Federal law defines eligibility for English learner (EL) classification differently for Indigenous students compared to non-Indigenous students. Indigenous students, unlike non-Indigenous students, are not required to have a non-English home or primary language. A critical question, therefore, is how EL classification impacts Indigenous students'…

Most bilingual programs are built around a clear separation between the two languages used throughout the school day. However, in bilingual research centers (BRCs), a key component of the Gomez and Gomez Dual Language Enrichment model, students can choose which language to use. This is what sparked my interest, because I wanted to understand more…

This dissertation in teacher leadership represents original, independent research that investigated bilingual language instruction of an indigenous Alaskan group of students. Ethnographic research using qualitative and quantitative data was applied to develop an understanding of correlations between the value of English and Yup'ik language and…

This report examines the population of Alaska Native students who are classified as English learner (EL) students and how EL policies function for these students, focusing on EL identification, classification, service provision, and reclassification as fluent English proficient. Alaska is one of several states where Indigenous students make up a…

Traditionally, Canadian Inuit have lived in the circumpolar regions of Canada and those who still live in these regions, have their own cultures, which they tend to celebrate in their educational curricula. Inuit culture reflects their traditional lifestyle, when they were nomadic, and hunted and fished to survive in incredibly difficult…

Bilingual education is thought to be one of the principal means of simultaneously revitalizing threatened language and preparing students for success in mainstream society. However, little research has examined, in a comprehensive and longitudinal fashion, bilingual programs in Aboriginal contexts. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to conduct…

This article describes an ethnographic study of the process of collecting, transcribing, translating, retelling, and adapting of a traditional Yup'ik story for a children's bilingual picture book, which is part of a culturally based math curriculum project, Math in a Cultural Context (MCC). The article opens with an overview of MCC and the role…

Children who are native speakers of minority languages often experience stagnation or decline in that language when exposed to a majority language in a school or community situation. This paper examines such a situation among the Inuit of arctic Quebec. All 18 participants in the study were native speakers of Inuktitut, living in home environments…

This research explored the impact of the abrupt shift from heritage-language to dominant-language education on Inuit children's personal and collective self-esteem. Specifically, the following question was addressed: will early heritage-language education serve as an inoculation against the potential negative impact of being submerged in a…