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IMPROVING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS Introduction Improving the quality of education for Native American (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian) studentsespecially with the intent of improving academic performancepresents a complex challenge for schools serving Native communities. Especially important players in meeting this challenge are Native American educators, researchers, parents, and tribal and political leaders. Traditional systems of Native American educationused to transfer skills and knowledge from one generation to the nextdeveloped over thousands of years. In these systems, students were not allowed to fail. The family, clan, tribe, and responsible mentors worked with the youth until the information or task was clearly learned. The lessons were an integrated part of daily life and ceremonies, not a separate or isolated activity. >Many of these traditional systems for educating the youth of a tribe are no longer practiced. Dramatic changes in education systems occurred because of a mix of cultural, social, and political interventions that have taken place among all Native peoples. In response, tribal groups recognized that knowledge and technology new to the tribe required mentors from outside the community. Missionaries and church groups first introduced formal educational opportunities outside the tribe by offering religious curricula and exposure to new technology. Beginning with the Treaty of August 14, 1722, some early treaties between eastern colonies and Indian tribes established educational opportunities. However, not all change was voluntary. In many places, more powerful

governments took or assumed responsibility for the education of Native children. With the Act of March 3, 1819, the federal government formally assumed responsibility for the education of Indian children, to prevent the decline and extinction of Indian tribes and to introduce the customs and knowledge of contemporary society. In the Act of March 1, 1873, responsibility for Indiansincluding their educationwas transferred from the War Department to the Secretary of the Interior and a new Bureau of Indian Affairs. 1 Today, the vast majority of Native students attends state-run public schools, with 1 Deloria, V., Jr. (1975). Legislative analysis of the federal role in Indian education. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Indian Education. IMPROVING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AMONG NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS a few tribes operating tribal schools funded through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Except for the tribal schools, responsibility for the education of Native children and youth has been transferred from the tribes to state agencies, mostly to administrators and other individuals outside the communities or tribes. With this transfer of responsibility, Native students began experiencing high levels of educational failure and a growing ambivalence toward learning traditional tribal knowledge and skills. They often exhibited indifference to formal Western academic learning, as well.

Improving Academic Performance among Native American Students A Review of the Research Literature by William G. Demmert, Jr.