The Government Accountability Office's (GAO) High-Risk List identifies government operations with vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement, or in need of transformation. GAO added the area "Improving Federal Management of Programs that Serve Tribes and their Members" to its February 2017 biennial update of high-risk…

The American Indian presence in Montana enriches the state's culture. Educationally, however, there are gross disparities between academic performance of American Indian students when compared with the student population as a whole and with various ethnic/cultural subgroups. Montana's educational data mirror the Bureau of Indian Education national…

Research on teaching visioning supports the claim that visioning functions as a tool to support beginning and in-service teachers in their efforts to develop equitable, student-centered learning contexts. While research on teacher visioning has provided insight into the nature of visioning, more research is needed to document the ways in which…

Middle school social studies lessons about American Indian people often leave the impression that Indians are part of a historical past that has little to do with America's present. Too often, lessons include information about Indian "extinction" due to diseases and warfare without discussing the ongoing resilience of American Indian…

On May 2, the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and the West Comprehensive Center (WCC) at WestEd facilitated a half-day pre-conference for tribal leaders and educators participating in the 2016 Southwest Pathways Conference (which was held May 2-4). The gathering raised awareness about critical education, health, and well-being issues…

Recent research has examined processed and outcomes of equity and diversity efforts in higher education, but leaves open the question of students' contribution to institutional diversity agendas. To understand how graduate students contribute to and experience this work, we conducted 73 interviews and 4 focus groups with faculty, administrators,…

Sense of belonging is associated with several academic outcomes. Additionally, literature suggests minority students experience a low sense of belonging in school. This study's aims were to: (1) examine the sense of belonging of students at a majority American Indian secondary school; and (2) analyze whether there was a relationship between a…

This multiple case study unpacks White teachers' experiences of perceived cultural differences in their classrooms and deciphers their readiness to work with American Indian students. Situating our study using Tribal Critical Race Theory and culturally responsive teaching and using a developed conceptual model of Teacher Readiness to Work with…

The issue of over or under representation of ethnic minority students in special education placement has received a great deal of attention in recent years. An equally important question that has not received as much attention centers on the impact of special education placement, particularly early in a child's education career, on subsequent…

In an October 2015 professional development and networking conference, 100 school counselors and teachers increased their cultural awareness and knowledge of Native American Indian Tribes and developed skills to support and advocate for their students. This one-page report describes the event, shares initial learnings, and touches on possible next…

College degree attainment is regarded as a primary solution to reduce poverty and close wealth gaps between people of color and whites in the United States. With the changing labor market and a more globalized economy, a far greater number of jobs require a postsecondary credential. More students must attend and complete college to keep pace with…

Nearly 100 school counselors and teachers convened in October 2015 at the picturesque Tsébii'nidzisgai Elementary School in Monument Valley, Utah, for a "Four Corners Counseling Connection" conference designed to enhance their knowledge and understanding of American Indian history and culture, help them develop skills to support and…

This paper reports on a theme, the intrusion of the Traditional Western worldview, emerging from an ongoing study of the impact of teachers' engagement in the Transreform approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics on students' affective and cognitive responses to and achievement in mathematics. Newly theorized (Russell & Chernoff,…

This paper examines the language dominance and oral bilingual proficiency of Tarahumara-Spanish speaking students from Chihuahua, Mexico, within the framework of Cummins' model of bilingual proficiency development. Cummins' model distinguishes between basic interpersonal communicative skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency…

This paper draws on the stereotype threat hypothesis and social identity theory to examine the influence of positive and negative ability beliefs on Navajo students' achievement goals. Data were collected on 829 Navajo students in two reservation high schools. The results support the notion that Navajo students hold both positive and negative…