Post by Okwes on Mar 6, 2006 13:51:07 GMT -5
Montana reviews Indian ed: Joint project looks to keep American Indians
in school
By JANE RIDER Of The Missoulian
www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/05/build/state/30-indian-ed.inc
Mother and grandmother Sarah LaDue knows well how serious the problem of
keeping American Indians in school is. By ninth grade in Great Falls,
she was the only American Indian left in her class and frequently
experienced an unfriendly, racist environment. With no Indian staff
members to turn to who might have better understood her experience, she
dropped out by the 10th grade because of the loneliness and lack of
support.
Now a teacher, LaDue, who lives on the Rocky Boy Reservation, stressed
the need for schools with large Indian populations to staff Indian
teachers and administrators.
"If we are going to get dollars for Indian programs, those programs
should be staffed with Indian people who understand Indian culture," she
said. "I'm galled by not seeing any Indian staff members."
With an American Indian graduation rate of just over 50 percent, the
state is looking for ways to not only keep Indian students in school but
make sure they graduate.
The Montana State Tribal Affairs Legislative Committee on Instruction is
taking comment on possible solutions for a study with the state Office
of Public Instruction. Committee members took 2-1/2 hours of testimony
from Indian educators, parents and students Saturday during the annual
Indian Education Conference, held this weekend in Missoula.
Final study results will be presented to the 2005 Legislature.
Indian students face significant challenges in today's public schools:
many single-family households, high levels of alcohol and drug abuse,
high poverty rates, and school systems that often fail to embrace and
celebrate the culture of American Indian students.
"The core of the dropout problem has more to do with the system than
anything else, and the way teachers are forced to teach," said Robey
Clark, of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory in Portland, Ore.
Clark said recipe lesson plans that are "stillborn" from the start fail
to engage students. Instead, teachers should be using authentic lessons
that have students participating in real-life, meaningful experiences,
he said.
Noting the athletic ability of fancy dancers who performed earlier that
day, he asked why those youths can't receive physical education credit
for such activities or a letter in athletics.
"If you are going to teach Indian culture, for heaven's sake don't use a
white man's lesson plan," he said.
While Clark supports recruitment of Indian teachers, he reiterated that
even those teachers will fail to reach students if the system requires
they emphasize "too much seat time and paper and pencil tests."
"I think we all know the reasons why our youth are struggling to succeed
in an education system that is foreign to them," said Ruth Quequesah, of
the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation.
Stan Juneau, a retired school administrator from Browning who currently
does education consulting, said more parental involvement is also key.
A recent survey of successful high school seniors showed the majority
were involved in high school sports or other activities, had parents who
were involved in their education and came from homes in which parents
were employed full time.
The students offered their own reasons as to why many American Indian
students drop out of junior high and high school - excessive use of
alcohol and inflexible attendance policies that don't take into
consideration a student's personal situation.
There have been successes. In 1961, the year former Montana congressman
Pat Williams graduated college, 66 American Indians also earned their
degrees.
"That was 66 Indian college graduates not in my class, but rather in the
whole country," he said.
Four decades later, more than 14,000 American Indians received college
degrees.
"American Indians have worked quietly and with determination to achieve
a 70 percent increase in their enrollment in schools of higher education
since the mid-1970s," he said.
Robert Smoky Rides At the Door, a Blackfeet and vice chairman of the
Browning School Board, said his district has made progress by
emphasizing reading instruction. From 9 to 10:45 a.m. daily, classrooms
exclusively concentrate on reading.
The school system also offers 14 different student support programs
beyond its core curriculum. The programs include such things as
individual tutoring, summer school and Saturday class time. Also, the
majority of the district's teaching staff is American Indian.
"It's important we continue to strive to move forward," he said. "We
have to concentrate more on the positive things we are doing."
Lame Deer teacher and senior class adviser Tom McMakin called for
greater efforts to support teachers on reservation schools, noting high
staff turnover that adds to students feeling a lack of stability both at
school and at home.
"It's amazing some even come to school," McMakin said.
Joyce Silverthorne, tribal education department head at the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation and former member
of Montana's Board of Public Education, called for better collaboration
and coordination between the state's K-12 school system and its higher
education system. She noted there is not one American Indian serving on
the Board of Regents.
These students should be allowed to embrace their cultural identity
without having to ask permission, as they have had to the past five
centuries, she said.
"When we can teach our child who they are and to have pride in it, that
is when they will succeed," she said.
in school
By JANE RIDER Of The Missoulian
www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/04/05/build/state/30-indian-ed.inc
Mother and grandmother Sarah LaDue knows well how serious the problem of
keeping American Indians in school is. By ninth grade in Great Falls,
she was the only American Indian left in her class and frequently
experienced an unfriendly, racist environment. With no Indian staff
members to turn to who might have better understood her experience, she
dropped out by the 10th grade because of the loneliness and lack of
support.
Now a teacher, LaDue, who lives on the Rocky Boy Reservation, stressed
the need for schools with large Indian populations to staff Indian
teachers and administrators.
"If we are going to get dollars for Indian programs, those programs
should be staffed with Indian people who understand Indian culture," she
said. "I'm galled by not seeing any Indian staff members."
With an American Indian graduation rate of just over 50 percent, the
state is looking for ways to not only keep Indian students in school but
make sure they graduate.
The Montana State Tribal Affairs Legislative Committee on Instruction is
taking comment on possible solutions for a study with the state Office
of Public Instruction. Committee members took 2-1/2 hours of testimony
from Indian educators, parents and students Saturday during the annual
Indian Education Conference, held this weekend in Missoula.
Final study results will be presented to the 2005 Legislature.
Indian students face significant challenges in today's public schools:
many single-family households, high levels of alcohol and drug abuse,
high poverty rates, and school systems that often fail to embrace and
celebrate the culture of American Indian students.
"The core of the dropout problem has more to do with the system than
anything else, and the way teachers are forced to teach," said Robey
Clark, of the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory in Portland, Ore.
Clark said recipe lesson plans that are "stillborn" from the start fail
to engage students. Instead, teachers should be using authentic lessons
that have students participating in real-life, meaningful experiences,
he said.
Noting the athletic ability of fancy dancers who performed earlier that
day, he asked why those youths can't receive physical education credit
for such activities or a letter in athletics.
"If you are going to teach Indian culture, for heaven's sake don't use a
white man's lesson plan," he said.
While Clark supports recruitment of Indian teachers, he reiterated that
even those teachers will fail to reach students if the system requires
they emphasize "too much seat time and paper and pencil tests."
"I think we all know the reasons why our youth are struggling to succeed
in an education system that is foreign to them," said Ruth Quequesah, of
the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation.
Stan Juneau, a retired school administrator from Browning who currently
does education consulting, said more parental involvement is also key.
A recent survey of successful high school seniors showed the majority
were involved in high school sports or other activities, had parents who
were involved in their education and came from homes in which parents
were employed full time.
The students offered their own reasons as to why many American Indian
students drop out of junior high and high school - excessive use of
alcohol and inflexible attendance policies that don't take into
consideration a student's personal situation.
There have been successes. In 1961, the year former Montana congressman
Pat Williams graduated college, 66 American Indians also earned their
degrees.
"That was 66 Indian college graduates not in my class, but rather in the
whole country," he said.
Four decades later, more than 14,000 American Indians received college
degrees.
"American Indians have worked quietly and with determination to achieve
a 70 percent increase in their enrollment in schools of higher education
since the mid-1970s," he said.
Robert Smoky Rides At the Door, a Blackfeet and vice chairman of the
Browning School Board, said his district has made progress by
emphasizing reading instruction. From 9 to 10:45 a.m. daily, classrooms
exclusively concentrate on reading.
The school system also offers 14 different student support programs
beyond its core curriculum. The programs include such things as
individual tutoring, summer school and Saturday class time. Also, the
majority of the district's teaching staff is American Indian.
"It's important we continue to strive to move forward," he said. "We
have to concentrate more on the positive things we are doing."
Lame Deer teacher and senior class adviser Tom McMakin called for
greater efforts to support teachers on reservation schools, noting high
staff turnover that adds to students feeling a lack of stability both at
school and at home.
"It's amazing some even come to school," McMakin said.
Joyce Silverthorne, tribal education department head at the Confederated
Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation and former member
of Montana's Board of Public Education, called for better collaboration
and coordination between the state's K-12 school system and its higher
education system. She noted there is not one American Indian serving on
the Board of Regents.
These students should be allowed to embrace their cultural identity
without having to ask permission, as they have had to the past five
centuries, she said.
"When we can teach our child who they are and to have pride in it, that
is when they will succeed," she said.