This report provides data on: (1) Number of English Learners Who Are American Indian/Alaska Native: School Year 2021-22; (2) Five States With the Highest Percent of English Learners Who Are American Indian/Alaska Native: School Year 2021-22; (3) Percent of American Indian/Alaska Native Students Who Were Identified as English Learners: School Year…

Indigenous educators are critical levers in promoting positive Indigenous student outcomes. This overview, based on the webinar series "Making a Difference for American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Innovations and Wise Practices," describes key considerations for opening Indigenous educator pathways. These considerations emerged…

The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2015 (AI/AN FACES 2015) is the first national descriptive study of children and families enrolled in Head Start programs operated by federally recognized tribes (known as Region XI AI/AN Head Start). Region XI programs incorporate their unique history, community…

The federal government provides child development, elementary and secondary education, and educational assistance to Indian children, in a federal school system and in public school systems that predominantly receive state and local funding. The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) oversees the federally…

In Alaska, where Alaska Native students constitute the largest racial/ethnic group of English learner (EL) students, it is an open question whether and how EL policies and services meet the unique needs of Indigenous EL students. A stronger understanding of how Alaska Native students experience EL identification, classification, service provision,…

The federal government provides child development, elementary and secondary education, and educational assistance to Indian children, in a federal school system and in public school-systems that predominantly receive state and local funding. The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) in the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) oversees the federally…

Culturally Responsive Education has been widely proposed as a mechanism to improve the academic achievement of minority and Indigenous populations. Instruction in heritage languages has been shown to produce desirable outcomes both on linguistic and academic measures. However, culturally responsive and immersion instruction faces a number of…

In 2016, Dr. Martin Reinhardt and Dr. Jioanna Carjuzaa produced a series of three webinars concerning Indigenous language immersion programs. The first webinar focused on broad curriculum development ideas including core relationships, guidelines and principles for effective pedagogy, and models. The second webinar focused on the elements of…

Indian Education Formula Grants represent the U.S. Department of Education's largest investment in addressing the unique academic and cultural needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students. The program is aimed at supporting services that are responsive to the unique cultural, language, and educational needs of these students and help them…

This brief provides an overview of three federal laws that address native-language education and illustrates how these federal laws produce different results when coupled with state laws and other regional circumstances. For the purposes of this brief, native-language education refers to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians and…

The present language situation among Alaskan natives and the prospects for maintaining the traditional languages are such that in order to plan for a continued native language presence, it must be recognized that: (1) the shift to Engish is a natural result of a set of social conditions, with no single factor or group to blame; (2) the decline of…

In the United States and Canada, the number of radio stations operated by Native Americans has greatly increased in recent years, as have the amount of programming in native languages and the number of native language instructional programs. Such programming can play a role in maintaining vigorous native languages and revitalizing endangered…

In many Inupiat communities the traditional meeting house, the "qargi," was the first institution to vanish as churches and schools became the dominant forces of change. At present, the Inupiat elders have no responsibility for the formal education of the young Inupiat. The educational environment of each Inupiat community can be altered…

Analyzes the differences between Northwest Alaska Inupiat and Western world views, discusses the history of Western culture's influence on Inupiat culture, and explains the effects of the Native school board's taking control of the educational system. Discusses the struggle to preserve the native language and to adapt a foreign educational system…

Describes a program designed to provide teacher education and comprehensive postsecondary education to Yup'ik Eskimo aides, teachers, and other village residents. Describes problems facing the program and the importance of field center coordinators. (Journal availability: National Dissemination and Assessment Center, California State University,…