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About Appeal tribune. (Silverton, Or.) 1999-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 6, 2017)
2B Wednesday, December 6, 2017 Appeal Tribune Report: Low grad rates for Native Americans Experts: Lack of Native American teachers, resources could be cause NATALIE PATE SALEM STATESMAN JOURNAL USA TODAY NETWORK Debbie Austin grew up in the Great Depression, a "time when it was not a good thing to be an Indian." Talked down to by teachers, professors and medical professionals, berated by passersby, Austin thought, "If we were white, things would have been a lot easier for us." But she doesn't want her more than 40 grandchildren and great-grandchildren to grow up the same way. "I (don't) want my children to feel bad about them- selves," Austin said. Austin and her husband, Warner Austin, are elders in and founders of the Native American Cross Cultural Association, based in Salem, which celebrates various indigenous cultures across North America. They advocate for more Native American studies and experiences to be shared in the classroom and en- courage Native students to pursue their education. But they are working against myriad obstacles. Native American students in Oregon are graduating at lower rates, performing worse on state assessments, attending fewer days and receiving more suspensions and expulsions than their peers, according to a report released by the Oregon Department of Education. For graduation rates alone, Oregon's Native Amer- ican students are graduating at about 56 percent, com- pared to the state's overall four-year graduation rate of 74.8 percent. “It’s clear from the data that there are significant op- portunity gaps for American Indian and Alaska Native students,” said Colt Gill, acting deputy superintendent for the state. “The data allow us to see the problem, but it is up to us to partner with our tribes, communities and districts to ... better support our American Indian and Alaska Native students in culturally responsive ways." Experts believe a few key issues causing these nega- tive outcomes include the lack of culturally-relative curriculum, a lack of Native American teachers and staff in schools, a gap in services available to the fam- ilies along with additional obstacles many Native American students face outside of the classroom. Oregon's Native American students are graduating at about 56 percent, compared to the state's overall four-year graduation rate of 74.8 percent. MOLLY J. SMITH/STATESMAN JOURNAL These are the 4-year graduation rates (in percentages) of Native American (American Indian/Alaskan Native) students over the past 8 years in Oregon and Salem-Keizer, comparatively. State Culture not seen in classrooms A doctor in Pennsylvania told Debbie Austin in the late 1970s when she was a young mother, "Don't ever bring your child here again — You people carry syphilis and tuberculosis." Shortly after, a college professor in Oregon told her the same thing. So did her textbooks. "Our children need to know that is not true," Austin said. "They need to know who they are and where they came from." Austin argues there needs to be more curriculum about the Native American experience and more teach- ers and staff who identify as Native American in schools. Shelby Maerz, who works for the Indian Education Department for Salem-Keizer Public Schools, agreed, saying students "need to be able to see themselves throughout the system." And according to state workers, student outcomes improve when an effort is made to be more inclusive. The Tribal Attendance Pilot Project, for example, has been working to lessen the rate of chronically ab- sent Native students. By partnering school districts with the nine federal- ly-recognized tribes in the state, the program creates culturally-specific plans and materials designed to the needs of each community. Though the chronic absenteeism rate for Native stu- dents is higher than that of their peers, according to the report, the rate held steady at 30 percent in the last year recorded. The rate of chronically absent non-native students increased from 17 to 19 percent. “Despite an unusually harsh winter, the majority of the schools with Tribal Attendance Pilot Project family advocates had improvements in their chronic absen- teeism rates,” said April Campbell, the Indian educa- tion adviser for the state. “It’s a good indicator that implementing culturally relevant programs provides benefits to all students, not Public Notice Notice of Self Storage Sale Please take notice Ab- solute Storage LLC – Salem located at 2605 Hawthorne Ave. NE, Salem, OR 97301 in- tends to hold an auc- tion of the goods stored in the following units in default for non- payment of rent. The sale will occur as an online auction via www.bid13.com on 12/21/2017 at 12:00PM. Unless stated other- wise the description of the contents are house- hold goods and furnish- ings. Frederic J. Herburger #301; Bren- da Perez-Gonzalez #332; Beatrice S. Savedra #533; Jerry Darwin Cromwell Jr. #635. All property is being stored at the above self-storage fa- cility. This sale may be withdrawn at any time without notice. Certain terms and con- ditions apply. See manager for details. Silverton Appeal December 6 & 13, 2017 PUBLIC NOTICES POLICY Public Notices are published by the Statesman Journal and available online at w w w .S ta te s m a n J o u r n a l.c o m . The Statesman Journal lobby is open Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can reach them by phone at 503-399-6789. In order to receive a quote for a public notice you must e-mail your copy to SJLegals@StatesmanJournal.com , and our Legal Clerk will return a proposal with cost, publication date(s), and a preview of the ad. LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICE DEADLINES All Legals Deadline @ 1:00 p.m. on all days listed below: ***All Deadlines are subject to change when there is a Holiday. The Silverton Appeal Tribune is a one day a week (Wednesday) only publication • Wednesday publication deadlines the Wednesday prior LEGAL/PUBLIC NOTICE RATES Silverton Appeal Tribune: • Wednesdays only - $12.15/per inch/per time • Online Fee - $21.00 per time • Affidavit Fee - $10.00 per Affidavit requested Salem-Kaiser 100% Highest rate: 65.71% 75 50 25 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2012-13 2011-12 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 *The ODE methodology for calculating 4-year grad rates changed in 2013-14 *2016-17 graduation rates are not yet available/this is the most recent and the furthest back data available SOURCE: Oregon Department of Education, USA TODAY just those from specific student groups,” she said. There has also been action at the state level to im- prove representation in course materials. Senate Bill 13, passed earlier this year, requires the Oregon Department of Education to develop curricu- lum exploring the Native American experience and provide professional development to teachers and ad- ministrators relating to the curriculum. Services for some, not all Native American students in Oregon check the box "American Indian/Alaska Native" for race/ethnicity when enrolling in school. But in order to receive services from the school dis- tricts, they have to do the additional paperwork re- quired by the federal government and prove they have a parent or grandparent who is a member of a tribe in the United States. In Salem-Keizer Public Schools, the approximately 700 students who take the additional steps receive vari- ous services, including weekly study groups, additional math tutoring, summer school classes, cultural events, parent classes and a culturally-appropriate graduation ceremony. This past year, 56 of the 70 seniors in the program graduated — an 80 percent graduation rate. Yet when averaged with dozens of other American Indian/Alaska Native students who do not receive ser- vices from the Indian Education Department, the four- year graduation rate is only 56 percent. Lillian Govus, a spokeswoman for the district, said the individual attention is part of what makes the stu- dents served by the department as successful as they are. "The students see Shelby (Maerz), how much she cares, and they have a sense of value in the schools," Govus said. "That's unique." Austin spoke to the effectiveness of the district's ef- forts through her great-grandchildren's experiences. "They love school," she said. "They don't feel bad about themselves. They wear their hair long and are proud of who they are." But there remains a gap in which families who do not Tips Continued from Page 1B sons by fermented grape juice. You can fairly reliably count on Detroit Lake filling for Memorial Day weekend, unless there is a drought, and conversely depend on the water level dropping af- ter Labor Day weekend. The timing of both being keyed to the recreation season rather than any meteorological phenomenon. Another angling rule of thumb is that winter-run steelhead fishing on the Oregon Coast begins “around” Thanksgiving. “Around” in this case is not a weasel word, given the volatility of the weather and resulting volume, temper- ature and clarity of river flows. Not to mention the sluggish nature of the potential fishing participants who are in various stages of torpor from massive food and gravy overdoses during the ex- tended holiday weekend. One rule of thumb that has been fairly reliable, and which has been mentioned in a previous column, is both arboreal and piscatorial. That is to say relating to trees fill out additional paperwork do not receive the support they may need. "There need to be more services for all our native students," Maerz said. More poverty and special needs While Native American students make up less than two percent of all Oregon students, many of these stu- dents are dealing with additional obstacles. The percentage of Native American students con- sidered to be economically disadvantaged increased from 69 percent to 75 percent in the last year, according to the state's recent report. That means more than 6,000 Native American stu- dents statewide qualify for free and reduced lunch due to family income. Additionally, 19 percent of Native American stu- dents receive disability services, compared to 13 per- cent of non-Native students, according to the report. These additional obstacles make it harder for Native students to thrive in school, and even show up. Leslie Riggs, the education department manager for the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde, sees these issues playing out in the "simple things." "Say a child has no breakfast," he said. "Their ability to learn won't be as good as a child who did." Riggs said these factors bring students an inability to pay attention and retain important information. "Anyone can go to school, but getting someone engaged is another story," he said. The Confederated Tribes have made a consorted ef- fort to have parents and other tribal members in the classroom as both academic tutors and daily mentors. This is especially important in districts like Willamina School District where Native students make up close to 30 percent of the student populations. "As dismal as they may seem," Riggs said referring to the report's data, "it is good for us as communities to (see) how we need to move forward." Contact Natalie Pate at npate@StatesmanJour- nal.com, 503-399-6745, or follow her on Twitter @Nataliempate or on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/nataliepatejournalist. and fish. It is a fairly reliable rule of thumb that when consis- tent warm weather — generally around mid-May (and there’s that not-a-weasel “a” word again) — gets the cot- tonwoods blooming, it’s time to start checking the shad counts at the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam on the Co- lumbia River. I’d like to take the credit for this rule-of-thumb tip, but I actually learned it from John, a dedicated shad an- gler in Redding, California, who called me on a sultry early summer afternoon to entice me to go with him on a pre-dusk shad outing on the Sacramento River near Red Bluff. The air was hot and heavy, and laden with little puffs of white drifting from the cottonwood trees. The Sacra- mento was equally loaded with fish. As were the riverside bushes … with mosquitoes. Good times. There is one rule of thumb about fishing that you can pretty well bank on, though. Don’t ever thumb your nose about making a call or two, and checking the weather and river-level web sites, before you head out. Henry Miller is a retired Statesman Journal colum- nist and outdoor writer. He can be reached via email at HenryMillerSJ@gmail.com