Report

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