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Charter / Alternative Schools

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Bielenberg, B. (2000). Charter Schools for American Indians. In J. Reyhner, J. Martin & L. Lockard (Eds.), Learn in Beauty: Indigenous Education for a New Century (pp. 132-150). Flagstaff, AZ: Northern Arizona University.

The charter school movement is a reform through which American Indians can gain back their sovereignty, a way in which they can step forward on their own behalf and on behalf of their children. However, the existence of such schools alone is not enough, as is shown in this paper through a small-scale ethnographic study of an urban charter school serving students from some 30 tribes. This study indicates that despite the best of intentions, it is often difficult to change common mainstream educational practices. Rather than simply changing what we teach, it is necessary to look more deeply at how we teach and how we structure the learning environment. Taking such issues into consideration can provide American Indian children with the education they deserve and the education indigenous people, both urban and rural, have been requesting for over a century.

Jeffries, R., Hollowell, M., & Powell, T. (2004). Urban American Indian Students in a Nonpunitive Alternative High School. American Secondary Education 32(2), 63-78.

This article is based on participant observation, review of documents such as curriculum materials, and interviews with participants associated with Spotted Eagle Alternative High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The school was founded to combat the high dropout rate of American Indian students from mainstream secondary settings and offers a last chance for high school graduation. Approximately half of its students are American Indian, while the remaining students are African American, White, and Latino. Eighty percent of seniors graduate each year. The article highlights values and attitudes that predominate at Spotted Eagle. It also demonstrates how the school fulfills criteria for a quality nonpunitive education.

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