Dropouts; *Educational Strategies; Elementary

American Indian and Alaska Native students have the highest dropout rate among all ethnic or racial groups, about 30%. Many studies have focused on the supposed deficits of students who drop out, such as intelligence, school attenda.ice, and parental income. Less attention has been given to the deficits of schools and teachers pushing out Native students. Research indicates several factors associated wits hicrler dropout rates that are particularly critical for Native students: large factory-like schools, uncaring teachers, passive teaching methods, irrelevant curriculum, inappropriate testing, tracked classes, and lack of parent involvement. Beyond correcting these problems to prevent future dropouts, more must be done to help current dropouts. Such efforts include the General Educational Development (GED) program, community-based alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs, program