FIC delegates discuss need for coordination among Indian education groups 

Coordinating the many tribal, state and federal agencies working on American Indian education issues was the central focus of a meeting between delegates from CSBA’s Federal Issues Council and Cathie Martin, Deputy Director, Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education.

Participants in the meeting, which also included Lana Shaughnessy, group leader for the Office of Indian Education, discussed the need to build relationships between the diverse groups involved in Indian education scattered throughout the country.

“We need to work more closely together on the common issues we all face,” said Shelly Yarbrough, CSBA’s Director-at-Large, American Indian and a board member in the Val Verde Unified School District in Riverside County. “We need to do a better job of sharing information and we really need to work toward more centralization. Think how much more we could accomplish if we all started working together more effectively.”

The group also discussed a number of other critical issues, including the challenges presented to American Indian students by the No Child Left Behind Act. NCLB’s “highly qualified teacher” provisions are especially problematic in the often remote, impoverished areas where many American Indian children live — areas where recruiting teachers is already a major struggle.

The standard curriculum that students are tested on under NCLB is also often out of sync with local cultures and traditions in these communities, according to Yarbrough, who also shared her frustration that age-appropriate learning materials, such as textbooks for young students dealing with Native American history, are virtually nonexistent.

Another key area discussed by the group was the challenge of accurately identifying American Indian students. Although some federal funds are available to help schools with American Indian students meet the various requirements of NCLB, the delegation reminded Deputy Director Martin that many of these students are reluctant to identify themselves.

“We know that the number of Indian students in California is dramatically underreported,” said meeting leader Luan Rivera, CSBA’s President-elect and a board member from Ramona Unified School District in San Diego County.

“Children are often told by their parents not to tell people they are Indian because of the fear of discrimination,” Yarbrough added. “The teasing alone can be very tough on a child. That’s a problem we need to really look at. We can’t address the needs of these kids or make sure they’re getting the resources they need to be successful unless we know who they are.”

Martin agreed that this was a unique problem that educators working with Indian students need to be aware of. She also shared information about a number of programs in other states that she suggested educators in California may want to examine, such as an ESL credentialing program in Oklahoma that prepares teachers to teach Cherokee as a second language.

Martin also said that she believed her department could help in fostering relationships among the many diverse Indian education organizations now working in relative isolation. With that goal in mind, the group discussed tentative plans for Martin and her staff to conduct workshops in California and other locations along the West Coast later this year.

“I think we’ve made some really important connections here today,” Rivera said. “The issues we’ve discussed and the goals we’ve talked about could be the starting point for some real progress.”