DOCUMENT RESUME ED 436 336 RC 022 186 AUTHOR Chavers, Dean, Ed. TITLE Exemplary Programs in Indian Education. Second Edition. INSTITUTION Native American Scholarship Fund, Inc., Albuquerque, NM. PUB DATE 1996-00-00 NOTE 249p.; Includes photographs, figures, and reprints of newspaper articles that may not reproduce adequately. AVAILABLE FROM Native American Scholarship Fund, Inc., 8200 Mountain Road, N.E., Suite 203, Albuquerque, NM 87110 ($29.95 plus $3.50 shipping). PUB TYPE Reference Materials - Directories/Catalogs (132)-- Reports Descriptive (141) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC10 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Adult Education; *American Indian Education; American Indians; Educational Improvement; Elementary Secondary Education; Evaluation Criteria; Higher Education; Profiles; Program Descriptions; *Validated Programs ABSTRACT This directory profiles 16 exemplary programs serving American Indian students in elementary and secondary schools, colleges, and community adult education programs. An introduction discusses what "exemplary" means, the history of Indian education, the lack of Indian programs in the National Diffusion Network's (NDN) directory of exemplary programs, characteristics of exemplary programs, and other exemplary programs in the United States. Each program entry contains: contact information, program focus, population served, personnel, sources of support, indicators used to measure program success, changes in baseline indicators over time, evaluation methods, technology use, details of program features contributing to success, comments on program replication, outreach efforts, parent involvement, student selection, and recognition or awards received. The projects and their sites or sponsors are:(1) Dropout Prevention Program (Cass Lake Local Indian Education Committee, Minnesota);(2) Indian Homework Centers (Davis County Indian Parent Association, Utah);(3) Denver Adult Education Program (Native American MultiEducational School, Colorado); (4) Ganado Primary School (Arizona);(5) Cool School Project (Ganado Intermediate School, Arizona);(6) MESBEC (math, engineering, science, business, education, computers) Scholarship Program (Native American Scholarship Fund, New Mexico);(7) Mississippi Choctaw Adult Education Program (Mississippi Choctaw Tribe);(8) Total Quality Management Program (Mount Edgecumbe High School, Alaska);(9) National Honors Program (National American Indian Honor Society, Arizona);(10) Tradition and Technology (Peach Springs School District, Arizona);(11) Individual Student Learning Program (Rock Ledge School District, Wisconsin); (12) Salmon River Central School Indian Education Project (New York);(13) Tohatchi High School Career Center (New Mexico);(14) Student Support Services Project (University of Alaska-Fairbanks);(15) Focus on Excellence Program (Wellpinit School District, Washington); and (16) Native American Student Services (University of Wisconsin-Madison). Appendices include contact information for agencies selecting exemplary programs, criteria for exemplary status in this directory, and criteria for NDN exemplary status. (SV) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. PROGRAMS IN N IAN JCA ION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS . EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER /ER/C/ Necrusdocument has been reproduced as received born the person or organization bean('.)'aver Originating it O Moroi changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Points 01 view or opinions stated in this doCui meat do not necessarily represent officrel TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OEM positron or policy INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC).. DR. DEAN CHAVERS EDITOR MONICA CHAVERS COPY EDITOR cl BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 SECOND EDITION 1996 Native American Scholarship Fund, Inc. 8200 Mountain Road, N. E., Suite 203 Albuquerque, NM 87110 (505) 262-2351 Fax: (505) 262-0534 Typesetting by Diane Cooka and Monica Chavers ©Copyright, 1996 3 Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS 1. DROPOUT PREVENTION PROGRAM 12 Cass Lake Local Indian Education Committee, MN 2. INDIAN HOMEWORK CENTERS 19 Davis County Indian Parent Association, UT 3. ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM 38 Native American Multi Educational School (NAMES), CO 4. GANADO PRIMARY SCHOOL 48 Ganado Primary School, AZ 5. COOL SCHOOL PROJECT 61 Ganado Intermediate School, AZ 6. MESBEC SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 78 Native American Scholarship Fund, NM 7. MISSISSIPPI CHOCTAW ADULT EDUCATION PROGRAM 94 Mississippi Choctaw Tribe, MS 8. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT PROGRAM 99 Mount Edgecumbe High School, AK 9. NATIONAL HONORS PROGRAM 116 National American Indian Honor Society, AZ 10. TRADITION AND TECHNOLOGY 126 Peach Springs School District, AZ 11. INDIVIDUAL STUDENT LEARNING PROGRAM 137 Rock Ledge School District, WI 12. SALMON RIVER INDIAN EDUCATION PROJECT 150 Salmon River Central School, NY 13. TOHATCHI HIGH SCHOOL CAREER CENTER 158 Tohatchi High School, NM 14. STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES PROJECT 165 University of Alaska, Fairbanks AK 15. FOCUS ON EXCELLENCE PROGRAM 171 Welipinit School District, WA 16. NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENT SERVICES 194 University of Wisconsin, Madison WI III. ADDENDA 217 1. List of National Exemplary Programs 2. Criteria for Exemplary Program status 3. Criteria for inclusion into NDN Exemplary status I. A Short History of Exemplary Programs What "Exemplary" Means This directory is about outstanding, well-above-the-norm, superb,magnificent programs in schools which have Indian students as their intended targetaudience.It is about the high success rate which is just starting to emergein Indian Country's schools. The word "exemplary" means basically a thing which is an examplefor others.It is not one of a kind, not unique, but a modelwhich sets the standards for others. That we now have at least 19 such programs is quite an accomplishment forIndian people. Just ten years ago, we had almost no exemplary programs. Some of the other words used with exemplary programs are outstanding,stellar, superlative, pre-eminent, and magnificent.These words describe programs which do not even entertain thoughts of mediocrity. Their heads are in the clouds, their minds areconstantly on excellence, and their expectations are extremely high. These programs, by definition, are in the top five percent of education programsin their outcomes.In most cases, they are in the top one percent.In the U. S. Department of Education, the National Diffusion Network, for example, lists only222 Exemplary education projects in the entire U. S.' Thus the ones listed here may meanIndians are over-represented in the number of Exemplary programs which exist now in IndianCountry. The Exemplary program, almost by definition, achieves its statusby the outcomes it achieves with its students.It is not programs, practices, plans, and professional development. Any one of these elements may be present in a program, in anexemplary way, and the program may not be exemplary. It is only in thework, academic performance, and outcomes for students that Exemplary status is achieved. Students in Exemplary programs have different behaviorsfrom other students. They are eager to attend school. They havehigh rates of attendance, often over 95% for the year. They are eager to learn. They study everyday. They take homework home every day; if they have no homework, they read books at home.They read dozens of books outside the curriculum, in addition to the books assigned to them to read, every year.It is not unusual to find an Exemplary student reading three to four books per week,year-round. Exemplary programs are generally focused on one area,and on that area alone. Four of the ones in this directory are schools which have acomprehensive set of goals and objectives. However, in those four cases, the schools set out to do onething well at first.After that was done well, the school then added another componentin another area, then another, and so on. ' Moore, Raven. "Education Programs ThatWork." Longmont, Co.: Sopris West, 1996. Most of the programs described are now so new that total, comprehensive reform is still a few years ahead. Only two of them started its new direction with total reform as its goal. Most Exemplary programs come from the bottom, apparently, and not from the top. That is, school boards and superintendents can mandate change, can come up with magnificent plans, and can find funds for the programs. This scenario has been followed hundreds of times, in Indian Country and elsewhere. But it seldom works in reality. In contrast, programs which are started from the bottom, by parents, teachers, students, and counselors, can work and work well. This is not to say that the principals and superintendents should not support such programs. They should support them, very strongly. Too often, the person who develops an Exemplary program and nurtures it through to full growth and maturity is fired for his or her excellent work.Thus the system kills its most promising children. Change is dangerous, to the trustees of the system.It does not seem to matter to them if outstanding or poor things are happening in the systems they inherit. School board members and school administrators almost always look upon themselves as the trustees of the schools and all their programs. They often insist that everyone in the system follow their rules. Thus often Exemplary programs are a threat because they do not follow the rules. The rules in Indian Country are that Indian students are not to be