The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study is to understand which factors influence the academic persistence of Native American students in higher education. In 2019, it was reported only 16% of those college students who identified as American Indian/Alaska Native attained a bachelor's degree or higher and in 2023, that…

This brief highlights the urgent need to address chronic absenteeism among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the United States. It explores the challenges that AI/AN students and their families face in terms of regular school attendance. Systemic barriers, unwelcoming?school environments, biased disciplinary practices, and a…

American Indian Alaska Native (AIAN) youth have disproportionately higher rates of commercial tobacco product use compared to other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. These rates underscore a need for commercial tobacco product cessation interventions that are culturally informed. This project studied the development, implementation, and some…

This qualitative study examined the experiences of ten American Indian/Alaska Native transfer students attending a four-year land grant research institution. It used semi-structured interviews utilizing a narrative inquiry when telling their story. The theoretical frameworks used in the study were the Tribal Critical Race Theory (TribalCrit) and…

Indigenous Peoples (Native American, American Indian, and Alaska Native) have experienced high rates of violence and victimization since colonization -- which continues to present day. However, little is known regarding the victimization experiences of Indigenous college students. Furthermore, universities are struggling to recruit and retain…

In schools, Indigenous students are more likely to receive exclusionary discipline and special education services related to emotional disturbance while the Indigenous concepts of disability and historical trauma often go unnoticed. This article provides an overview of the culturally responsive considerations practitioners should be cognizant of…

Many working understandings of giftedness exist within dominating Western frameworks, gatekeeping gifted education from students who do not "fit" inside such frameworks (Owens et al., 2018; Rinn et al., 2020; Sternberg et al., 2021). As a result, K-12 Native American, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students are underrepresented in…

Prior to this study, it was not known how American Indian (AI) post-secondary students have understood/responded to racial microaggressions they have experienced that doubted their ability to be academically successful. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how AI post-secondary students have understood and responded to…

Despite one in 25 students in Washington identifying as American Indian or Alaska Native (AI/AN), many Indigenous students and families feel disconnected from the education system. Native students rarely see their identities, cultures, or histories reflected in established curricula. Further, traditional curricula often reinforce settler-colonial…

This paper explores how the educational and career paths of Indigenous people in STEMM have been impacted by ethical, cultural, and/or spiritual issues. Based on a survey of over 400 Indigenous students and professionals in STEMM fields, plus over 30 follow up interviews, we find that these issues cause some Indigenous people to leave particular…

This research builds a narrative of a nationwide study on tuition waiver and tuition assistance programs. The authors administered a survey to long-standing and newly implemented tuition waiver programs within universities that identified limitations and opportunities. The purpose of this study is to highlight the varied approaches to…

American-Indian and Alaska Native students attending Midwestern Regional University (MRU) are experiencing graduation rates lower than the national average. This dissertation in practice attempts to solve this real-world problem by providing a voice for the indigenous students at MRU so that services and policies can be adjusted to increase the…

English learner (EL) education is widely conceived as services for immigrant-origin students, however nearly one in ten American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students are classified in school as EL. Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) defines EL eligibility differently for Indigenous, compared to non-Indigenous,…

Increasingly, students are grappling with threats to their mental wellbeing, yet teachers receive little formal education or professional development in mental health literacy and how to support students who experience mental health concerns or trauma. Given mental health disparities that exist for American Indian/Alaska Native students (AI/AN),…

In 2022, the Indigenous Education State Leaders Network (IESLN) and the American Institutes for Research (AIR) received a 4-year Educational Equity in Policy Implementation grant from the AIR Equity Initiative to study Indigenous student identification issues and respond to needs in the field. The Indigenous Student Identification (ISI) project…