Calling Out Organizational Hypocrisy: A Policy Analysis of No Child Left Behind and Tribal Sovereignty

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Analysis in Education Policy

Abstract

I present preliminary findings from an analysis of federal Indigenous education policy which simultaneously endorses high stakes testing and tribal education sovereignty. I use critical discourse policy and frame theories, (Dombos, et al., 2012; Hyatt, 2013) to examine Native education policy instruments. Executive Orders, and Bureau of Indian Education documents,(2011-2014). Examining policy instruments as ideological artifacts exposes hegemonic contradictions, and incoherence of federal policy. Initial findings suggest Washington’s stance constitutes “organizational hypocrisy.” (Mundy Menashy, 2014) t systematic privileging of some commitments at the expense of others. These findings challenge Washington’s legitimacy as the dominant stakeholder in Native American schooling.

Author

• Erin O'Brien, University of Massachusetts - Boston