Alaska Native students being left behind in their own backyard


A student at the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School in Anchorage, Alaska. Photo from Facebook

Like their counterparts in the Lower 48, Native students in Alaska face disparities in the educational system.

Only 57 percent of Native students graduated on time in 2013, compared to 57 percent of White students, The Washington Post reported. Their dropout rate is 6.4 percent, the highest in the state, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

Test scores reveal more disparities. Only 7 percent of Native fourth-graders are proficient in reading, the Post reported, compared to 41 percent of Whites.

Like those in the Lower 48, the vast majority of Native students attend public schools in Alaska. Alaska Native and American Indian students represent 23.6 percent of the entire student body, according to the Department of Education and Early Development.

The Bureau of Indian Education does not oversee or operate any facilities in Alaska.

Get the Story:
In Alaska, massive achievement gaps separate Native and white students (The Washington Post 9/1)

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