Indigenous students in rural Alaska hold high educational aspirations and yet few students realize their educational goals (Hamilton & Seyfrit, 1993; Kleinfeld & McDiarmid, 1986; McDiarmid & Kleinfeld, 1981). Our purpose in this study was to understand why so many Alaska Native students from small, isolated communities…

In this brief response to Courtney Cazden's article on anthropology's contribution to education (1983), it is argued that educators who reject anthropological contributions are doing so because they believe anthropology is doing harm. Asserts that "cultural differences" is replacing "cultural deprivation" as the fashionable…

Problems of researching what constitutes an effective teacher of rural Eskimo and Indian children are discussed. Behaviors of effective cross-cultural teachers were evaluated by peers, school administration, and local community to aid in research. (DF)

This booklet identifies several crucial problems in Alaska Native education, for example: (1) Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE) occur in Alaska Native populations at relatively high rates and can produce mental retardation, hyperactivity, attention deficits, and learning disabilities; (2) while many Native rural school…

This paper examines the claim that instruction specially adapted to the "visual learning styles" of Native American students results in improved learning. Substantial cross-cultural research suggests that Native American children have special strengths in spatial abilities and visual memory and that observational learning is an important…

This study examines changes in the entrance and success rates of Native students in Alaska colleges from 1963 to 1972, a time when special college recruitment and assistance programs were being developed. Information is based on the college records of those Natives who entered college for the first time at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks…

Boarding schools were the only option for rural high school students in Alaska until 1976, when the state began building many, very small, village high schools following a class action law suit. Selective, academic boarding schools continue to be an option. A survey of rural households found community satisfaction and improved student outcomes as…

Presents model for developing localized district computer software targeted to Native American students from particular language communities. Describes process through which Yukon/Koyukuk School District developed computer software for Athabaskan students. Emphasizes software as one tool in teacher-directed language arts program, not replacement…

Because rural Alaska educators were skeptical of the applicability to their teaching situations of various educational research results, researchers randomly surveyed rural Alaskan teachers to provide background information for the Rural Effective Schools Project and for educators who want to help rural schools increase their effectiveness. Three…

Successful boarding home parents seem to have two qualities in common: they express their affection for their student openly and often, and they respect their student's desire to be treated as a mature person. Many cultural differences exist between the Indian and Eskimo students, coming from villages without high schools, and the boarding home…

Researchers analyzed information from student records and student organizations to determine the academic success, dropout, and graduation rates of Alaska Natives at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) throughout the late 1970's. Perhaps due to political, social, and policy changes, Native student success peaked in the early 1970's and…

In a survey of 304 teachers selected randomly from Alaska's rural schools, significantly fewer teachers in Native communities thought students would attend or graduate from college or could achieve at or above national norms. Many Native leaders view these attitudes as evidence that prejudiced attitudes create school failure among Native children.…

The paper discusses dilemmas in doing research on the kinds of teachers who are effective with Eskimo and Indian children in isolated, rural Alaska communities. Issues discussed are identification of effective cross-cultural teachers by a "multiple hurdle" technique; criteria that 228 teachers, 29 administrators, and 40 community members…