The American Indian Education KnowledgeBase : Element 3 : Activity 1 : Task 2: Examine Student Performance Data
Academically capable native students often drop out of school because their needs are not being met. Some native students are pushed out because they protest how they are treated in school in a variety of ways. As with non-native dropouts, the most frequent reason dropouts give for leaving school is that it is "boring."
The 2005 report Status and Tends of Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives by the National Center for Education Statistics reported an American Indian dropout rate of 15% (compared to a 6% rate for "white" students), and noted dropouts were more likely to be unemployed or to earn less than high school graduates. The study noted American Indians had three times the rate of unemployment, the highest death rate for ages 15-19, the highest number of special education students, and the highest rate of absenteeism. The study also found American Indian students are the most effected by school violence and are least likely to have access to core academic programs.
Therefore, it is essential educators with native students in their schools cafefully monitor their academic performance.
This document contains links to national and state education data sources. The content may be useful to educators when developing a school profile.
From the National Center for Education Statistics, "the National Indian Education Study (NIES) is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian and Alaska Native students in the United States. Part I of the NIES provides in-depth information on the academic performance of fourth- and eighth-grade American Indian and Alaska Native students on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in mathematics and reading. Part II of the study was conducted through a survey to explore the educational experiences of the fourth- and eighth-grade American Indian and Alaska Native students who participated in the NAEP assessments."




Print this page
The contents of this website were developed under a cooperative agreement from the