Voices of Native Educators: Strategies that Support Success of Native High School Students

This report summarizes a conversation that took place in April of 2010 in Washington, DC regarding high school reform and Native American, Alaskan Native and Native Hawaiian students. The meeting was co-sponsored by the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) and the National Education Association (NEA). The meeting was attended by a broad sector of Native educators representing various tribes across the U.S. mainland, Alaska and Hawaii. The purpose of the meeting was to elicit ideas from the participants regarding best practices for improving the success of Native students enrolled in the nation's high schools. A core belief of the convening organizations was that the best practices implemented in Native communities as they work towards increasing opportunities for Indian adolescents are of value to non-Indian educators, and to Native educators that have not yet experienced success at the secondary school level. This report highlights such practices in an attempt to promote meaningful conversations across communities engaged in secondary school renewal.