“Education is your greatest weapon. With education you are the white man's equal, without education you are his victim and so shall remain all of your lives. Study, learn, help one another always. Remember there is only poverty and misery in idleness and dreams - but in work there is self respect and independence. ”
— Chief Plenty Coups
Dear Friends,
When we at the Center look at the children of American’s Native Peoples, whether they live in Alaskan villages, Hawaiian native homelands, on reservations or in urban settings, we envision a world where there is educational opportunity, achievement and personal success for all, not just for a few.
We know this can be a reality because we have seen it happen. Instead of schools where Native American children consistently perform far below their peers, we have seen schools where they outperform the national standards for all students.
Improving early education programs is the key; research shows that an emphasis on early education is vital to future student success. These programs support the critical first steps in the often long and important journey toward the restoration of economic and educational opportunities for Native peoples. Clearly, continuing the cycle of failure that results in social isolation and grinding poverty is no longer acceptable. In the past, attempts have been made to help Native People; but those attempts have been based upon prescribed methods of helping White Americans.
The Center was founded by professional educators who have worked within indigenous communities and became convinced that we had to look for new answers when serving our Native American children. We researched – and found – models that could be used to provide Indian children and their teachers with the best educational methodologies for learning to read and do mathematics at a very young age.
Through innovative and intensive early literacy and mathematics programs, chosen specifically to improve outcomes for Native students, we have found a sound and replicable solution. Using this program, the National American Indian, Alaskan, and Hawaiian Educational Development Center is already providing ongoing, sustained and intensive teacher development and support for teachers of Native students. The impact of these early literacy and mathematics programs is remarkable – bottom line, students are reading and doing math at proficient and advanced levels.
The Center’s program is rooted in the best instructional research. It uses innovative teaching methods that ignite the minds of Native students, opens the door to academic achievement and initiate the potential for life-long success.
The youngest children of our nation’s oldest people deserve to begin their education with the same opportunities as any other child. Please join us to ensure that we leave no Indian child behind.
Sincerely,
Craig Dougherty
President of the Board
Charitina Fritzler
Executive Director