This digest provides an overview of Native American demography, education, employment, and health conditions. In the 1990 census, 1.9 million Americans claimed American Indian status and over 5 million indicated Indian descent. About 637,000 lived on reservations or trust lands, while over 250,000 lived in cities. Half of Native Americans lived in…

This digest summarizes challenges that American Indian and Alaska Native students face in obtaining adequate postsecondary financial aid and describes general sources of aid for Native students. The number of Native college students is growing rapidly, but obtaining adequate financial aid is the most serious obstacle to completing postsecondary…

This digest reviews the literature related to learning styles of American Indian and Alaskan Native students. Several studies show that in some tribes, observation, self-testing in private, and then demonstration of a task for approval are essential steps in learning. Indian children often hesitate to participate in large and small-group…

This digest considers issues, possible solutions, and successful efforts in dealing with Native language loss, maintenance, and restoration in American Indian and Alaska Native communities and schools. The preservation and maintenance of the remaining 210 tribal languages is a major cultural and education concern in Native communities. The problem…

According to a national survey, about 80% of American Indian and Alaska Native youth have experimented with alcohol or drugs, compared to about 50% of youth nationwide. Particular risk factors for Native youth include low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress, and culture conflict arising from differences between traditional Native values and values…

This digest discusses two prominent definitions of learning styles, describes studies that have found differences between the learning styles of American Indian/Alaska Native students and students of other cultural groups, and presents instructional interventions stemming from learning styles research. The research literature on learning styles…

American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students regularly face obstacles during the transition to high school and have the highest dropout rate of all U.S. racial and ethnic groups. Educational theorists and researchers have various explanations for this high failure rate, each with its own prescriptions. These explanations include: (1) deficit…

This digest reports on the very limited research that has focused specifically on early childhood issues in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) health, development, and education. Extant research focuses primarily on infant mortality, birth weight and growth, obesity, and hearing and speech. Beginning in 1985, a longitudinal study called the…

This digest examines the use of standardized, nationally normed testing in assessing the progress of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students and describes alternative forms of assessment. For years, researchers have criticized the overuse of standardized, nationally normed tests to assess learner and school success. Problems with such…

This digest summarizes selected data from the American Indian supplement to the 1993-94 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS). Three Indian school types are compared: schools controlled or funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA/tribal schools), public schools with 25 percent or more Indian enrollment (high Indian enrollment (HIE) public…

Reports from the Indian Nations At Risk Task Force and the White House Conference on Indian Education identify as a national priority the need to retain American Indian and Alaska Native languages both as central elements in Native cultures and as national resources. A personal narrative of an Alaska Native man who grew up in the 1930s shows the…

Achieving equity in the number of American Indian and Alaskan Native students who enter college and subsequently graduate is important to Natives and to the nation as a whole. Based on institutional data and demographic data, state equity scores for enrollment (ESEs) and state equity scores for graduation (ESGs) were computed for seven states with…

Literature is a powerful vehicle for the transmission and interpretation of culture. Reading a variety of literature helps students to understand the principles underpinning values and traditions of their own culture and the cultures of others. Studying the myths, legends, and songs of traditional Native literature helps readers understand…

Historical trauma may be a significant cause of the well-documented disparities between the health of American Indians and the general population. The inability to resolve past injustices against American Indians may continue to have health consequences as long as this history continues to repeat itself. Schools can play a role in healing American…

This ERIC digest gives elementary school teachers realistic information about American Indians and Alaska Natives and identifies some of the common myths based on ethnic bias. Bias against Indians is often the result of inaccurate information. Stylized classroom accounts of Indian life reinforce "buckskin-and- feather" or "Eskimo…