Journal of American Indian Education
Abstracts — 2000

#549
REMARKS OF KEVIN GOVER, ASSISTANT SECRETARY-INDIAN AFFAIRS: ADDRESS TO TRIBAL LEADERS
Kevin Gover Vol. 39, #2, pp. 4-6, 2000

#550
THE NEW ASSIMILATION MOVEMENT: STANDARDS, TESTS, AND ANGLO-AMERICAN SUPREMACY
Jack D. Forbes Vol. 39, #2, pp. 7-28, 2000

#551
COMPREHENSIVE REFORM AND AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION
David L. Beaulieu Vol. 39, #2, pp. 29-38, 2000

#552
REFLECTING N THE PAST: SOME IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF INDIAN EDUCATION TO CONSIDER AS WE LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE
John W. Tippeconnic III Vol. 39, #2, pp. 39-48, 2000

#553
INDIAN TEACHERS AND SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
Dean Chavers Vol. 39, #2, pp. 49-59, 2000

#554
BALANCING CULTURE AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION: AMERICAN INDIANS/ALASKA NATIVES AND THE HELPING PROFESSIONS
Hilary N. Weaver Vol. 39, #3, pp. 1-18, 2000

Historically, education has often been equated with assimilation for American Indian students. Today many students seek education in the helping professions so they can take the best of Western ways of helping back to their cultural communities without losing the best of their own traditions. Little research has explored the conflicts that hinder or the support mechanisms that help American Indians/Alaska Natives in professional education. This research examined the experiences of 132 American Indians/Alaska Natives with training in social work, nursing, and psychology. The respondents were asked about cultural content in their training and support mechanisms and challenges they experienced as indigenous people during their professional education. The voices of these helping professionals reflect a mixture of problems and hope. Faculty and administrators can take this information and use it to enhance their programs and to counteract the struggles of future students.

#555
THE BENEFITS OF SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION AND TEACHING FOR INDIGENOUS LANGUAGE EDUCATORS
Lawrence N. Berlin Vol. 39, #3, pp. 19-35, 2000

This paper proposes the field of second language acquisition and teaching (SLAT) as beneficial to educators who want to implement or are currently engaged in indigenous language education. The point of view being presented here is that, in most cases, American Indian/Alaska Native children are not learning their tribal languages as their first languages, but rather as a second or subsequent language. For this reason, schools can play a pivotal role in reversing language shift by addressing the circumstances specific to second language learning. Awareness of SLAT theory can help teachers understand the developmental and cognitive processes that make learning a second language different from the first. In turn, SLAT pedagogical approaches and techniques, which are based on language-specific theoretical research, can provide helpful and effective ways to teach indigenous language as second languages. These approaches and techniques are also discussed as they are congruent with different cultural beliefs and practices, and different ways of knowing.

#556
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE
W. Sakiestewa Gilbert Vol. 39, #3, pp. 36-58, 2000

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of culturally appropriate English, mathematics, and career development curriculum on American Indian sophomore and junior high school students' academic achievement in a five-week summer program called Nizhoni Academy. The sample for this study consisted of 135 high school students; 39 males and 96 females. The sample included 103 Navajos, 24 Hopis, and 8 students who represented other American Indian Nations. The purpose of the Nizhoni Academy was to provide academic support services and direct instruction to educationally disadvantaged secondary students attending rural high schools on or near the Navajo and Hopi reservations in northeastern Arizona and New Mexico. The goals of the program were threefold: (a) to acquaint the American Indian sophomore and junior students to the rigors of college/university life, (b) to prepare students for continued academic success in high school, and (c) to provide an academic “bridge” that would better prepare Native secondary students in becoming academically successful in either the college or university.