BILLINGS, Mont. ? Educators attending the National Indian Education Association conference here said Montana is moving slowly to address shortcomings in the state’s schools to improve the number of Native teachers and improve the outlook for American Indian students.
An amendment to the state constitution in 1999 guaranteed a commitment to Native American education, but moving forward will require more than a mandate under the state’s constitution to increase attendance, graduation rates, improve standardized test scores and slow the dropout rate for Native American students, speakers and educators agreed.
A U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report released at a conference seminar said American Indian children in Montana public schools are in a “crisis situation,” with dropout rates double those of non-Indian students. The students struggle with low achievement levels based on standardized test scores and low rates of high school graduates going on to college.
The report showed few teachers and administrators at schools on or near reservations were Native American educators. At the more than 25 schools the committee examined during the 1998-1999 school year, an overwhelming number of teachers were white.
In workshops Native American educators said one reason is that Native American teachers don’t fare well on state certification tests. They suggested tests be abandoned and requirements limited to academic credentials. Native educators pointed to test-taking anxiety as one of the main reasons tribal teachers perform poorly on the certification exams. Failing to pass the exams discouraged young Native American teachers from continuing their career paths.
Report recommendations included requiring public school teachers to complete a course in American Indian cultural studies, recruiting more American Indian teachers and administrators, improving the tracking of students as they move between schools on and off reservations and developing an American Indian studies curriculum for each school.
Montana State Rep. Norma Bixby, D-Lame Deer, who has worked on legislation to improve American Indian education, said she has been working with state Office of Public Instruction Superintendent Linda McCulloch since the report was released. “We’re making slow inroads.”
Bruce Meyers, Montana Gov. Judy Martz’s coordinator of Indian affairs, proposed a town meeting to develop solutions that could be started within 30 days. He suggested the meeting be conducted before the school year ends.
“It’s time to stop having crisis management in education. Instead of talking about problems, Gov. Martz wants feedback,” he said. Better communications between the Montana University System and the Office of Public Instruction would also help Indian students, he said.
“The Montana Education Department hasn’t done what it is supposed to do, said Elsie Meeks, the first American Indian appointed to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
Meeks, who is from the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota, said American Indian education problems discussed in the report aren’t confined to Montana. Similar problems exist in other states, but the commission should continue to apply pressure to make sure the state follows through on the recommendations issued as a part of the Commission’s report.
Like many reports on Indian education, the recent study focuses on serious problems, Meeks said, adding, “We all know many students are doing wonderful work.”
Meeks urged American Indian delegates to develop voter-registration and voting drives on their reservations because few Indians vote in state and national elections.
“They have less political clout” because of failing to bring their presence to the polls, she said.
A North Carolina delegate said her state was among the first southern states to use standardized tests as a yardstick for academic accountability. When it implemented tests to check student progress, schools and teachers were in an uproar, she said. Teachers were held accountable for each student’s test scores, bonuses were tied to how well students did and failing students could not be promoted to the next grade.
Minority students, including American Indians, had the lowest scores on the first tests, forcing the state to look hard at the test-score gap and work to close it. As a result, Native American scores have increased on the state and national tests, she said. While the testing system started “rough and rocky, we’ve come to realize that those scores mean something.”
Many Native American educators said their students don’t test well and some state mandated tests are racially biased, making it more difficult for students to understand questions they are asked. They said they also oppose teacher testing because it lowers the pool of prospective Native American teachers in the state’s schools, including those on or near the reservations.
“Our Native American teachers are not passing that test. We need to be looking at why they are not,” said Rose Villa, a Native American educator who teaches in Montana. “Some have missed that test by one point.”
Villa said many prospective Native American teachers have repeated the test several times and still haven’t passed it. The test, she said, is discouraging to young Native American teachers who might be excellent teachers in the classroom, but poor at taking tests.
Educators supported a move to relax state requirements to allow teachers to receive certification without the test and instead consider academic credentials. Some Native American educators in Montana said they continue to be overlooked when job openings arise even though they have credentials for the job.
Teachers and administrators said they will be forced to consider retention when students fail to master skills. Many American Indian students have been allowed to continue to the next grade, but educators are looking more closely at their achievement level before allowing them to move ahead.
Despite criticism, Montana Education Department officials contend they are pursuing the spirit of the mandate.
Montana is committed to providing resources needed to make high-quality education a reality for American Indian children, Superintendent of Public Instruction Linda McCulloch said Oct. 30.
“Montana’s commitment to Indian education goes far beyond my own personal support. Montana is unique in the nation in that we have our commitment written into our state Constitution,” McCulloch said.
The constitutional amendment says, “It is the constitutionally declared policy of this state to recognize the distinct and unique cultural heritage of Native Americans and to be committed in its education goals to the preservation of their cultural heritage.”
“Far too many leaders in our government claim they are for Indian education, but fail to provide the necessary resources and dollars to get the job done.”
McCulloch said some progress has been made and some individual Indian educators have been recognized nationally for excellence in teaching, “but we have only just begun. Graduation rates at Montana reservation high schools are unacceptably low. Despite some improvement in Indian student test scores, much more needs to be done.”
Although Montana officials continue to work at valid changes, Meeks indicated the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will continue to keep a watchful eye on the state. Although it has no enforcement powers, it can apply pressure which is often enough to aid in changes beneficial to minorities, Meeks said.
The commission’s full report on “Equal Educational Opportunity For Native American Students in Montana Public Schools” can be found at the commission’s web site at www.usccr.gov/mtsac/main.htm.