Native+American+High+School+Drop+Out+Rates

= Native American High School Dropout Rates =

For a lot of American Indians, the topic of education has been somewhat of a burden. Multiple studies and research has shown that American Indians have the highest dropout rates of all ethnic groups in the United States. American Indian dropout rates have been caused by many different factors; furthermore, there are programs that have been created to help end the cycle of dropouts and increase the number of graduations.

American Indian dropout rates have been caused by many different factors, including cultural, social, and curriculum issues. Majority of studies have found that one of the largest contributions to student dropout rates is the lack of teacher support and understanding. In an article from the website __American Indian Education__, they have found that identity formation in American Indian students is obstructed due to the deficiency of teacher-student relationships. The connection between cultures is severed because the teachers who are placed in the schools have little or no understanding of the cultures their students come from. In a paper done by Mary Cornelius, she found that the cultural differences, such as, responding as a group and performing individually in front of classmates is unfamiliar with American Indian students because the tribe does not put emphasis on individual performance; in essence, it is done as a group. Another setback is from the home.

According to Rudolfo Chavez Chavez, most American Indian students come from homes where there is a lot of poverty. Because of this, a lot of parents have little or no education. This often leads to an off-putting behavior towards receiving and education. In a news article by Jodi Rave Lee, she talked with American Indian students about their experiences with peers and their observations on dropout rates. One student said, “That really bugs me that members of my own race resent me.” The lack of understanding about education is driving students who were once motivated to learn, to dropout of school.

Not only are cultural and social issues a cause for dropout rates, but so is curriculum. Schools have the responsibility for providing their students with the best education possible, whether it is on or off a reservation. However, reservation schools have limited resources in being able to provide their students with adequate instruction. Along with teachers, money and curriculum are two other problems within these educating systems. Some reservation schools receive financial support from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and only about ten percent of native students attend these schools, according to Lee. The funding is low because the Bureau of Indian Affairs, itself, gets little aid from the government alone. Furthermore, society and education are placing a huge emphasis on technology at home and at work. American Indian schools are excruciatingly far behind in this area due to their lack of funding. Also, the curriculum programs play a big role in causing students to want to turn away from school. Majority of the curriculum that is used generally has no ties to American Indian culture. A lot of American Indian students want their culture and way of life to be incorporated within the classroom but this is not being done.

To help end the critical problem, many different organizations have been established to help schools and students achieve higher graduation rates. One of these organizations is the National Indian Education Association. This group has initiated the Native High School Policy Initiative, designed to provide national and local awareness of different areas related to education, such as, gaps in student performance, providing curriculum to prepare students for college, and more. Another goal is to encourage implementation of Native cultural areas, like language and tradition. A more local approach one school is taking to help solve the problem is through alternative programs. In an article done by the website __Education__ World, Shead High School in Maine works with high school students to develop long term plans, individual instruction, counseling and more through their alternative program. This type of program is able to work with students and provide one-on-one or additional instruction as students need it. The program works with students and supports them.

Dropout rates among American Indians is an issue that needs to be taken more seriously not only among the tribes and reservations, but also within our country. Most American Indian students attend public schools where they are lost in the crowd. There needs to be more of an effort to help all students be successful or this will be a perpetuating problem for many years to come.

This article discusses part of the reason why Native American students dropout or are pushouts, which means their needs are not being met and they leave. There is a lack of understanding of the values and cultural needs of the students from teachers at the schools, which leads to multiple problems. Some of these include identity issues, not providing the correct type of education for the students, and more.
 * Annotated Bibliography **
 * 1.****Arizona, University of Northern. "American Indian School Dropouts and Pushouts." 2010. __American Indian Education.__ 6 4 2011 .**

The article on from this website talks about off-reservation boarding schools and the impact they have on students from reservations. They incorporate within their daily tasks and lessons traditional Native American cultural aspects that were cut out by the government in 1960. The students from the boarding schools see them as a safe place away from alcoholism and suicide.
 * 2. Bear, Charla. "American Indian School A Far Cry from the Past." 13 5 2008. __NPR.__ 6 4 2011 .**

This book specifically deals with the issue of Native American women and education. It examines the major factors that inhibit their education, as well as, the impending dropout problem.
 * 3. Bowker, Ardy. __Sisters in the Blood: The Education of Women in Native America.__ 1993. 6 4 2011 . //Click on the PDF link//**

General website based on the Bureau of Indian Education. They offer many different kinds of support and sources for the schools that they aid financially.
 * __4. Bureau of Indian Education.__ 9 6 2010. 6 4 2011 .**

One of the biggest factors in the limited success of American Indian students in schools are the language and social factors that have a central role in the lives of the students. This article compares various ethnic groups and their setbacks in education in relation to social factors and lack of mainstream language.
 * 5. Chavez, Rudolfo Chavez, Laura D. Belkin, Julie Hornback, and Keith Adams. __Dropping out of School: Issues Affecting Culturally, Ethnically, and Linguistically Distinct Student Groups.__ 1991. 6 4 2011 .**

This article provides a positive outlook on American Indian graduation, rather than the negative focused articles. In Arizona graduation rates among American Indians increased 13% between 2000-2004. The author and administrators give credit to the programs designed to help increase graduation rates for this significant achievement.
 * 6. Coomes, Jessica. "Indian Graduation Rates Better." 9 7 2006. __Arizona Republic.__ 6 4 2011 .**

In her article, Cornelius tackles the mission of discovering the causes of dropout rates in Native American Reservation schools. Among some of her research she compares traditional public school with reservation-run schooling. She also talks about issues with teachers not understanding the culture of the students, which drives the students away, and the attitudes that tribes have on education is sometimes negative.
 * 7. Cornelius, Mary. "An Exploration of Possible Causes of High Dropout Rates in Native American Reservation Schools." 1 1 2002. __Digital Commons@ Univeristy of Nebraska-Lincoln.__ 6 4 2011 .**

Explores the programs a school has created to help their students transition from small reservation-run schools to larger public high schools. One school also tracks their students after they leave the school and move onto higher education.
 * 8. "Education World: Native American Schools Ponder, Assail Dropout Rates." 2011. __Education World.__ 6 4 2011 .**

Examines the issue of dropouts among American Indian and Alaska Native students by analyzing graduation rates between states. From their findings, New Mexico has the largest percentage of dropout rates overall and Oklahoma had the least.
 * 9. Faircloth, Susan C. and John W. Tippeconnic, III. 1 2010. __The Drop Out/Graduation Crisis Among American Indian and__ __Alaska Native Students.__ 6 4 2011 <[]>. //Click on the link in the box on the right hand side of the page.//**

In this journal article, the group approaches the relation of No Child Left Behind and American Indian education, and what needs to be done in order to provide the best education possible. Overall, the act has hurt more schools, American Indian and non-American Indian, than helped them. The most critical problem is that it has had such a profound impact on American Indian students and has hindered their education, thus leading to more dropouts.
 * 10. __Focus On: American Indians and Alaska Natives.__ 2010. 11 4 2011 .**

This website talks about the study done by the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA's Grad School. The actual study is listed in this list of sources by the author Susan C. Faircloth.
 * 11. "High School Graduation Rates Low Where Most American Indians, Alaska Natives Live." 19 2 2010. __Diverse Education.__ 6 4 2011 .**

This website was developed for the programs that have a significant, positive impact on reducing the dropout rates in American Indian education. It gives general information about the programs and offers more information and resources about dropout and graduation rates.
 * 12. __Indian Education Information.__ 22 6 2010. 6 4 2011 .**

This article focuses on dropout rates in New Mexico among Native Americans and Hispanics. The author gives some statistics on current and past dropout rates of the two groups as compared with the rest of the nation. He then proceeds in interviewing some students to get their take on the dropout crisis and why classmates have dropped out.
 * 13. Kitchen, Richard S. and Diane Torres Velasquez. __Dropouts in New Mexico: Native American and Hispanic Students Speak Out.__ 2000. 9 4 2011 .**

In the article, the author interviews numerous American Indian students about their experiences with school and the high dropout rates. Some students saw education as a positive aspect in their lives. Others found it to lead to problems outside of school and with their friends who had dropped out or decided to not continue going to school.
 * 14. Lee, Jodi Rave. "High Dropout Rates Points to a Number of Challenges Hurting American Indian Students." 12 3 2000. 6 4 2011 .**

Video on how the Menominee are taking action to help end dropout rates within their schools.
 * __15. Menominee Indian School District Success Story.__ 2 3 2010. 11 4 2011 .**

In her research, Morrison interviewed American Indian middle school students in Wisconsin to get their opinion on high school and college. She found that most students were not influenced by their home life in forming their opinion on post-secondary education; it was the teachers who had the largest impact. Overall, the students had a positive attitude about continuing school.
 * 16. Morrison, Lesley A. __Native American Students Perspecitves on Higher Education.__ 7 2006. 6 4 2011 .**

This website addresses society’s lack of awareness of the significant dropout rates among American Indians. He also talks about the different factors that lead students to dropout from high school or not attend.
 * 17. Reyhner, Jon. "Dropout Nation." 2006. __American Indian Education.__ 6 4 2011 .**

Along with the "Dropout Nation" article, this goes into depth on the specific studies that were conducted and the empirical results on why American Indian students are dropping out.
 * 18. —. "Dropout Prevention for American Indian and Alaska Native Students." 1992. __American Indian Education.__ 6 4 2011 <http://www2.nau.edu/~jar/INAR.html>.**

In this article from the National Indian Education Association, they take their stance in how they are taking action to increase graduation rates among their people. The article outlines important areas they are focusing on in order to help the situation progress in a more positive way through curriculum and instruction.
 * 19. Venegas, Kerry. __High School Policy Initiative: Looking Back and Moving Forward.__ 2009. 6 4 2011 <http://www.niea.org/sa/uploads/researchtopics/49.29.HighSchoolEquitySpring2008.pdf>.**

This paper summarizes various articles and studies that have been done that specifically offer evidence or were conducted on why Native American males dropout. Majority of what studies have found were in line with each other in finding the reasons why majority of males do not complete high school.
 * 20. __Why Do Native American Males Dropout?__ 6 4 2011 <http://www.nbowmanconsulting.com/Why_do_Native_American_Males_Drop_Out12.3.08%5B1%5D.pdf>.**