Native American Children’s Current Educational Prospects Alyssa Townsend

As part of the treaties to obtain tribal lands, the US federal government took responsibility
for educating American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) kids. Historically, cruel and neglectful
federal schools sought to erase AI/AN culture and language and caused the death of many
students. (6) Today, 10% of AI/AN students go to Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools,
under the Department of the Interior. (8) Though AI/AN students are no longer pressured into
inhuman boarding schools, they are still behind in education. 72% of AI/AN students in public
school graduate. 53% of BIE students do. The national average is 85%. (7)
There are multiple reasons for this. Poverty and poor living conditions create a poor
environment to focus on school. In 2019, the AI/AN unemployment rate was roughly twice the
overall American rate, even higher for those on reservations and predominantly tribal areas. (9)
AI/AN communities are subject to above average rates of addiction, domestic violence, human
trafficking, and disability, and have a below average life expectancy. (9, 10)
Schools themselves also lack resources. AI/AN schools suffer from a teacher shortage due to
lack of resources and poor training, as well as high native areas such as North Dakota being hit
disproportionately by the 2017 government hiring freeze. Many BIE schools are physically
dilapidated and even dangerous. The “tech gap” of AI/AN students has been highlighted by
Covid. 33.9% of BIE students rely on cell phones for internet, and 40% have none. (3)
Organizationally, the BIE is inept, with problems with money management, legacy hiring,
and overlapping, “Byzantine” regulations. In 36 years, it had 33 directors. (11) Given a deadline
to bring student assessments to national standards by the 2017-18 schoolyear, they missed by
three years. (12)
Off the reservation, many students don’t get federal aid because they’re undercounted by
the government, don’t know they’re entitled, fear being discriminated against, or don’t belong
to a federally recognized tribe, according to Teach for America. (1)
For the past decade, the US and tribal governments have been working to implement the
improvements to AI/AN schooling spelled out in the Native Culture, Language, and Access for
Success in Schools, or Native CLASS Act of 2011. This gave tribes increased control over
education of tribal citizens, allowing tribal schools access to student records and forcing the BIE
to make procedures to negotiate with Tribal Education Associations on curricula, standards, and
methods of accountability. (4) It put the BIE under the jurisdiction of the Every Student
Succeeds Act (ESSA) and Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) such that not only
were they given a deadline to measure their students by national standards, but they were
required to have safe and healthy schools. (5) This renovation backlog still exists: in January
2021, the Trump Administration selected two schools in Arizona and South Dakota for funds to
fix “multiple life, health, safety and accessibility deficiencies”. (17)
The act also secured more federal funding, including access to Dept. of Education programs
that had previously been blocked because AI/AN students were under the purview of the Dept.
of the Interior. (4) Key funding goes to native language programs. (4) AI/AN activists had been
Native American Children’s Current Educational Prospects Alyssa Townsend

pressing for years for more culturally responsive curricula and use of tribal languages, citing
studies such as that of the K-5 Puente de Honzho school in AZ, which has an immersive dual
English-Navajo program. Native students there were found to be doing better academically
than those in other area schools, supporting assertions that curricula and teaching methods
inclusive of tribal culture result in better learning outcomes. (1) In 2020, Office of Indian
Education grants were awarded to twelve native language programs, from Alaska to Idaho, with
most going to Alaska and the western US. (13)
This funding has also expanded resources available to tribal schools for technology and
student engagement programs. For example, the Pathmakers program of Blue Lake Rancheria
(CA), giving students access to tech resources and learning by demonstration and
experimentation. (14)
Another important clause of the Native CLASS Act was ensuring measures aimed at training
and attracting better teachers. (4) Such a measure in North Dakota, though not necessarily a
direct result of the CLASS Act, lowers the barriers to allow the few speakers of native languages
to become licensed to teach them: they need only approval by a tribal government-created
board and a single pedagogical course at a tribal college. (15) This makes sense when native
speakers are few and only 16% of AI/AN get a bachelor’s or above. (16) Grassroots tribal
organizations (mostly of plains tribes) are also working on the teacher shortage via online
recruitment and holding seminars for teachers of AI/AN students. (7)
With increasing negotiation with tribal governments and accountability to the US
government, the state of AI/AN education seems to be improving. However, it still has far to go.

SOURCES

1. Brenna, Susan, and Angelina Castagna. “Why Are Native Students Being Left Behind?”
Teach For America, 11 Dec. 2014, www.teachforamerica.org/stories/why-are-native-
students-being-left-behind. 
2. “Broadband Access and Education Technology in Indian Country.” NIEA.org, National
Indian Education Association, 2019,
static1.squarespace.com/static/5cffbf319973d7000185377f/t/5e9f699f8884654446a44
639/1587505567782/Technology+1-Pager.pdf. 
3. “NIEA Survey on Impact of COVID-19 in Native Schools.” NIEA.org, National Indian
Education Association, 2020,
Native American Children’s Current Educational Prospects Alyssa Townsend

static1.squarespace.com/static/5cffbf319973d7000185377f/t/5ebd5e9ab070e916865a1
5a2/1589468831789/Survey+Results.pdf. 
4. United States, Congress, Cong. Senate, Committee on Indian Affairs (1993- ). S. 1262:
The Native Culture, Language, and Access for Success in Schools Act - Native CLASS:
Hearing before the Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate, One Hundred
Twelfth Congress, First Session, June 30, 2011, U.S. G.P.O., 2012. 112th Congress, bill S.
Rept. 112-262. 
5. “Standards, Assessments, and Accountability System.” Federal Register, Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Interior, 10 June 2019,
www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/06/10/2019-12096/standards-assessments-
and-accountability-system. 
6. “The Stories of Carlisle.” Carlisle Indian School Project, The Carlisle Indian School Project,
17 June 2020, carlisleindianschoolproject.com/stories/. 
7. National Indian Education Association, NIEA, 2021, www.niea.org/. 
8. Alden Woods, Agnel Philip. “The Bureau of Indian Education Hasn't Told the Public How
Its Schools Are Performing. So We Did It Instead.” ProPublica, 9 June 2021,
www.propublica.org/article/the-bureau-of-indian-information-hasnt-told-the-public-
how-its-schools-are-performing. 
9. “American Indians and Alaska Natives in the U.S. Labor Force : Monthly Labor Review.”
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 1 Nov. 2019,
www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/american-indians-and-alaska-natives-in-the-u-s-
labor-force.htm. 
10. www.ncai.org, BrowserMedia -. NCAI, National Congress of American Indians,
www.ncai.org/policy-issues/education-health-human-services/health-care. 
11. Camera, Lauren. “Native American Students Left Behind | US News.” U.S. News & World
Report, U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 2015,
www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/11/06/native-american-students-left-behind. 
12. Lost, Lessons. “The Federal Government Gives Native Students an Inadequate
Education, and Gets Away With It.” ProPublica, Aug. 2020,
www.propublica.org/article/the-federal-government-gives-native-students-an-
inadequate-education-and-gets-away-with-it. 
13. “Grants Awarded.” Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, US Department of
Education, 27 May 2021, oese.ed.gov/offices/office-of-indian-education/native-
american-language-program/grants-awarded/. 
14. “Pathmakers.” Blue Lake Rancheria, bluelakerancheria-nsn.gov/pathmakers/. 
15. “Native American Language/Culture License.” North Dakota Education Standards and
Practices Board, North Dakota State Government, www.nd.gov/espb/licensure/native-
american-languageculture-license. 
16. “Factsheets: Native American Students.” PNPI, The Postsecondary National Policy
Institue, 17 Nov. 2020, pnpi.org/native-american-students/. 
17. “Trump Administration Announces BIE's New Construction on Its School Campuses.”
Indian Affairs, US Department of the Interior, Jan. 2021, www.bia.gov/news/trump-
administration-announces-bie-s-new-construction-its-school-campuses.