American Indian Education KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The American Indian Education KnowledgeBase is an online resource to aid education professionals in their efforts to improve the education of American Indian students and close the achievement gap American Indian students have faced in public, Bureau of Indian Education, and other schools.

Research and Resources on Charter Schools and American Indian Students

The following summaries describe academic dissertations addressing issues associated with charter schools and American Indian students.

Improving school performance of American Indian students at four charter schools in Minneapolis, Minnesota: Focus on learning styles
by Leiding, Darlene A., Ed.D., University of St. Thomas (Minnesota), 1999, 220 pages

Among the most serious problems confronting American Indian education is that American Indian children achieve the lowest education level in traditional public schools and have the highest dropout rate among all ethnic minority groups in the United States. I interviewed 35 American Indian parents who send their children to charter schools (revisiting 16 of these parents for additional information). I also interviewed 12 American Indian charter school students (grades 9-12), 8 teachers and administrators from four Minneapolis charter schools and 9 experts in the realm of the charter school movement and Indian education. The interviewed men, women and students formulated their attitudes about education, learning styles. satisfaction and involvement with charter schools, the degree to which these schools value Indian culture and their expectations for the students attending these schools. As I compiled the data I also looked to what the literature had to say in support of my results. Statistics indicate that we are not providing American Indian students with the necessary tools to survive and prosper in today's society. This study will provide implications for educators, including suggested changes in teaching strategies. curriculum and role model exposure that will help increase the academic performance of American Indian students.

A comparison of the legislative and financial constraints on the development of charter schools in the Aloha State
by Kamai, Stephanie Hauki, Ed.D., University of Southern California, 2005, 94 pages

The purpose of this study was to investigate the legislative parameters and fiscal incentives contained in the contents of Hawaii's charter legislation and its administrative policies and practices that constrain or foster the growth and development of charter schools in the state of Hawaii in order to find out how those concerned with educational reform can create conditions necessary for the advancement of the charter school movement. Research questions guiding the study included: (1) What are the elements in Hawaii's charter legislation and funding policies that have inhibited or fostered the growth and development of charter schools in the state of Hawaii? And (2) Between the two sets of factors, what is the most constraining issue in the development of charter schools in Hawaii? This was an exploratory study conducted on a purposeful sample of charter school leaders in Hawaii's New Century Charter Schools. Data sources included a review of the charter school legislation, interviews with expert people knowledgeable about key issues facing charter development, and a questionnaire designed by using the Center for Education Reform's criteria that distinguishes between strong and weak charter legislation. Results of the study showed that: inequities between regular and charter public schools; stringent collective bargaining requirements; and a lack of state assistance restricts charter schools from evolving more aggressively.

Portrait of a Native American charter school
by Gordon, Colin Lane, Ed.D., Brigham Young University, 2003, 213 pages

After many of years participating in an educational system designed and supervised by the dominant white majority, Native Americans in many states have the opportunity to design and direct their own schools, as a result of charter school legislation. Charter schools are public schools that are designed to meet a specific need and, in the case of Native American charter schools, the goal is not only to educate students to succeed in American society, but also to help them understand their Native American heritage and culture. A Native American charter school is thought by some to be a better educational entity than the traditional public school. This research examines one Native American charter school located on the Salt River Reservation adjacent to Scottsdale, Arizona. This study identified fifteen needs of the students attending the charter school. These needs were further divided into three categories: academic improvement, social skills development, and coping with and overcoming serious social problems. The study further identified what the school was doing to meet those needs and the level of success the school was achieving. This study found that students at the school are beginning to improve academically, although progress is slow. The study also found that these students are more likely to develop social skills at this school because it provides an atmosphere where they feel more comfortable and accepted. The potential for social skills development is further increased by the opportunities Native American students have to participate in a wide range of school activities, some of which relate to the students unique culture and some that are enjoyed by many students in traditional public schools. Lastly, this study found that school and tribal leaders are trying to address the serious social problems that have become part of reservation life. These include alcohol and drug abuse, teenage pregnancies, gang and gang related violence, suicide, and health problems. However, the study could not determine if these programs were successful. A study of much longer duration would be required to determine if the school was successful in helping the students overcome these problems.

Ku i ka Mana: Building community and nation through contemporary Hawaiian schooling
by Goodyear-Ka'opua, Jennifer Noelani, Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, 2005, 361 pages

Since the 1970s, Kanaka Maoli have seen schools as potential sites for enacting cultural revitalization, social transformation, and political liberation. Utilizing notions of articulation, hegemony, and genealogy, this dissertation makes two primary contributions to discussions about "the Hawaiian movement" and to wider conversations about the politics and cultures of education. At one level, I examine emergent efforts of educators at Kamehameha Schools and Halau Ku Mana charter school to disarticulate schooling from its (neo)colonial history and rearticulate schools within growing movements for Kanaka Maoli self-determination and well-being. I argue that these cultural revitalization efforts are not isolationist retreats but practices of a critical traditionalism that move beyond the ethnocentrism and nationalism of the U.S. frame. At a second level, I posit an interdisciplinary Hawaiian Studies approach to academic research and writing. Employing Hawaiian concepts including lahui, ea, pono, kumu, kuleana, and mo'oku'auhau, I outline central ethical, theoretical, and methodological issues and frames within the field of Hawaiian Studies. My practice of interdisciplinary scholarship blends ethnographic, historiographic, and archival research, drawing on interviews conducted with more than forty educators affiliated with Kamehameha and/or Halau Ku Mana, as well five years of field work with HKM. This dissertation also follows an experimental, organizational format as I aim to produce a field of voices in tension rather than the kind of homogenous, authoritative voice standard in dissertations. The first chapter introduces the field of Hawaiian Studies and schooling, highlighting self-determination as an organizing force. Chapter two provides historical context by recounting a genealogy of schooling in Hawaii, while chapters three and four take-up teachers' struggles to assert counter-hegemonic Hawaiian schooling practices in the last decade. Between the chapters, I insert shorter reflective essays on Hawaiian Studies methodologies utilized in and emerging out of this dissertation process. This format suggests Hawaiian Studies should take seriously the notion of method as practice, rather than as prescriptive model. As part of a living practice of ea (sovereignty), Hawaiian Studies and schooling projects must be able to shift between contexts and rhetorics, making multiple interventions simultaneously, both within our communities and outside them.

Kanu o ka 'Aina: Natives of the land from generations back. A pedagogy of Hawaiian liberation
by Kahakalau, Ku Hinahinakuikahakai, Ph.D., Union Institute and University, 2002, 276 pages

Two centuries after Western contact, Hawai'i's native people are on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder in their homeland. Although as an indigenous people entitled to manage our own matters, Native Hawaiians presently have little control over our affairs, including the education of over 50,000 children of Hawaiian ancestry, who make the largest, fastest growing, and most undereducated ethnic group among Hawai'i's K-12 public school students. As a theoretical contribution to scholarship, Kanu o ka 'Aina --Natives of the Land from Generations Back: A Pedagogy of Hawaiian Liberation presents a 21 st century model of education designed for Hawaiians by Hawaiians, that has as its primary objective the empowerment of the native people of Hawaii. Dramatically different in content and approach from existing educational paradigms, Kanu o ka 'Aina brings together the strengths of Hawaiian culture and traditions, with the best of modern educational practices and standards and prepares students to walk successfully in two worlds. The educational philosophy that characterizes Kanu as a unique educational model emerged as a result of a multi-year indigenous heuristic action research project, based on a methodology developed by the author. This research, which centered on the question: "What constitutes a quality K-12 Hawaiian model of education," included the implementation of a three-year pilot project called Kanu o ka 'Aina Hawaiian Academy. This pilot converted into a K-12 Hawaiian-focused charter school located in Waimea, Hawaii in August 2000, which is currently directed by the author. Even before it was completed this PDE has had significant social impact, demonstrating that Hawaiians can design quality, comprehensive models of education and asserting that only if Hawaiians are given the right, and the resources to control our own education will we be able to remain kalo kanu o ka 'aina --natives of the land from generations back.

Negotiating between subject area and student: The devolution and evolution of language arts traditions in Hawaiian-based education
by Murakami, Nina Ruri, Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2006, 254 pages

This dissertation researched how sixth, seventh, and eighth grade language arts teachers in a Hawaiian language immersion school and a Hawaiian public charter school culturally negotiate their students' contrasting social and educational worlds (the indigenous and mainstream Euro Western) through specific culturally based language arts teaching practices. In the first phase of the study, grounded theory design was used to compare common practices across the sites and determine where and how these practices intersected two differing educational frameworks---the language arts state standards and the Hawai'i Guidelines for Culturally Healthy and Responsive Learning Environments (also known as Nä Honua Mauli Ola ), which is specific to Hawaiian-based education. Teaching practices that were found to intersect the two educational frameworks were characterized as "culturally negotiated" language arts teaching practices and contextualized further during the second phase of the study, consisting of case study analyses of four teacher-participants. Five significant culturally negotiated commonalities in content, methodology, and ideology surfaced throughout the study, each characterizing the actualization of culturally negotiated language arts teaching: (1) the relationship with the "traditional" uses of and the attitude toward language, (2) the understanding and incorporation of mo'olelo [Hawaiian myth], (3) the creative means of language expression; (4) the "family" environment of the class and the connection to community, and (5) the physical learning environment in which learning takes place. These findings are presented in terms of the learning benefits for Native Hawaiian students and the innovative and necessary evolution of language arts teaching.

Writing as cultural action: Student writing at a culturally-based school
by Lee, Meredith J., Ph.D., University of Washington, 2007, 252 pages

Currently, there is a strong movement to promote multicultural education as well as culturally-based education, particularly for native peoples. One prominent argument against these educational approaches is that students may not be adequately prepared for success in mainstream society, particularly in college and business environments, which have historically been the domain of English in the U.S. (Trimbur, 2006), the public language in Hawaii (officially) since annexation in 1898. Many educators see the role of secondary and post-secondary education specifically as preparation for college and/or careers and are concerned that our students in culturally-based schools won't be prepared.
This project first identifies what kinds of writing students in culturally-based schools produce and secondly assesses how well that writing prepares students, relative to the "standard curriculum," for future success. Student writing from a Native Hawaiian culturally-based school was analyzed and contextualized through ethnographic observations and interviews to address the first goal of this project. The students' writing reflected an understanding that their audience was comprised of people from their own community, the Hawaiian community, and demonstrated awareness of when to use English, Pidgin, and/or Hawaiian languages. Their writing reflected both the issues and ideologies in circulation at the school. The curriculum encouraged students to produce "blended genres"--such as narrative in an academic essay or persuasive argument in a letter. Further, the assignments showed that students often take up not only the assignments' intended purposes but their own purposes as well.
This dissertation addresses the second goal of assessing how well students are prepared by aligning the demonstrated skills in the students' writing with the Hawaii Content and Performance Standards (HCPS II), which are required for all public schools in the state. While the students' writing may not have demonstrated all the writing standards as might be expected in a Western cultural context, the discursive practices at this culturally-based school were indicative of a move toward the ownership of language and discourse by this community. Finally, my conclusion discusses the implications of culturally-based education for First Year Composition instructors and what they need to know when teaching students from cultural minorities.

The Alaska charter school: Freedom and accountability
by Castanza, Gordon Evans, Ed.D., University of Nevada, Reno, 1998, 405 pages

The purpose of this survey study was to investigate the relationship between freedom from constraints and the amount of accountability for charter schools in Alaska. The researcher collected survey responses from superintendents, principals, community members, and principals/lead teachers of charter schools with respect to the variables freedom and accountability. The review of the literature focused on the philosophical foundations of charter schools, the Alaska legislative history, and the journal articles dealing with freedom, and accountability. The researcher concluded: (1) Charter schools' sponsors, and operators had little regard for accountability. (2) Almost 90% of the survey respondents supported some or a lot of freedom for charter schools. Only 4% of the respondents thought that charter schools should have total freedom. The researcher recommends further research on charter school innovation, student achievement, to the use of on-site visits, and to the disaggregation of data.

Source:
Kerry R. Venegas, National Indian Education Association, High School Policy Initiative

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.