Kerry R. Venegas

The Two-Plus-Two-Plus-Two Program: Building an Educational Bridge to the Future for the Youth of the Hopi Tribe from High School to College and Beyond

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Over the last 30 years, Native nations across North America have been taking control of their educational systems in the belief that American Indian “self-determination and local control [are] means of cultural preservation and growth.” Disturbed by the low achievement scores and high dropout rates of American Indian youth in schools run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and local public educational agencies, tribes have been finding ways to create tribally run schools. Recent federal legislation emphasizing a focus on standardization has created an increased incentive for local control over schools and curriculum as a means for developing culturally and community relevant systems while promoting achievement and respect for the traditions and identities of Native populations. For a deeply traditional and conservative society like the Hopi Tribe, autonomy and self-determination in education are the keys to guaranteeing modern success in both traditional and mainstream worlds. How the Hopi Tribe constructed its Two-Plus-Two-Plus-Two college transition program as a way of maintaining traditional ways of life, promoting academic excellence, and ensuring the development of qualified Hopi professionals returning to the reservation offers a model of sovereignty in action. 

Native Nations
Citation

Venegas, Kerry R. "The Two-Plus-Two-Plus-Two Program: Building an Educational Bridge to the Future for the Youth of the Hopi Tribe from High School to College and Beyond." Honoring Nations. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. November 2006. Case Study. 

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This Honoring Nations case study is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development. 

The Ya Ne Dah Ah School (Chickaloon): Melding Traditional Teachings with Modern Curricula

Year

For many generations, education in American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) communities has been controlled by sources external to the communities and the people themselves. Large bureaucratic agencies, such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) or public school systems overseen by state governments, decided on policies and practices for educating Indian children, mainly without regard for the concerns and priorities of Native communities. The cumulative effect of this disconnect is a long-standing legacy of low academic achievement, high drop out rates, and limited options for AI/AN students in school systems across the United States. In addition, the imposition of assimilationist educational policies resulted in ever-dwindling numbers of tribal and village members who are fluent in traditional languages and cultural practices. As tribal nations across the country assert their sovereign right to self-determination, they frequently look first to seizing control of the education of their youth. Such control allows tribal nations to create policies and implement practices grounded in shared tribal values and traditions, thereby allowing tribes to begin to reverse the devastating effects of cultural and academic erosion associated with non-tribal control. The story of how Chickaloon Village, an Ahtna Athabascan Indian community near Anchorage Alaska, reclaimed control of its children’s education, incorporated modern skills with traditional knowledge, and exceeded state and national standards stands as a proactive model of tribal self-determination, Native sovereignty, and community resourcefulness in creating a school of its own.

Citation

"The Ya Ne Dah Ah School: Melding Traditional Teachings with Modern Curricula". Honoring Nations. Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Cambridge, Massachusetts. March 2005. Case Study. 

Permissions

This Honoring Nations case study is featured on the Indigenous Governance Database with the permission of the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development.