Improving Aboriginal Achievement

Improving Aboriginal achievement is one of Canada's most pressing educational challenges. A study of ten schools producing tangible progress for their Aboriginal students was undertaken in the 2003-04 school year by a research team under Principal Investigator, David Bell. The purpose of the research was to identify practices that appear to contribute to student success.

The ten schools were as diverse as their locations in urban centers and isolated rural reserves across five provinces. The set included two secondary, four elementary, one pre-K-9, and three pre-K-12 schools, with enrolments that ranged from 74 to 950 students. Three schools operated under the authority of school districts, one under the Department of Education, and the remaining six were band-operated.

Researchers spent an average of 12 days per site, conducting over 120 interviews, and 37 focus groups of teachers, students, parents, and elders. Triangulating this with observations and document review, they prepared case studies highlighting each school's practices and analyzed patterns observed across sites.

Findings

Despite the diversity in approaches and circumstances, a number of common characteristics distinguished the ten schools. The elements of their success are similar to those in the research literature:
♦ Strong leadership and governance structures, often with long tenure
♦ High expectations, focus on academic achievement and long-term success
♦ Secure and welcoming climates for children and families
♦ Respect for Aboriginal culture and traditions to make learning relevant
♦ Quality staff development
♦ Provision of a wide range of programs/supports for learning

All schools possessed effective governance structures marked by stable leadership, long-term planning, and strategic alignment of goals and resources. They exerted efforts to foster trusting relationships with parents and community to overcome the lingering multi-generational suspicion of schools to build community ownership and support.

All provided safe and accepting learning environments. A holistic approach was evident in their attempts to meet social, emotional, spiritual and physical needs of students in order to increase their capacity for intellectual development. The schools proactively addressed attendance, behaviour, and well-being as pre-conditions for learning. All challenged students to attempt higher levels of achievement, while offering multiple levels of support to optimize success.

They offered an impressive array of instructional and extra-curricular programs, many of which were culturally linked. Programs were based on research and coherently implemented. Literacy approaches are described in some depth. The schools put in place numerous layers of support to improve their capacity to deal with at-risk students. Early childhood development programs were common.

Assessment data was utilized for student placement, instruction and programming and planning for improvement, but there were marked differences among the schools in their willingness to measure themselves against large scale norms and to report results publicly.

The schools integrated local culture into instruction to increase academic success, relevance, and reinforce identity and self-worth. Aboriginal language instruction was offered to all classes, although a first language immersion program was present in only one school. Respect for traditions and culture was affirmed by displays, special events, excursions, the use of elders and local resource people, cultural classes and the incorporation of cultural content into appropriate curriculum areas.

Systemic Issues that Emerged

While the case studies offer examples of programs and strategies that appear to accelerate literacy, there is little rigorous Canadian research guidance for important questions in this field, such as the efficacy of Aboriginal language immersion programs to improve acquisition of English.

Overlapping jurisdictions and governance models have resulted in large disparities in the quality of schooling experienced by Aboriginal students. The existing legislation precludes the development of a truly effective, equitable and accountable system of education.

Inadequate funding remains a critical issue for all but the largest band-operated schools. Federal funds available to band-operated schools are estimated to be 75% of those for provincially operated schools.

There is a shortage of certified Aboriginal teachers, especially those with expertise in early childhood development, special education, reading, or science and mathematics specialties at the high school level.

School transitions seemed to be key points where students dropped out. The most vulnerable students were those forced to attend high school outside the community.

The absence of a mandatory large-scale assessment program for band-operated schools inhibits monitoring their progress against common benchmarks and the relative effectiveness of delivery systems.

Recommendations

To support the success of Aboriginal learners everywhere, the report directs ten recommendations towards policy makers and eight towards practitioners. These include the recommendations that:
♦ The Indian Act be revised to recognize and empower Aboriginal school boards similar to those in provincial/territorial systems, provide funding to support an equivalent level of educational infrastructure and services, and articulate an accountability framework.
♦ A national Centre for Aboriginal Language and Culture be established to assist in the preservation of Aboriginal languages and cultures; develop rigorous and relevant educational curricula, programs, and teaching materials; and commission language research.
♦ All Aboriginal students have access to secondary education in their home communities.
♦ Teacher education programs provide increased recognition of Aboriginal languages, and offer programs and student teacher placements in Aboriginal communities.
♦ Responsibility for pre-school programs be moved to education and that Aboriginal governing authorities implement programs to encourage early language development and family literacy.
♦ All jurisdictions implement programs to measure, track, and report on the progress of Aboriginal students and require the use of this data in annual school improvement plans which are co-developed and shared with parents and community; and that all Aboriginal education authorities participate in these performance measurement programs as well as work to develop holistic measures appropriate to Aboriginal programs.

Schools working with Aboriginal students are urged to hold high expectations for achievement while recognizing the existence of their special needs and providing multiple layers of support; use diverse tools to monitor progress and program effectiveness, and employ the aggregate data produced in developing annual improvement plans; employ school leaders and teachers with the expertise and personal qualities that have been shown to be most effective with Aboriginal learners.

They must also recognize the importance of Aboriginal language and culture by offering specific programs and classes, the inclusion of Aboriginal perspectives in regular curriculum, and by special events and celebrations. Schools are urged to provide special emphasis on literacy and communication skills, mathematics and the sciences, which provide the core competencies to enable their students to open doors to future success.

The study was commissioned by SAEE, with financial support provided by the BC Ministry of Education, the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network, Northland School Division, and a Canadian foundation. To obtain a copy of Sharing our Success: Ten Case Studies in Aboriginal Schooling, go to http://www.saee.ca/order.php