• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Indian Pupils Excel: Test Scores Among Highest Compared to Similar Districts

Posted on: Tuesday, 28 February 2006, 06:00 CST

By Russ Keen, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Feb. 28--In several areas of academic testing, American Indian students in Aberdeen public schools outshine their counterparts in other South Dakota districts.

Aberdeen fifth-graders who are Indians rank first in math scores among 10 districts with comparable Indian Education programs, said Doug Neuharth, coordinator of Aberdeen's program. These same fifth-graders rank second out of the 10 in reading scores on standardized testing for No Child Left Behind, a federal law that requires schools to improve the academic performance of their students.

Furthermore:

-- Indian students at Central High School rank second in math and third in reading among the 10 districts.

-- Indian students in Aberdeen's public middle schools rank third out of 10 in reading and sixth of 10 in math. This math ranking is an area of concern, Neuharth told the school board Monday night.

Ninety percent of the credit for these generally high rankings goes to teachers, not the Indian Education program, he said. Contrary to a misconception, the program does not mean Indians study in classes separate from students from other cultural backgrounds.

But his department does providing evening tutoring, a service that continues to grow. When it started six years ago, 12 people showed up, Neuharth said. The most recent session this year attracted 74 -- 19 tutors, 50 students and five parents, Neuharth said.

The number of Indian students in the district continues to grow, too. It currently runs between 325 to 335, which is 9 percent of the total student population.

That compares to 8.5 percent last school year, 7 percent in 2003-04 and about 5 percent when Neuharth started his job six years ago.

He offered an explanation: "More American Indian families are moving off reservations because they realize reservation schools can't compete with public schools."

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, American News, Aberdeen, S.D.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: American News (Aberdeen, S.D.)

More News in this Category