Abysmal Academic Performance of American Indian Students--- and Thus the Ineffectiveness of the Department of Indian Education at the Minneapolis Public Schools

Students in the Minneapolis Public Schools receive a terrible quality of education, as do most K-12 students in the United States.  I have detailed the appalling level of American ignorance in many articles on this blog, an ignorance that was much in view this past 8 November 2016 when we elected a reality (that in fact is not realistic) television show host and expert in filing for bankruptcy to the position of  President of the United States, the most important post of leadership that we can view as we scan a globe on which many needy,  ill-educated, and long-suffering people await a better day.


In the Minneapolis Public Schools, just one of many similar iterations of the locally centralized school district, all students suffer but African American, American Indian, and Free/ Reduced Priced Lunch students fare the worst.


I have previously detailed the appalling results for African American students.


Now consider these similar diminishing returns on our investment in the lives of our precious Native American/ American Indian students, whose academic declines expose the hypocrisy of the MPS Acceleration 2020 Strategic Plan, according to which academic outcomes for this population are supposed to rise 8 percentage points per year during the period spanning academic years 2014-2015 through 2019-2020.


Notice, instead, that academic performance is getting significantly worse: 


MCA (Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment) Results
for Academic Years 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016




American Indian Students


Mathematics




Percentage of Students Rated as Academically Proficient at Grade Level




                              2013-2014      2014-2015      2015-2016

Male                         19.9%            16.5%             16.0%


Female                     25.0%             21.9%             21.3%


Reading


Percentage of Students Rated as Academically Proficient at Grade Level


                              2013-2014        2014-2015        2015-2016


Male                          18.3%              13.9%               15.3%


Female                      23.6%              26.1%               25.9%


Below I list the group of people clustered together in the Department of Indian Education at the Minneapolis Public Schools who should be held most culpable for these outcomes;  Native American/ American Indian group affiliations are given in parentheses:

 
Department of Indian Education Staff,
Minneapolis Public Schools

Anna Ross, Director (Turtle Mountain)

Tracy Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

Terry Bignell, School Success Program Assistant (Opaskwayak Cree)

Jodi Burke, Counselor on Special Assignment

Braden Canfield, Social Worker

Ida Downwind, District Program Facilitator (Leech Lake)

Alicia Garcia, Social Worker (Taos Pueblo)

Tami Johnson, Counselor on Special Assignment (White Earth)

Elaine Kpischke-Trejo, Office Specialist

Gary Lussier, District Program Facilitator (Red Lake)

Deanna Standing Cloud (Red Lake), Associate Educator

Christine Wilson, Family Engagement Specialist (White Earth)

Odia Wood-Krueger, District Program Facilitator (Metis)

Nichelle Wynde, Check and Connect Mentor (Oto-Chunk)

James Vukelich, School Success Program Assistant (Turtle Mountain)

MPS American Indian Education Director Anna Ross receives a salary in excess of $100,000 annually for these outcomes, and the staff of fourteen other members drain the coffers of the Minneapolis Public Schools just as surely as they drain the futures of the young lives in their care as a matter of sacred trust.

We must adopt the better approaches toward K-12 excellence that I advocate in many articles on this blog, even as we terminate the positions of the above-given staff members and replace them with people capable of delivering an education of excellence.