Examining the Educational Experiences of High-Achieving Native American Youth

• In Event: 70.029 - Examining Resilience and Agency Across Race and Ethnicity

Abstract

The bulk of the research on Native American student achievement has focused on explaining the underachievement of Native American students. While these studies are valuable in identifying the barriers that students face, they are problematic in that they are built upon theories that would suggest academic struggles for all Native American students who encounter these barriers. Thankfully, we know that there are Native American students who, in spite of these barriers, achieve academic success.

Given this apparent contradiction between predicted and actual performance, the aim of this study is to examine how high-achieving members of one Northern Plains tribe make sense of, and successfully navigate, the educational and social barriers that previous studies have suggested should compromise their academic success.

Author

• Adam Hengen, University of Michigan