This digest summarizes potential benefits of standards-based reform and areas of concern for schools serving American Indian and Alaska Native students. Content standards may benefit Indian education by creating a more common curriculum, providing a focus for improving teaching and learning, and promoting a more holistic, active-learning sort of…

Effective school principles can help provide successful programs for American Indians. Principles include a clear school mission, assessment of comprehensive needs and monitoring of student progress, appropriate curriculum and instruction, opportunity to learn, time spent on task, high expectations, safe and supportive school environment, good…

American Indian students generally have not done well on traditional standardized tests. Such tests have been criticized because their ability to predict academic success is questionable, and they correlate with socioeconomic class, reward superficial learning, encourage classroom practices that fail to provide high-quality education, and are…

This guide attempts to help teachers of American Indian children in grades 4-6 provide a culturally relevant education that takes place in the regular classroom, includes content related to Indian students' lives, makes students proud, expands to other experiences, and enhances learning. Creating sacred places means responding appropriately to…

This guide attempts to help teachers of American Indian students in grades 9-12 provide a culturally relevant education that takes place in the regular classroom, includes content related to Indian students' lives, makes students proud, expands to other experiences, and enhances learning. Creating sacred places means responding appropriately to…

This guide attempts to help teachers of American Indian students in grades 7-8 provide a culturally relevant education that takes place in the regular classroom, includes content related to Indian students' lives, makes students proud, expands to other experiences, and enhances learning. Creating sacred places means responding appropriately to…

The standards-based reform movement has the potential to improve American Indian education. The philosophy underlying the language arts standards that promotes the active use of authentic language and the teaching of skills in context, and the constructivist theory of learning reflected in the mathematics and science standards are both consistent…

American Indian teenagers have high rates of suicide, school dropout, alcoholism, and drug usage. Even students who are doing well need to explore new experiences and to develop new skills that challenge them to reach for higher goals and help them cope with today's pressures. This guide is intended to assist counselors and teachers design…

This two-volume guide presents ingredients for developing a culturally relevant curriculum for American Indian students in the primary grades. A survey of Indian literature for young children yielded eight topic areas included here. The suggested approach to curriculum development is the integration of reading, language arts, math, and science…