ELLs by Population: Native American

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Asian ELL Students; Curriculum; Instructional Programs; Latino ELL Students; Motivation; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.);

Target Population: This article targets the general population, especially those Latino and minority groups in high school or first year in college.

Research Questions the Report Poses: This article raises the question of students' academic preparation to transition from high school to postsecondary education.

Findings:

• Poor academic performance during high school due to poor academic preparation for college can predetermine the failure of students during college.
• Current research shows that to make a different in academic preparation, school administrations and teachers have to create a rigorous academic program that needs to be continuous and based on rich coursework.
• Organizations like Achieve, ACT, and the Education Policy Improvement Center are providing feedbacks for students to better their transition from high school to college.

Policy Recommendations:

• Policymakers should begin to address the importance of academic preparation for students, especially in high school, entering college.
• The federal government should be responsible of distributing and communicating the general public the steps to take to gain greater academic preparation and skills in schools.
• Policymakers should propose and manage the strategies implemented to guarantee the success of the programs.

• Read the report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Center for American Progress 1333 H Street, NW, 10th Floor, Washington, DC 20005

Chait, Robin and Andrea Venezia. (2009). Improving Academic Preparation for College: What We Know and How State and Federal Policy Can Help. Washington, D.C.: Center for American Progress.

Tags: American Indian ELL Students; Other ELL Students (Middle Eastern, African, European, etc.);

Target Population: High School

Findings:

In the states studied by the authors of the reports:

• Overall graduation rates ranged from 54.1% to 79.2%. Graduation rates for American Indian/Alaska Native students ranged from 30.4% to 63.8%
• The gap in graduation rates between the overall state rates and the American Indian/Alaska Native rates was 17 percentage points or more, excluding Oklahoma and New Mexico.
• The poverty rate for American Indians and Alaska Natives is 26% compared to 12% of non-Natives.
• Lack of accurate data is due in part to a highly mobile population, a geographically dispersed student population, undercounting of the population, and distrust among this population regarding the use of data by the federal government.

Student- and school-level factors for AI/AN students dropping out include:

• irrelevant and innapropriate curriculum, assessment, and tracking
• feeling unwanted or "pushed out" of school
• poor quality of student-teacher relationships
• difficulty with classes and with reading
• frustrations related to student being older than other students
• distance from school and lack of adequate transportation
• language barriers

Policy Recommendations:

Key recommendations include the following:

• Conduct further research on the population (research questions specified) including case studies on successful schools.
• Improve data collection and reporting methods for American Indian and Alaska Native students at the state and national levels.
• Prepare educators to work with American Indian and Alaska Native students including (pre-service as well as in-service).
• Review and revise school policies and avoid implementation of policies that exclude, repress, demean, embarrass, harass or alienate Native students.
• Avoid use of negative stereotypes.
• Provide opportunities for students to be immersed in their Native language and culture and develop and implement culturally appropriate and relevant curricula.

Future questions for research include the following:

• Why is the graduation rate for American Indian and Alaska Native students consistently lower in North and South Dakota than in other states with high concentrations of American Indian and Alaska Native students?
• Why is the graduation gap between American Indian/Alaska Native students and their peers narrower in Oklahoma than in North and South
• Dakota?
• Why are American Indian/Alaska Native females graduating at rates higher than their male counterparts?
• To what extent do existing formulas for calculating graduation and dropout rates take into account the effects of student transfer and mobility rates?
• To what extent does an emphasis on tribal languages and cultures have on the dropout and graduation rates for American Indian and Alaska Native students?

• Read the Full Report

To order a hard copy of the report, contact:
Shaena Engle, engle@gseis.ucla.edu: (310) 206-5951

Faircloth, Susan C., & Tippeconnic, III, John W. (2010). The Dropout/Graduation Rate Crisis Among American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Failure to Respond Places the Future of Native Peoples at Risk. Los Angeles, CA: The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA; www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu.