NAVAJO ASSIMILATION IN EDUCATION

1. NAVAJO ASSIMILATIONIN EDUCATION • SOC 2630 • By Anthony Evans

2. Table of Contents • Baseline Information • What is the Problem? • Journal Article • Journal Findings • Table • Book on Topic • Reflection • Work Cited

3. BASELINE INFORMATION According to the 2000 Census in regard to the Navajo Nation: There are 180,462 residents of which 167,528 are Navajo alone or in combination with one or more other races (92.83%). School enrollment on the Navajo Nation beginning in 2000 was 55,648 from 1stto 12thgrade. There were 7,951 enrolled in nursery school, preschool and kindergarten (US Census 2000). Based on the Navajo Nation, “data collection from New Mexico Public Education department, Arizona Department of Education, the Utah State Education Department and the Bureau of Indian Education, school enrollment on the Navajo Nation has been in a decline from: - 42,492 in 2006 - 40,974 in 2007 - 39,203 in 2008 - 38,990 in 2009 These enrollment numbers are for all public schools, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, and grant schools.”

4. WHAT’S THE PROBLEM? • The problem that faces Navajo students in the education system are similar to other minority groups. Studies will show that this is a consistent trend. • There have also been studies that look at the causes of these trends. • Groups like the Navajo Nation also strive to improve the educational progress for Navajo children.

5. JOURNAL SUMMARY • THE NAVAJO AREA STUDENT DROPOUT STUDY: FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: “This study was designed to answer some fundamental questions about Navajo student dropout: who drops out, how many, for what reasons, how can better data be obtained, how can students be tracked, and what can be done about the problem? Lack of comparable data across schools and districts made determination of the actual dropout rate very difficult. The study found an estimated overall dropout rate of 31% with a transfer rate of 30%. The dropout phenomenon is complex, multicausal, and can only be helped with an approach that brings together schools, families, students, and communities.” • In 1973, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held hearings in Window Rock, Arizona and disclosed that most Navajo adults complete an average of 5 school years compared to 12 years in the rest of the United States (Navajo Tribe Ten Year Plan, 1972). Further, they reported that 80% of the over 25 age group had dropped out of school before reaching grade 12 (Bureau of the Census, 1970). The Commission concluded that "almost 2 days of testimony on education for the Navajo yielded no single answer as to why so many Navajo students leave school in the lower grades." Existing data show that the dropout problem is complex and severe. The Navajo dropout rates often quoted range from a conservative 30% (Anderson, 1985) to a startling 95% (Platero, 1985). Faced with the lack of concrete information, the Navajo Division of Education (NDOE) commissioned the investigation to obtain a more accurate account.

6. JOURNAL FINDINGS • “For the class of 1984, she showed a rate of 31%, for 1985 a rate of 29%, and for 1986 a rate of 31%. For later years, she showed the rate continuing to climb and even offsetting the number of graduates. In part, this was due to longer completion times for Indian students, but it is alarming nonetheless. She pointed out that if one considered completing studies "on time," (i.e., the traditional twelve/thirteen years), then the rates dropped considerably lower to the 50% range. Data from the Secretary of Education's Wall Charts for the State of Arizona (National Dropout Prevention Center) showed an overall graduation rate of 74.7% for 1984, 64.5% for 1985, and 63% for 1986.”

7. TABLES • Table 2 • School Leavers' Reasons for Dropping Out • 1.Bored with school • 20.5% • 2.Problems with other students • 15.5% • 3.Retained in grade due to absenteeism • 14.2% • 4.Pregnancy/marriage • 9.6% • 5.Problems with teachers • 7.8% • 6.Legal problems, arrest, etc. • 7.3% • 7.Substance/alcohol abuse • 7.3% • 8.To help family • 7.3% • 9.Disciplinary problems • 5.9% • 10.Academic failure • 5.9% • 11.Older than the other students • 5.5% • 12.Poor transportation • 3.2% • 13.Language problems • 1.8% • 14.Medical reasons • 1.8% • 15.Work • 1.4% • 16.  • Other • 3.7%

8. Book on Topic • A Place to Be Navajo: Rough Rock and the Struggle for Self-Determination in Indigenous Schooling • “A Place To Be Navajo is the only book-length ethnographic account of a revolutionary Indigenous self-determination movement that began in 1966 with the Rough Rock Demonstration School. Called Diné Bi'ólta', The People's School, in recognition of its status as the first American Indian community-controlled school, Rough Rock was the first to teach in the Native language and to produce a body of quality children's literature by and about Navajo people. These innovations have positioned the school as a leader in American Indian and bilingual/bicultural education and have enabled school participants to wield considerable influence on national policy. This book is a critical life history of this singular school and community. • McCarty's account grows out of 20 years of ethnographic work by the author with the Diné (Navajo) community of Rough Rock. The story is told primarily through written text, but also through the striking black-and-white images of photographer Fred Bia, a member of the Rough Rock community. Unlike most accounts of Indigenous schooling, this study involves the active participation of Navajo community members. Their oral testimony and that of other leaders in Indigenous/Navajo education frame and texture the account. • Informed by critical theories of education, this book is not just the story of a single school and community. It is also an inquiry into the larger struggle for self-determination by Indigenous and other minoritized communities, raising issues of identity, voice, and community empowerment. A Place To Be Navajo asks whether school can be a place where children learn, question, and grow in an environment that values and builds upon who they are. The author argues that the questions Rough Rock raises, and the responses they summon, implicate us all.”

9. REFLECTION • I am half Navajo Indian. My mother was adopted from a reservation in New Mexico, and I have no direct connection to the culture. I hope to work within the education system after I graduate. Currently I live in Wisconsin. I am in an area that has a handful of reservations, and many of the Native American students struggle in the public education system. I learned in this research that this is true. However, I have learned that data has not been collected correctly in the past. I believe that there should be more solutions to the problems, and I hope to use this information to further the quantitative data from within the classroom.

10. works cited • http://navajonationdode.org/Office_of_Educational_Research_and_Statistics_1.aspx • http://jaie.asu.edu/v31/V31S2nav.htm • http://www.amazon.com/Place-Navajo-Self-Determination-Indigenous-Sociocultural/dp/0805837604/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334461654&sr=8-1 • Deyhle, D. (1989). Push outs and Pullouts: Navajo and Ute School Leavers. Journal of Navajo Education, 6(2), 36-51.