Thoughts On Indigenous Language Immersion

A recent article in Ed Week, “NCLB Seen Impeding Indigenous-Language Preservation,” highlights an issue that flies under the radar in education circles: How does indigenous and tribal education fit into federal policy?

 

 Last week, leaders from the Native American community gathered in Washington to press members of Congress and education officials for more flexibility in indigenous language immersion programs. These schools educate children in native languages, and often don’t introduce English until fifth grade— which is problematic when testing these children under No Child Left Behind regulations that require the reporting of test scores in reading and math starting in the third grade.

 

Indigenous language immersion is seen as a way to preserve languages that are on the verge of extinction. According to Ed Week’s article, there are between 139 to 155 indigenous languages in the United States that still have fluent speakers. And, of these languages, about half of them only have a handful of (mostly elder) fluent speakers left.

 

The article also points out some schools that are hoping to revitalize some more popular indigenous languages, such as Cherokee and Native Hawaiian. The advocates argue that since students are surrounded by English outside of school (in many cases, parents actually speak mostly English and very little Cherokee or Ojibwe), the transition to learning English in later grades comes easily. These schools want more flexibility under NCLB when it comes to how they test students, and who they hire to teach.

 

At Early Ed Watch, we see value in children developing strong literacy skills in multiple languages, as long as children’s reading and writing skills in English are part of that education. With the possibility of ESEA reauthorization growing closer by the day, there are some poignant issues raised here on how to ensure quality educations for children across a mind-bogglingly diverse country. How can federal policy set high expectations for public education that don’t fall apart under the needs of our many, different populations?