UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 1
Accreditation Use Only
Underrepresented American Indians and Alaskan Natives in U.S. Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematic Fields
Elizabeth Woody
Portland State University
June 17, 2012
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 2
INTRODUCTION
There is a crisis in science education in the United States. While science and
engineering is one of the fastest growing fields with over five million jobs in the U.S.
students are not prepared for entry into these fields due to poor academic
performance in the public school system. There presently are no Science,
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) career pathways through K-12
to college, and upper graduate levels. Due to inconsistencies in delivery of school
standards that vary state-to-state, there is no “one size fits all” remedy to increase
performance, or literacy, and entry into college in the fields of STEM.
The crisis is leading the country to the threshold of illiteracy, inability to deal
with complex life issues, and increased inability to assume active participation in
the civic community. The crisis is recognized on federal levels as a threat our
national security, economic growth and stability. As time progresses without
appropriate and competitive academic achievement, the U.S. loses ground and
status among the international community. Students lose out on economic gains and
access to middle class American dreams. The smaller sets of community loses out on
an informed and literate citizenry.
Overall, there is a general consensus that there is a lack of women and
underrepresented minorities in these career areas, and in the educational system as
professors. Underrepresented minority groups comprised 28.5 percent of the
American Population in 2006, yet there only 9.1 percent of college-educated
Americans are in these fields. By the year 2050, there will be major population
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 3
demographic shifts in the U.S., with Hispanics and Asians increasing dramatically
while African American populations remain the same, and the European American
population decreases and ages.
The status of educational achievement in the U.S. received national attention
in the 1980s through a governmental report titled, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative
for Educational Reform. It described the U.S. educational system as lacking direction
and failing, perhaps by low achievement status of U.S. students leaving high school.
The report stated that in the U.S. there were twenty-three million illiterates, and test
scores (for grades 4, 8, and 12) fell steadily for two decades.
History of recent federal policy on education lists: A Nation at Risk, America
2000, Goals 2000: Educate America Act, Voluntary National Tests, and the No Child
Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002 and ESEA Reauthorization: A Blueprint for Reform
as preferred resolution to NCLB’s shortcomings in 2011. As the last incarnation of
the ESEA, the NCLB Act expanded the federal role in education and became a focal
point of education policy. Coming at a time of wide public concern about the state of
education, the legislation sets requirements that now reach into virtually every
public school in America.
The last policy pending congressional approval is called the ESEA
Reauthorization: A Blueprint for Reform and intends to build on significant reforms
already made in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,
around four areas: 1) Improving teacher and principal effectiveness; 2) Providing
information to families to help them evaluate and improve their children's schools; 3)
Implementing college and career-ready standards; and 4) Improving student learning
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 4
and achievement in America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive
support and effective interventions. This year, Senator Merkley has stepped forward
with a “STEM Education Bill” as part of the Preparing Students for Success in the
Global Economy Act (S. 1675). The legislation has a $500 million per year
commitment to public schools nationwide for 10 years specifically targeted for
STEM education and additional resources to recruit, train and support teachers.
For AI/AN children there is an additional overlay of stress in terms of federal
policy, and delivery of public education. In 1991, the U.S. Department of Education
published, Indian Nations at Risk: an Educational Strategy for Action, as part of the
national strategy. The Indian Nations at Risk Task Force identified four reasons the
U.S. Indian Nations are Nations at Risk: 1) Schools have failed to educate large
numbers of Indian students and adults 2) the language and culture base of the
American Native are rapidly eroding 3) the diminished lands and natural resources
of the American Native are constantly under siege and 4) Indian self-determination
and governance rights are challenged by the changing policies of the administration,
congress, and the justice system.
Ultimately, the report covers why the Native peoples are at risk for the four
reasons previously explained, as well as a fifth one, “Political relationships between
the tribes and the federal government fluctuate with the will of the U.S. Congress
and decisions by its courts.” The definition of the Federal Responsibility for Native
Education is contained within the previously mentioned document. The U.S.
Constitution provides for a special relationship with U.S. American Indian nations,
which includes broad federal authority and special trust obligations. Federal Indian
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 5
education began during George Washington’s time and continues to the present day
as part of an assimilation process. The assimilation is well defined in the U.S.
Treaties, and carried on through U.S. American Indian Policy where the AI/AN
student was taken from their homes to boarding school, required to cut their hair,
wear American clothes, become Christian, forbidden to speak their Indigenous
languages, and learn how to farm or use a trade skill, such as blacksmithing.
American Indians were forbidden in many establishments in the west, where signs
such as, “No Indians or Dogs allowed.”
Most discussion with regard to the disparity of AI/AN educational
opportunities and outcomes simply point to the lack of consensus on which factors
are most influential and whether a lack of access to educational resources, and that
culture and environment plays a role in the achievement gap. AI/AN education has
been formed from over two hundred years plus of policy. Tribes are subject to the
whims of Congress, the justice system, and the lack of State interest or investment.
Indigenous peoples of the Americas are part of nations whose languages and
cultures are unique to the world. Traditional Ecological Knowledge and technologies
of this hemisphere have demonstrated AI/AN are resourceful and ingenious peoples
who have contributed vast stores of knowledge to the world upon “re-contact” 500
years ago with the rest of the world, and this knowledge is vital to the present crisis
the world faces in the uncertainties of Climate Change. In particular need are the
AI/AN observation and recording Climate Change impacts upon the natural
resources, waters, and food systems in remote and fragile environmental systems in
to the science communities and systems.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 6
Additionally, Oregon will experience new educational policies, but has within
this arena faced more challenges that call for greater accomplishments, unique to
our region. We have the Columbia River Basin, the near coastal ecosystems; and a
diverse geography with overlays of many federal polices of management that
require co-management with tribal peoples as result of the Boldt Decision of the
70s, as well as the U.S. Treaties with Indian Nations. Indian Nations will be at the
forefront of water issues, and core contributors on future debate of the Endangered
Species Act as species continue to fall in numbers, and oddly, succeed.
The success of AI/AN students at Oregon schools requires greater attention,
with a need for the development of models that support their unique identity, as
well as the socio-economic factors of reservation life while connecting with the
urban Indian. Portland, as Oregon’s largest city, has the 9th largest AI/AN urban
population in the country at about 38,000 people. We have fertile ground to test and
refine a plethora of different and innovative strategies to increase proficiency in the
basics of education, including providing a well rounded education that include
instruction in AI/AN policy, natural resources, and an enduring understandings of
U.S. history from the perspective of tribal history and policies that are part of what
every citizen should know.
The Oregon American Indian and Alaskan Native State Plan of 2006, ensures
support of the academic progress of the 11,900 AI/AN students of Oregon, along
with the understanding and application of the Executive Order of 96-30 State/Tribal
Government to Government Relations (signed in May of 1996) which provides an
additional venue of tribal involvement with the Oregon AI/AN Education State Plan.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 7
In 2011 the Oregon legislature set forth a plan called the“40-40-20 Goal and set up
the Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB) of which Governor Kitzhaber is the
Chair. There is plenty of policy to support needed change.
The established organizations that serve AI/AN peoples in the region do the
best work on American Indian Education policy. Unique in this situation, is the
Center for Coastal Margins Observation and Prediction (CMOP) who reports to the
National Science Foundation, which reports directly to Congress. There is a conduit
for change within their Education Program that includes K-12, Graduate and PostGraduate studies. That is what makes the effort of the K-12 Program unique
compared to other programs in the region. It has the mandate to innovate, and
investigate methods across multiple disciplines. CMOP has supported a Native
teacher for two summers, and worked on the nine-week science infusion curriculum
project.
The organizations of National Congress of the American Indian, Affiliated
Tribes of Northwest Indians, National Indian Education Association, and the Oregon
Indian Education Association are long established and active policy players. They
can make recommendations to their state and federal representatives. While underrepresented in STEM career fields, there is no shortage of active AI/AN leaders who
can wield their government-to-government influence.
For the previously explained reasons, a complex set of activities for AI/AN
programs at CMOP realizes the importance of the treaty obligations that still exist
today. The U.S. Constitution as “Supreme Law of the Land” upholds these
obligations. These obligations are legal, and morally grounded; their services
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 8
provided by Congressional recognition and action—yet the states frequently excuse
themselves from delivery, or set up adversarial positions with the tribes within their
borders. Citizens of the tribes have experienced discrimination in this and other
ways. The educational experience is fraught with conditions and obstacles that are
multi-dimensioned and lack of quality delivery by the school districts of the state of
these tribal people.
Supporting teachers of AI/AN children in a stressed system makes a great
deal of sense. Developing a transferable curriculum that incorporates local leaders
and AI/AN STEM professionals creates the awareness this is a possible field for the
student. It can fit into the present curriculum and enrich it with AI/AN policy and
natural resource stories and accomplishments. In addition, through the available
programs of CMOP, the student can become college ready, and see their own
pathway to STEM careers. This program can build, school by school, a network of
resources to be refined over time and infuse the present curriculums. Evaluation
will include cultural elements, and also include the evaluation of the AI/AN
presenters based on their participation in the program. The CMOP website can post
curriculum for the regional schools to use. By developing, evaluating, and analyzing
the curriculum and strategies used, the proposed project will contribute
significantly to the literature and professional practice knowledge base on how to
design, implement, and sustain engaging STEM programs for Native American
students and families on the ground.
Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction can:

play a role in support of the development of the curriculum infusion.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 9

increase its teacher support through the summer program.

build a stronger relationship to the Educational Policy Body National
Advisory Council on Indian Education and inform AI/AN Policy with its results.

propose additional curriculum elements refined by AI/AN in the field
to the regional representative organizations.

position itself for outreach to Native American Communities to
provide best science, and assist in communicating with Congressional
representatives and the State using the information gathered and refined over time.
SECTION ONE: INTRODUCTION OF THE BACKGROUND AND
IMPORTANCE OF INCREASING MINORITY REPRESENTATION IN STEM
There is a crisis in science education in the United States; and it is one that
requires urgent attention. The Science and Engineering (S & E) workforce is fast
growing in the U.S. with more than 5 million jobs and is projected to be the fastest
growing sector in the future. There are several challenges, and three are widely
identified; first is the clear absence of a career pathway in Science Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education within the U.S.
Second, there are inconsistencies in the K-12 delivery of STEM education
across a myriad of schools and districts across all the states; which make it difficult
to prescribe a “one size fits all” remedy. The history of educational policy has been
grappling with this problem and its definition for many decades. The states struggle
with funding their educational systems from K-Graduate studies and the gap grows
each year.
Thirdly, there is a lack of diversity, in that there are few women and
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 10
underrepresented minorities in the fields of STEM. Underrepresented minority
groups comprised 28.5 percent of the American population in 2006, yet only
represented 9.1 percent of college-educated Americans work in these fields. This
“suggests the need to triple their numbers to match their share of the overall U.S.
Population (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and
Institute of Medicine, 2010).”
There is an additional issue due to historical policy concerning American
Indian and Alaskan Native (AI/AN) students and their communities. The AI/AN
communities are under stresses that impact many communities, but are
exacerbated due to the intimacy of these communities and lack of choice concerning
their children’s educational options. The history in American Indian Education is
considered a generation lost due to governmental efforts and policies to remove
children from their families and assimilate them (see addendum US Department of
Education Legislative History AI/AN). The assimilation process included removing
children and placing them in bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) boarding schools,
changing their appearance with dress codes and hair cuts, fobidding them to speak
their Indigenous languages, or practicing their religions. It wasn’t until 1924 the
AI/AN was granted U.S. citizenship and the right to vote. In the 1970s the AI/AN
through acts of congress were allowed religious freedom and the 1990s the right to
speak and teach their indigenous languages.
Even on a world overview, other countries are looking to the U.S. as we
address this problem. There is the usual plan to build a better and brighter future
under high political status and clout. These trends recorded in the fields of STEM
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 11
show the lack of qualified workers to fill the field from the U.S. A Maori educator P.
John Williams warns against this as not appropriate for all countries. Mostly,
Williams believes it will be used to entrench a “conservative and traditional system”
especially since there is lack of clarity as to what it is and and how it is to be taught.
Still, he acknowledges the rationale:
And in the U.S. a growing number of jobs require STEM skills and
America needs a world class STEM workforce to address the grand
challenges of the 21st century, such as developing clean sources of energy
that reduce our dependence on foreign oil and discovering cures for diseases
(The White House, 2009).
The economic argument for emphasis on a STEM alignment follows
this vocational rationale. The U.S. argument goes that a focus on STEM will
result in reaffirming and strengthening America’s role as the world’s engine
of scientific discovery and technological innovation which is essential to
meeting the challenges of this century (Obama, 2009). And similarly in the
UK, as the UK seeks to position itself against global competitors at a time of
rapid economic change, the priority of increasing its capacity for innovation
and enterprise becomes increasingly urgent” (STEM Programme, nd), a goal
which is seen can be achieved through the promotion and national
coordination of STEM activities (Williams, 2011).
The process of research for this particular project included the survey of the
literature for Oregon STEM education, the overview of STEM reports for New
Zealand, Australia, along with the U.S. American Indian and Alaskan Native STEM
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 12
research and reports. One of my assumptions is there is a relationship between the
country’s aboriginal populations, as they historically underwent simultaneous
attempts at genocide, acculturation, and racial oppression from English speaking
colonial processes. The social impact of this disruption is well noted and researched.
Additionally, the author worked with a local Shoshone-Bannock science
teacher, Stephanie Kelley, to co-write a nine-week science infusion curriculum that
use American Indian and Alaskan Native traditional ecological knowledge systems,
invited local AI/AN STEM professionals to the classroom, and connected with local
civic environmental education programs, such as the Columbia River Slough
Watershed Council, Clean Rivers Education Program of the City of Portland, OR, the
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish
Commission, and Portland State University’s Pacific Northwest Native Community
Sustainability (see addendum Organizations Engaged With The CMOP- NAYA
Curriculum). This curriculum infusion of sciences program is housed under the
Oregon Health & Sciences University’s Institute of Environmental Health Center
with the Center for Coastal Margin and Observation education program, and will be
published for public use sometime in the near future.
Problem:
The U.S. Public education system is the medium for the delivery of
Sciences—Math and English. Schools are grappling with socio-economic issues
during this last downturn in the economy, a looming budget crisis on both federal
and state levels, and a growing pressure by their communities to meet higher
academic standards through federal legislation. Today, The Obama Administration
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 13
is upgrading The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) through the 2011, ESEA
Reauthorization: A Blueprint for Reform. The upgraded act will “put America on a
path to global leadership” through refinement of goals and investment in schools
and teachers.” Often, the technical applications and processes of these policies are
too great for tribally based schools to navigate. While these policies are part of a
larger mission, there are other factors that impact the success of tribal students’
education and attainment of the advanced degrees in these fields. Senator Jeff
Merkley introduced recently the Preparing Students for Success in the Global
Economy Act (S. 1675) to reauthorize and strengthen Math and Science Partnership
Program at the Department of Education (See addendum Merkley STEM Education
Bill).
The National Academy of Sciences (2010) further states: In 2007,
underrepresented minorities comprised 38.8 percent of K-12 public enrollment,
33.2 percent of the U.S college age population, 26.2 percent of undergraduate
enrollment, and 17.7 percent of those earning science and engineering bachelor’s
degrees. In graduate school, underrepresented minorities comprise 17.7 percent of
overall enrollment, but are awarded just 14.6 percent of S&E master’s and a
miniscule 5.4 percent of S&E doctorates. As students go up the academic ladder there
are less minority students represented.
Furthermore, there is no constitutional role for the U.S. government in the
matter of education, with the exception of American Indian children. The U.S.
Constitution leaves public education to the states; and states, in turn, delegate the
authority to school districts. In 1999, public K–12 educational systems across 50
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 14
states had 14,000 local school districts. The combined spending of federal, state and
local government totals more than $500 billion on public elementary and secondary
education each year (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). The fact that each state administers
and funds their educational systems differently further complicates the issue.
The following describes a modification on the intergovernmental
relationship model, which depicts the conundrum of AI/AN education in this
country. The tribal nations are contained within the U.S. Trust relationship, while
still needing educational services from the state’s educational systems. The school
districts being the local governmental actors in AI/AN education do not recognize
the status of the tribal nations within nations, for the most part. In reality they all
should be sharing responsibilities between the three entities. The schools within the
reservations are often kept apart from the center of the district, and its parents not
included in the school board representation. In the best-case scenario, tribal
representation should be honored in proportion to the student population and/or
money invested.
The Jefferson County 509-J School District board modeled the abstraction
recently. The school board approved submission of an improvement grant for the
Warm Springs Elementary School on the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
Indian Reservation. The Warm Springs community rejected this to support the
Warm Springs Elementary School principal and teachers in revision of the grant.
Recipients of these School Improvement Grants have to demonstrate a
commitment to one of four models for change: “turnaround,” “restart,” “closure,” or
“transformation.” The goal of the program is to understand which practices produce
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 15
the most significant improvements in student achievement. The selected districts
serve large populations of traditionally underserved students, including American
Indian/Alaska Native, Latino, English-language learners, and the economically
disadvantaged.
After three years of not meeting NCLB standards, the Warm Springs
Elementary School reviewed four options of the grant for which they were eligible,
none of which they felt acceptable: Close the school; hire a private company to run
the school, replace half of the teachers; and replace the principal. In order to receive
approximately 4 million dollars of the grant money, the teachers and principal said
in “the grant application there would be a three-year transition period, after which
time the school would hire a new principal. The present principal would take on a
new title at the school.” They chose a less disruptive option (McMechan, 2011). By
contrast, the Yakama Nation received $4.5 million for the 2011-12-school year for
the Toppenish and Wapato school districts without complications or confusion since
they chose to follow the protocols.
Meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse American population, as well as
addressing ongoing demographic changes in the U.S. population have amplified the
need to seek diversity of talent in the STEM career fields: In demographics of the
U.S. population women were slightly more than half of U.S. residents in 2008. Blacks
and Hispanics were 12 percent and 15 percent, Asians were 4 percent, and other
racial/ethnic groups combined (American Indians/Alaska Natives, Native
Hawaiians/Other Pacific Islanders, and multiple race) constituted 2 percent of the
U.S. population in 2008. According to the latest Census Bureau projections,
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 16
minorities will be about half of the resident United States population by 2050. The
largest growth is projected in the numbers of Hispanics and Asians. Despite
increasing numbers, blacks are projected to remain 12 percent of the population
from 2010 to 2050. The number of whites is projected to remain about the same in
2050 as in 2010, and their percentage of the population is projected to decrease
(National Science Foundation, 2011).
The influence of a failing education system in the U.S., of course, creates
exorbitant costs through loss of diversity in civic leadership, loss of the
entrepreneurial spirit of hometowns, and the loss of attainment of higher degrees
for many students. Without an education, the average American cannot meet the
demands of higher paying professions nor be a part of sectors that once brought this
country great innovative products and ideas. As time progresses without
appropriate and competitive academic achievement, the U.S. loses ground and
status among the international community.
National Science Foundation and Center for Coastal Margin Observation:
There is clearly underrepresentation of American Indians and Alaska Natives
(AI/AN) in the STEM careers, and the achievement gap for this population is fraught
with strife from K-12 education as result of hundreds of years of educational policy
intended to assimilate the American Indian and Alaskan Native student. As a former
employee of a Science and Technology Center funded by the National Science
Foundation at the Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) my
work involved the delivery of STEM educational support to Native
Educators(defined as teachers of a predominant AI/AN student body) in a proposed
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 17
cohort of schools. CMOP initiated a pilot project in 2009 at NAYA Family Center
Early College Academy located on the Columbia Slough in North Portland, Oregon.
CMOP is part of national policy, but not designed to be a major policy maker,
through the work of the National Science Foundation. The National Science
Foundation Act of 1950 created the Science and Technology Centers (STC), funding
programs, and materials "to promote the progress of science; to advance the
national health, prosperity, and welfare; and to secure the national defense."
Additional legislation followed with the Science and Engineering Equal Opportunity
Act (Public Law 96-516) of 2002 that intends to encourage full participation of
women, minorities, and persons with disabilities. NSF has enjoyed an expanding
budget—from $1bn in 1983 ($2.19bn in 2010 dollars) to just over $6.87bn by FY
2010.
The CMOP organization is focused on coastal margins, headquartered in
Oregon, and one of only two STCs ever focused on ocean issues. These are part of an
Integrative Partnerships program of the National Science Foundation that “supports
innovative, potentially transformative, complex research and education projects
that require large-scale, long-term awards.” STCs conduct world-class research
through partnerships among academic institutions, national laboratories, industrial
organizations, and/or other public/private entities, and via international
collaborations, as appropriate. They provide a means to undertake important
investigations at the interfaces of disciplines and/or fresh approaches within
disciplines (Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction, 2011).
CMOP is a large multi-institutional partnership led by Oregon Health &
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 18
Science University (host institution), with Oregon State University, and University of
Washington as anchor partners. The CMOP is focused on 1) Education to explore
new paradigms for sustainable educational impact, via potentially high-impact pilot
projects at K-12 (“adopt-a-school” program), undergraduate (innovative
partnerships with primarily undergraduate institutions), and graduate (new M.S.
and Ph.D. track) levels; 2) Knowledge Transfer will more broadly project the
footprint of SATURN (Science and Technology University Research Network, a riverto-shelf collaborative) and CMOP; and 3) Broadening Participation using
innovations in interdisciplinary science and technology to explore paradigms in
order to attract and retain a diverse coastal margin science workforce.
CMOP recognizes tribes–sovereign nations with unique water and fishing
rights–as key stakeholders in the Columbia River Coastal Margin, and continues
ongoing engagement with Native American communities in research and education.
CMOP’s holistic and bi-directional approach aims to increase mutual cultural
awareness, establish research partnerships, and create educational initiatives
targeted at individuals and institutions. CMOP will use successful strategies for
recruitment at all educational levels, across a broad spectrum of underrepresented
groups, including but not limited to, Native Americans.
In an interview with Roy Hunter Sampsel, Chair of CMOP’s External Advisory
Board, and co-author of the original 2004 NSF (Proposal Number 0424602), he
stated, “CMOP in preparation for this request specifically stated they would conduct
outreach to underserved populations, but more specifically the outreach to Indian
students from K-Gray age groups, and address complex issues through the tribal
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 19
governments of the region. CMOP foresaw a huge advantage in interaction with
those tribal peoples who may benefit from CMOP’s study of Coastal Margins. CMOP
recognized that none of the other STCs directly dealt with Treaty Rights guaranteed
by the U.S. and adjudicated through U.S. Courts regarding Usual and Accustomed
places for the harvesting and management of Salmon (Sampsel, 2011).”
With the award of the ten-year grant of $10-million, the NSF set up a Peer
Review process that responded in detail to the proposal and creation of the STC that
required two major site visits. The NSF set up the Peer Review committee (who
were particularly interested in CMOP’s outreach and impact to American Indian and
Alaskan Native Students) and recommended a separation between K-12, the
undergraduate, and graduate level curricula that CMOP could offer through Oregon
Health and Science University.
Through the discussion, the Peer Review committee established the distinct
need for AI/AN outreach and participation in the STEM areas. In particular in comanagement of Natural Resources and near coastal ecosystems and recognized
these communities were at the forefront of identifying indicators in climate change
through a millennial inhabitation of specific ecosystems. In addition, the External
Advisory Board (EAB) should have an individual with specific expertise in
evaluating the integration of CMOP and science with the American Indian
community (Sampsel, 2011).
As result, CMOP engaged with the Columbia River Tribes through the
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, which is comprised of the four Treaty
Tribes of the Middle Columbia River (Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 20
Umatilla Indian Reservation, Yakama Nation, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm
Springs), the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (57 Northwest tribal
governments from Oregon, Idaho, Washington, southeast Alaska, Northern
California and Western Montana), and other AI/AN focused educational institutions
such as the Northwest Indian College, and most recently, the NAYA Family Center’s
(NAYA) Early College Academy (ECA).
This recommendation was consistent to what the National Science
Foundation reported to Congress. The NSF recommended CMOP provide more
diversity of internships, identify potential opportunities to work with American
Indian schools, and hire an AI/AN staff in the K-12 program. In year four, they hired
their first American Indian staff person. CMOP recognized that tribal governments
have a commitment to the long term with the concept of “working for the seventh
generation,” tribal peoples faced historical obstacles to attaining access to
information, data, and advanced degrees. They also recognized Western science had
no appreciation for Indigenous knowledge systems or means to connect to
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK). Mr. Sampsel said, “In the last five to ten
years that general resistance has drastically evaporated with the understanding of
Western Science’s inability to deal with issues related to climate change impacts on
resources, the oceans and global observations. The NSF, federal agencies such as the
Department of Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NOA, are now actively
seeking Indigenous frameworks to implement as options to observing and
understanding change in the uncertainty of climate change (Sampsel, 2011).”
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 21
SECTION TWO: SUMMARY OF U.S. EDUCATION POLICY, HISTORICAL
CONTEXT AND ANALYSIS
The status of educational achievement in the U.S. received national attention
in the 1980s through a governmental report titled, A Nation at Risk: The Imperative
for Educational Reform. It described the U.S. educational system as lacking direction
and failing; evidenced by low achievement status of U.S. students leaving high
school. It said in the U.S. there were twenty-three million illiterates, and test scores
(for grades 4, 8, and 12) fell steadily for two decades (Kosar, 2005, p. 207). Reports
and studies that followed pointedly declared that schools were not educating
students well, and proposed an overarching federal policy regarding standardized
test expectations across the board.
The testing of student achievement through National Assessment of
Education Progress (NAEP, also known as the Nation’s Report Card) suggests that
after twelve years of public education, students lacked mastery of many
rudimentary skills and basic knowledge. This remained consistent with the polled
employers and college instructors who worked with high school graduates. The
“wave of mediocrity” of the Nation at Risk proved true. However, review of test
scores revealed that a “wave of mediocrity” has been true for at least three decades.
From an international perspective, the 1999 trends in testing through The
International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) revealed that only six
countries scored significantly higher than Massachusetts (U.S.’s highest scoring
state): Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Belgium. The entire U.S.
students’ average was still in the middle of the pack. These results only demonstrate
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 22
the testing as valuable for comparison of the grades of students across a similar age
group, but the results do not encapsulate the systems of the schools, their pedagogy
or processes.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tested the
reading, math and science skills of one-quarter of a million 15-year-olds in twentyeight nations. The Programme for International Student Assessment comparably put
the U.S. in the middle of the pack once more and concluded that 59 % of Americans
could not read well enough to cope with the complex demands of everyday life
(Kosar, 2005, p. 36).
The information presented readied the argument for the necessity of federal
educational standards. There is, on the other hand, significant lack of resources,
apparent lack of consistency across states in standardized testing, and very little
money to support these higher standard efforts overall in the U.S. Ultimately, there
are real economic costs to allowing our “brain trust” in the U.S. to degenerate, as
well as real costs to addressing the issues.
The previously submitted historical analysis and review of, “No child left
behind’ policy via Kevin R. Kosar,” stated that Presidents from two parties,
Republican, George H.W. Bush to Democrat, Bill Clinton (with support from parents,
teachers, and civic leaders) have tried and generally failed to increase student
achievement through federal policymaking. Drawing on a wealth of primary and
secondary sources, Kevin R. Kosar provides evidence in his 2005 book, Failing
Grades: The Federal Politics of Education Standards, to argue that high education
standards for all students will help raise achievement. Topics of the book include 1)
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 23
Status of Student Achievement (2000-2005), and 2) introduction to education
standards (including some of the criticisms of the testing standards and methods),
and 3) the overview of the history of the federal role and limitations in schooling.
This history lists: A Nation at Risk, America 2000, Goals 2000: Educate America Act,
Voluntary National Tests, and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.
Washington politics, through Kosar’s expert research, illustrates the
divisiveness of politics with regard to education issues, and how such divisiveness
thwarted tough education standards policies, in general, and stymied any real
progress on the ground. In conclusion, Kosar ends with modest proposals for
improving the standards and testing provisions of the, No Child Left Behind Act of
2002. Kosar’s proposals survive the political ideological divisions of the right and
left from that period of time, but the system may not. Such grueling policy debates
led to the passing of the Act. The primary actors (Bush and Congressional leaders)
agreed they couldn’t agree to primary causes but, rather, they could “coerce” schools
to perform better by either raising standards or creating an education market
through school choice (Kosar, 2005). They built into the NCLB act an educational
policy that combined the following three solutions: more money, school choice, and
standards based reform.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on
Jan. 8, 2002, was a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in 1965
and last reauthorized in 1994, encompasses Title I, the federal government's
flagship aid program for disadvantaged students. These are the funds parents can
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 24
carry with them to other schools if their present school fails to remedy their
performance in the National Report Card. Coming at a time of wide public concern
about the state of education, the legislation sets in place requirements that reach
into virtually every public school in America.
As the newest incarnation of the ESEA, the NCLB Act expanded the federal
role in education and become a focal point of education policy. Coming at a time of
wide public concern about the state of education, the legislation sets requirements
that now reach into virtually every public school in America. It took particular aim
at improving the educational lot of disadvantaged students (Education Week, 2004).
Incrementally, the policy intended to improve the schools’ performance and
fund federal programs to support The Four Pillars of NCLB. In addition, it would
provide more choices for parents who could take their children from historically
underperforming schools—and, in essence, those families would also take the Title I
funds with them. While punitive in format, the premise is that schools would be
motivated to improve through a four-year series of remedies in order to retain
students and money.
Primarily, parents are consumers and thus empowered to make public school
choices. State and local governments are required to provide easily understood
student and school performance information; grant parents the right to remove
their children from failing schools to another school within the district, and require
local education agencies to grant parents of children in failing schools the
opportunity to choose supplemental educational service providers for their
children.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 25
Stronger Accountability for Results:
States must close the achievement gap and ensure all students (including
those who are disadvantaged) achieve academic proficiency. Annual state and
school district report cards must inform parents and communities about state and
school progress. Schools that do not make progress must provide supplemental
services, such as free tutoring or after-school assistance, among other corrective
actions. After five years without progress, the way schools are run must
dramatically change.
Under NCLB, states and school districts have unprecedented flexibility in
how they use federal education funds. For example, it is possible for most school
districts to transfer up to 50 percent of the federal formula grant funds they receive
to any one of these programs, or to their Title I program—without separate
approval. Improving Teacher Quality state grants, Educational Technology,
Innovative Programs, and Safe and Drug-Free Schools programs. Particular needs
might be new teachers, increased teacher pay, and improved teacher training and
professional development.
NCLB emphasizes educational programs and practices prove effective
through rigorous scientific research [emphasis mine]. Federal funding targets
support to programs and teaching methods that improve student learning and
achievement. In reading, for example, NCLB supports scientifically based instruction
programs in the early grades under the Reading First program and in preschool
under the Early Reading First program.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 26
Parents of children in low-performing schools have new options under No
Child Left Behind. In schools that do not meet state standards for at least two
consecutive years, parents may transfer their children to a better-performing public
school, or a public charter school, within their district. The district must provide
transportation, using Title I funds if necessary. Students from low-income families in
schools that fail to meet state standards for at least three years are eligible to
receive supplemental educational services, including tutoring, after-school services,
and summer school. Also, students who attend a persistently dangerous school, or
are the victim of a violent crime while in their school, have the option to attend a
safe school within their district (U.S. Department of Education, 2004). Elements that
work in an urban school district may not address the needs or provide options for a
rural community who may only have one school at all levels.
Current Policy Upgrade As A Blueprint for Reform For NCLB’s Shortcomings:
This blueprint builds on significant reforms, already made in response to the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, around four areas: 1) Improving
teacher and principal effectiveness; 2) Providing information to families to help
them evaluate and improve their children's schools; 3) Implementing college and
career-ready standards; and 4) Improving student learning and achievement in
America's lowest-performing schools by providing intensive support and effective
interventions.
The “Blueprint for Reform” is built on five key priorities, and proposes as a
major goal that every student should graduate from high school to meaningful
opportunities for employment or higher educations.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 27
Priority 1 supports “college and career-ready standards developed by the
states,” and rewards progress and success. The policy provides for goal-raising
standards for all children and the development of better assessments for higherorder skills, as well as providing a “complete education” to thrive in a global
economy.
Priority 2 calls for support of great teachers and leaders in every school.
States and districts should implement a system to evaluate and support teachers
and principals. The newest feature is a funded program to recruit, retain and
promote effective teachers and principals, and enhance the profession.
Priority 3, Equity and Opportunity for All Students, requires an
accountability system that is fair and rigorous to close achievement gaps. The lowest
performing schools will have to change. This means meeting the needs of all students.
Priority 4, Raise the Bar and Reward Excellence. Thorough “Race to the Top”
incentives call for systemic reforms at state level, supporting expansion of effective
school choice options for students, and promoting a culture of readiness and
success.
Priority 5, Promote Innovation and Continuous Improvement, the “Investing
in Innovation Fund” will support local and non-profit leaders as they develop and
scale-up programs with demonstrable success and innovation in strategies and
models for college entry and readiness. It also supports local leadership and
flexibility, and provides new competitive funding streams, enabling a blending of
funding streams with less red tape—all of which supports student success and
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 28
sharing the responsibility. Investment in new models will engage families and their
communities.
SECTION THREE: AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKAN NATIVE (AI/AN)
EDUCATION HISTORY
NCLB is an overlay to additional educational acts with regard to educational
standards and implementation of educational standards. Conditions of poverty itself
are a barrier for most Native students who remain on the reservations of the U.S.,
living well below the national poverty level. The tribes must overcome isolation, as
it often times leads to restricted economic development, which is a primary factor in
their achievements. There may be some disconnect with the local school district and
administration.
The achievement gap is observed as disparities in performance of students in
the U.S. in a variety of measures, such as standardized test scores, grade point
averages, dropout rates, college enrollment and attainment. From these measures it
shows AI/AN school children start falling behind in grade level three. Social impacts
upon these children are great, as they experience higher rates of death due to
violence and accidents regardless of where they live, as AI/AN 19 years and younger
are at greater risk of preventable injury-related deaths than others in the same age
group in the United States. Injuries and violence account for 75% of all deaths
among Native Americans ages 1 to 19 (Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
2007).
Most discussion with regard to the disparity of American Indian and Alaskan
Native educational opportunities and outcomes simply point to the lack of
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 29
consensus on which factors are most influential. No one can point to any one source
without more research. Historically, two centuries of assimilation and racism
impacted American Indian and Alaskan Native education. Some call it a painful
legacy.
In 1991, the U.S. Department of Education published, Indian Nations at Risk:
an Educational Strategy for Action, as part of the national strategy. The Indian
Nations at Risk Task Force identified four primary reasons the U.S. Indian Nations
are “nations at risk”: 1) Schools have failed to educate large numbers of Indian
students and adults; 2) the language and culture base of the American Native are
rapidly eroding; 3) the diminished lands and natural resources of the American
Native are constantly under siege: and 4) Indian self-determination and governance
rights are challenged by the changing policies of the administration, Congress, and
the justice system.
Ultimately, the report covers why the Native peoples are at risk for the four
reasons previously explained, as well as a fifth one, “Political relationships between
the tribes and the federal government fluctuate with the will of the U.S. Congress
and decisions by its courts (U.S. Department of Education, 1991).”
The definition of the Federal Responsibility for Native Education is contained
within the previously mentioned document as the U.S. Constitution provides for a
special relationship with U.S. American Indian nations, which includes broad federal
authority and special trust obligations. Federal Indian education began during
George Washington’s time and continues to the present day as part of an
assimilation [emphasis mine] process.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 30
In 1887, technical boarding schools set to “Americanize” Indigenous youth
across the U.S. Captain Richard H. Pratt, founder of the Carlisle Indian School at
Barracks, PA, said in 1892, “A great general has said that the only good Indian is a
dead one, and that high sanction of his destruction has been an enormous factor in
promoting Indian massacres. In a sense, I agree with the sentiment, but only in this:
that all the Indian there is in the race should be dead. Kill the Indian in him, and save
the man (Pratt, 1973).” The 1921 Snyder Act formalized the technical and boarding
school system, which “gave broad authority to the Bureau of Indian Affairs to
educate and acculturate the American Indian.”
Treaty obligations still exist today, upheld by the U.S. Constitution as
“Supreme Law of the Land.” These obligations are legal and morally grounded; their
services provided by Congressional recognition and action—yet the states
frequently excuse themselves from delivery, or set up adversarial positions with the
tribes within their borders. Citizens of the tribes have experienced discrimination in
this and other ways. The educational experience is fraught with conditions and
obstacles that are multi-dimensioned and lack of quality delivery by the school
districts of the state of these tribal people.
SECTION FOUR: THE U.S. AI/AN CONDITIONS COMPARE TO THE
INTERNATIONAL INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS
While I was able to find a general report of the Australian educational
systems to improve the education of their population, it did not relay any
information on the state of the Aboriginal educational system. In articles and
separate systems the review status of literacy in Aboriginal peoples it was found to
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 31
be far below the national average. They were victims of incredible racism and
boarding school atrocities. Looking at the following fact sheet I felt these elements
provide a daunting picture of the state of Aboriginal peoples. The most improved
piece of information related to the recent movement to reconciliation with the
original peoples of Australia in the last three decades.
In Australia the statistics are similar to the U.S. Majority of the Aboriginal
children are behind the non-Aboriginal children in year one (60 percent). Only 10
percent of Aboriginal children graduate from year twelve of the 40 percent who
simply stay until year twelve. Non-Aboriginals know little to nothing about the
Aboriginal culture and in 2004 only 0.7 percent of the all the teachers in Australia
were indigenous. There are over 300 Aboriginal Nation states and stand at 2 percent
of the national population. They are relatively young, with majority under the age of
twenty. Over half live in two specific regions. They are more likely than nonAboriginal people to live in rural and remote areas. They are the most
disadvantaged group of any group in Australia and more likely to be victims of
violence and suffer from intentional wounds resulting in hospitalization. They earn
one quarter less than the non-Aboriginal, and the unemployment rate goes from 40
percent nationally to 100 percent in some areas.
It was only in 1991 the non-Aboriginal Australian population voted to count
Aboriginal people in their census thereby allowing the Commonwealth power to
make laws on their behalf. Recently two landmark investigations the Royal
Commission into Aboriginal Deaths and the National Inquiry into the Separation of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families allowed the
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 32
general population to understand the dark history of these practices and their
impact on Aboriginal families (Wales, 2001).
For the Maori there is a similar instance of colonization in the late 1800s with
efforts to assimilation. The difference being they have had an easier time getting
funding and the efforts to educate their children appear to have been driven and
defined by the Maori leadership. The move towards best practice is well
documented, and they prefer to complement a Maori centered pedagogy with
Western theories that are structured under the recognition the majority of the
world is bi-lingual. The learner must think across life contexts, have a sense of
belonging, utilize critical thinking, be able to relate and contribute, manage the self,
and make meaning from various sources of information. The learner is part of a
“Whanau/Aigo (extended family) concept that contextualizes the students’ sense of
belonging. This includes a holistic well-being that allows for a sense of greater
humanity.
For the Maori peoples, there hasn’t been any consistent means of tracking
their students but what I found was in 1991, 6.8 percent of undergraduates at
university were Maori. But very few Maori take courses such as medicine, science,
business, or computing. Only 4.4 percent of Masters Students and 2.7 percent of
Doctorate students were Maori in New Zealand. Maori Research addresses this gap:
From overseas backs up the finding that family resources are very important. For
example, native Hawaiian students from higher income families tend to do very well
at school. Native Hawaiian students from lower income families do not do well.
Maori students do worse at school than non-Maori students mainly because Maori
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 33
parents have less money and less education than non-Maori parents. So the gap
begins at birth. The research done so far shows that Maori students probably do face
some barriers at school.
For example:
- Some students make racist comments
- Some non-Maori teachers may have difficulty understanding Maori children
- There are only a small number of Maori teachers (Else, 1997).
But the research does not show exactly what these school barriers are, how
they work to disadvantage Maori students.
Three key areas in Maori education that contributes to success is a holistic
approach, meeting learners where they are, and use of celebration, fun and humor.
The benefits of using fun were an increase in student confidence, making individuals
feel empowered, important and valued, contributing to the concept of the surrogate
Whanau, and strengthen group cohesion.
Rather than rehash the last two centuries of oppositional experience
of the original peoples of New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and perhaps Canada, I
looked at what has arisen as best practices. For the healthier communities of New
Zealand Maori and the Native Hawaiian, it is placed based learning with a heavy
emphasis on Native Language proficiency and Culture Based Education. For the U.S.,
the pedagogy termed this as Culturally Responsive Schools.
Under the Hawaiian Indigenous Education Rubric (HIER) the effort is
toward building a cultural framework for education. It is believed this will benefit all
children, especially indigenous children. It offers not a “right answer or only
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 34
answer” but a step in achieving greater understanding and new viewpoints in
mainstream education (Kana'iaupuni, 2008). The basics that matter in this
assessment are:

Community Participation Process

Heritage and Language Components

Ohana/Community Involvement

Culture/Place Based

Contextual learning

Assessment & accountability the student measures with tests

The understanding that everybody pulls in the canoe together.

We get to the shore (goal) and tell the story of our journeys.
Of course these are detailed in their matrices, and the involvement of many
besides the student is required. It is multidisciplinary and does not differ in its
involvement in the Culture Based Education (CBE) of the U.S.
The CBE is first mentioned in 1928 so it is not new or a fad (Castagno &
Jones, 2008). In 1998, President Clinton issued an executive order (13336) that had
goals to evaluate the “promising practices used with Indigenous students, evaluating
the role of native language and culture in the development of educational strategies”
to meet the unique needs of their children. CRS/CBE for indigenous youth, in our
case, includes understanding the central place of sovereignty and self-determination
of AI/AN students. This is a major gap in the in common education in public schools.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 35
AI/AN students are left to assume through the glaring absence of their history they
are invisible or unimportant.
In the instance of framing the curriculum of the NAYA Family Center Nine
Week Science Infusion, we made some basic assumptions to work on increasing
student (many who are not AI/AN) interest in Science with the presence of Native
teachers and professionals who embodied the “craft” of their fields. In that they
innately understood the Western body of science, but also knew the Indigenous or
Traditional Ecological Knowledge, or the Traditional Ways of Knowing of the AI/AN
systems of science, or informal science. This meant we had to acknowledge to
ourselves as teachers as part of:

Informal Body of Science emphasizes certain aspects of science other
than the codified body of knowledge --- a scientific body of practice,
puzzling over observation, and phenomena in controlled environs as
opposed to TEK or Indigenous Ways of Knowing that embodied
centuries of living upon the land, and looking to its phenomena over
generational observation and codification in cultural practices.

Making “sense” to the students, who are not members of dominant
society, or assimilated into the dominant social group.

Informal science that builds a bridge from the students’ home, family,
community, and ancestors into the school.

A system of education that blames the student’s “backwardness” on
the AI/AN people, culture and isolation and not the school or
educational systems.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 36

There are more educational problems that are institutional and
budget limited (poverty included) than solutions at this time.
In general the CRS/CBE models have improved student life. Everyone feels
positive when self-esteem is increased because of healthy identity formation. In
these types of schools you are expected to create more self-direction and learn
about political action. You give more respect to tribal elders and have more positive
experiences in the community. You have rights and responsibilities, to participate in
positive classroom behavior and engagement, and achieve academically, and
recognize all voices and work to empower one another. For AI/AN students (and all
students) the best case scenario is to start with recognitions that there are multiple
ways of knowing, that science is rich with a new language and to not be intimidated
by it. We start young with the natural environment, and include the family, the
community, and beyond, incorporate the present with oral traditions and literatures
of the first peoples of the land. Cooperative learning techniques build on the
strengths of students. They can learn and teach, and with hands on process, learn
holistically.
With the advent of cooperative structures and CRS/CBE involvement, racism,
oppression (common factors cited in AI/AN low achievement) can be easier to
contend with by community support and investment in education. The dominant
culture and bias are hard to perpetuate when a system utilizes and values all types
of knowledge and cultures. The student is not the one “with the problem (Castagno
& Jones, 2008). While this requires deeper investigation, these are the values and
epistemological aspects to CRS and CBE Indigenous approaches worth noting.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 37
SECTION FIVE: COORDINATION OF EFFORTS TO POSITIVELY IMPACT
AMERICAN INDIAN EDUCATION POLICY IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
American Indians and Alaskan Natives (AI/AN) are citizens of nations with
multiple languages and unique cultures. Traditional Ecological Knowledge and
technologies of this hemisphere have demonstrated AI/AN are resourceful, and
ingenious peoples have contributed vast stores of knowledge to the world upon “recontact” 500 years ago with the rest of the world, this knowledge is vital to the
present crisis the world faces in the uncertainties of climate change, just as one
example. In particular, the AI/AN observation of its impacts upon the natural
resources, waters, and food systems in remote and fragile environmental systems
are informing the science communities (Cajete, 1986).
Indigenous peoples believe in their own cultural traditions. They do not
necessarily say their own tradition is better than other cultures or traditions.
Indigenous peoples recognize the world is made up of diverse communities and
cultures, and each one should be respected. Each culture of the world deserves
acknowledgement and the right to persist with its own values. Indigenous peoples
believe that each of the nations of the world should join in relations of respect,
peace, reciprocity, and tolerance. Indigenous worldviews accept and uphold the
great diversity of human cultures and communities (Champagne, 2011).
Also, Oregon will experience new educational policies, but has within this
arena faced more challenges that call for greater accomplishments, unique to our
region. We have the Columbia River Basin, the near coastal ecosystems, and a
diverse geography with overlays of many federal polices of management, and which
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 38
require co-management with tribal peoples as result of the Boldt Decision of the
70s, as well as the U.S. Treaties with Indian Nations. Indian Nations will be at the
forefront of water issues, and core contributors on future debate on the Endangered
Species Act. AI/An children as tribal members have the primary rights and
responsibilities to care for their culturally enriched and storied environment by
Natural Law or tribal law. They are close to the source as rural inhabitants for the
most part. They need the right education to work in the STEM fields at home, and
not in the urban settings where many settle when graduating from higher education.
The tribes have already demonstrated a long term vision for natural resource
management through some notable efforts; the Four Sacred Foods of the
Confederate Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, and the original Integrated
Resource Management Plan of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, Oregon. A
tribal colleague who is an attorney called to have a meeting about the needs of STEM
education. She pondered as to why there were few AI/AN people in the fields of
STEM. She spoke with awe as she answered her own query, “I have more
expectations on my daughter to excel in math and science. She does excel in those
areas naturally. We placed her in an all-girl prep school and sometimes I think
culturally it is better for her. When I was in elementary school on the reservation,
the teacher told my father that I was ‘no rocket scientist.’ Later, when I went to St.
Mary’s Academy I worked with an all girl team under a woman science teacher, and
we won an award for our rocket ship design in a big competition. Only then, did my
dad tell me what the other teacher said, and now can say, ‘Yes, my daughter IS a
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 39
rocket scientist!’ High expectations do matter. If the work lacks challenge because
the teacher thinks you are dull, one doesn’t perform well (Calica. 2012).”
American Indian and Alaskan Native Children represent a greater
demographic in the achievement gap in the area of Science, Technology, Engineering
and Math (STEM). Trends in African American and Native American Participation in
STEM Higher Education found that “In 2000, for each race and ethnic group, rural
children had the highest poverty rates. Native Americans are unique in that over
half of their population (57.4%) lives outside of metropolitan areas, while only
about 20% of whites, with Asian populations making up 10% or less of those living
outside metropolitan areas. Poverty is a major determinant of the quality of
education received by children, and that quality, in turn, a major determinant of
interest in and participation in science and engineering careers. Efforts must be
made to increase the availability of rigorous courses (Babco, 2003).”
The success of AI/AN students in our state requires greater attention, and the
development of models that support their unique identity, as well as the socioeconomic factors of reservation life and the urban Indian. Portland, as Oregon’s
largest city, has the 9th largest AI/AN urban population in the country at about
38,000 people (Slovic, 2007). We have fertile ground to test and refine different
innovative strategies to increase proficiency in the basics of education, as well as
provide a rounded education to include instruction in AI/AN policy, natural
resources, and enduring understandings of U.S. history from the perspective of
tribal history and policies that are part of what every citizen should know. The
states are making moves to increase greater multicultural competencies.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 40
In addition to Title VII, Oregon's State Board of Education Adopted the
Oregon American Indian/Alaska Native Education State Plan. The Oregon American
Indian and Alaskan Native State Plan of 2006 ensures support to the academic
progress of the 11,900 AI/AN students of Oregon, along with the understanding of
the Executive Order of 96-30 State/Tribal Government to Government Relations
(signed in May of 1996) that provided an additional venue of tribal involvement
with the Oregon AI/AN Education State Plan. Governor Kitzhaber is now the chair of
the Oregon Education Investment Board (OEIB). Oregon has the 40-40-20 called by
Kitzhaber our “North Star: A compass plan.” This plan calls for ensuring 40 percent
of Oregon’s adults earn a bachelor’s degree or higher, 40 percent of adults earn an
associate degree of post-secondary credential, and 20 percent of adults earn a high
school diploma, a modified high school diploma, or its equivalent. The OEIB must
increase the student success rates, send nearly a third of the adult working age
population back to school, and prepare the 2012 kindergarten fall class to succeed
on through to college (See addendum Oregonian Article explaining 40-40-20
Education Plan). There is plenty of policy to support change. Now with Senator
Merkley leading the charge in legislation, we have the motivation and policy power
to make investment in those changes.
Relationships through infusion of educational curriculum is similar to the
efforts of “Since Time Immemorial: Tribal Sovereignty in Washington State” brought
forth through the WA.HB 1495. A Washington state requirement to incorporate
Tribal History in the state’s public education system is a bonus for their curriculum,
as it explains succinctly the tribal to federal relationships and the history of the
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 41
region; part of the reason there exists co-management. Integration of a similar
program in Oregon would provide consistency between the state’s citizenship of
Tribal sovereignty, and the state’s role in the policies and co-management of the
resources.
Established organizations that serve AI/AN peoples in the region can best
address American Indian Education policy. There is a conduit for change within that
framework of regional organizational communication and coordination. That is
what makes the effort of the CMOP K-12 Program unique compared to other
programs in the region. Our region is well represented by activities that intermingle
and cross-fertilize ideas and mission. The historical layer of trade routes is part of
this mentality. The Center for Coastal Observation has the mandate to innovate, and
investigate methods across multiple disciplines. While AI/AN are underrepresented in STEM career fields, and there is no shortage of active leaders who
can wield their government-to-government influence; CMOP can coordinate these
efforts if needed for the CMOPs Native teacher support program.
For the previously explained reasons, a complex set of activities for AI/AN
programs at CMOP is effective and a primary activity for support to Native American
Science Teachers. CMOP defines a native teacher as one whose students are
primarily AI/AN. This program can build school-by-school resources to be refined
over time. It will infuse the present curriculum. Evaluation will include cultural
elements, and also include the evaluation of the AI/AN presenters of their
participation. The CMOP website can post the curriculum for the regional schools to
use.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 42
CMOP Can Play A Role In Support Of The Development Of The Curriculum
Infusion:
National Science Foundation’s reporting process offers fertile ground for the
development of curriculum to infuse in science, math, and English courses. Pilot
schools, such a Native American Youth Association and Family Center’s (NAYA)
Early College Academy (ECA) various reservation schools, as well as support for the
national Chemawa Indian School (CIS) located in Salem, OR. CIS has been taken
under the wing of the nearby Willamette University. Activities like this can provide
evaluation on the successes of these efforts and make changes so others can learn
and refine the elements for their own schools.
This process will share the best practices for improving participation in the
science classes. The weakness in this association is the tentativeness and fragility of
the American Indian and Alaskan Native educational programs in the present
funding climate. NAYA ECA needs stable funding environment to flourish. Chemawa
Indian School is accessible through their ongoing relationship with Willamette
University’s Native Program. Chemawa Indian School derives its strength from its
support base and the placement of tribal alumni in leadership positions support the
continuation of Chemawa for it historical significance.
Many tribal relationships established at Chemawa (since the late 1880s) have
lead to major movements in Pacific Northwest connectivity through associations
started at the boarding school. It is no surprise many stories of unification against
attacks on tribal sovereignty anecdotally credit Chemawa Indian School
relationships as a network that has stood the test of time.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 43
The proposed CMOP K-12 Education Program activities with AI/AN
population schools will comprise of culturally-relevant activities and curriculum
targeted for Native American students and their families who may not be collegebound, but could become college ready with proper support and assistance. The
best practice aspect can be tracked through their evaluation contract with the
University of Washington.
These are tools developed for the educator already working in the school and
willing to work with CMOP in delivery and supporting cooperative participation
from their students. The network collaboration design’s intent is to stimulate
student interest in one another’s schools, cultures, and communities, and promote
the pursuit of STEM coursework and careers.
The effort is in making the products and activities transportable across the
region as it is culturally centered on TEK. Perhaps canoe science curriculum, Native
basket weaving, Native herbology, and Four Sacred Food Systems of the Umatilla,
are examples of curriculum developed by passionate practitioners. Due to the
participatory nature of these curriculums, it appeals across a variety of learning
styles and is useful to all people of the Pacific Northwest.
By developing, evaluating, and analyzing the curriculum and strategies used,
the proposed project will contribute significantly to the literature and professional
practice knowledge base on how to design, implement, and sustain engaging STEM
programs for Native American students and families.
CMOP can propose Additional Curriculum Elements refined by AI/AN in the
field. This is outside of the traditional science curriculum with policy elements, such
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 44
as the Treaty of 1855, the ESA act of 1974, and the 1964 Pacific Salmon Treaty, the
judiciary impacts such as the Boldt Decision. All these elements impact citizens and
the Pacific Northwest economy one-way or another. The course as it is developing
fits into five 50-minute hours to the week. Two weeks will focus on Native American
science and Native American professionals in STEM field presentations. CMOP can
make use of the Tribal Leadership course of Portland State University’s (PSU)
Institute for Tribal Government, and possibly associate with the new project at PSU,
the American Indian Urban Teachers Program, funded by the Office of Indian
Education in the U.S. Department of Education (See NAYA Curriculum Addendum).
Since AI/AN are the least represented group in STEM disciplines we ask; By
developing a cultural context in which to place STEM knowledge, will the proposed
research and project increase participation of this group who are underserved
underrepresented in the STEM workforce and marginalized in Western society? It
is believed across the field this will apply across the board for Minority students, but
there appears to be lack of prescriptions for the process (Babco, 2003).
Minority students [Oregon] did not perform as well as their counterparts on
the 2008 SAT:

State Average (Critical Reading 523) (Mathematics 527) (Writing
502)

African American (Critical Reading 452) (Mathematics 438) (Writing
436)

Hispanic (Critical Reading 464) (Mathematics 468) (Writing 446)
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 45

Native American (Critical Reading 506) (Mathematics 497) (Writing
471)
“I am concerned about the low numbers of minority students taking the SAT,”
Castillo said. “Those minority students who do take the SAT score below Oregon’s
average on all three areas of the test. We know these students need more
instructional time and more classroom support in order to be successful, and I'm
asking school districts to find ways to provide teachers with the support, tools and
strategies they need to help minority students get the results we all want (Castillo,
Oregon SAT Scores Continue to Exceed National Average, 2008). If we use the
research and population of AI/AN as a basis, will we see improvement in the small
body of participants of our network? It is in practice, measurement, refinement we
will see if the pathway to better understanding of the STEM fields will occur over
time in such a small population. The Native American Youth Association and Family
Center (NAYA) ECA and Chemawa are untypical schools, so outreach must include
the school districts that serve the nine Tribes of Oregon as well.
SECTION FIVE: CMOP AND NAYA WORKING ON CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
CMOP and NAYA (and other partners) focus on curriculum development
includes bioswale design and understanding, water management, especially within
their local community that also illustrates the NAYA center’s bioswale as a
remediation to point source pollution in the Columbia River Slough. A primary
objective of this effort is to support college preparatory awareness and support
development of the school’s curriculum in the STEM areas. The innovation of the
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 46
proposed collaborative approach lies in the coordination of programs that allow for
a natural integration of STEM learning with culture, learned by students and shared
among families. Through the next five years of the program’s development, a body
of data can be accumulated and information on the students from high school to
college years can be collected.
The project design is research-based and uses best practices from current
informal learning literature and indigenous youth programming literature. By
developing, evaluating, and analyzing the curriculum and strategies used, the
project will contribute significantly to the literature and professional practice
knowledge base on how to design, implement, and sustain engaging STEM programs
for Native American students and families. Evaluation will include cultural elements,
and evaluation of the AI/AN presenters, based on their participation in the program.
The CMOP website can post curriculum for the regional schools to use. By
developing, evaluating, and analyzing the curriculum and strategies used, the
proposed project will contribute significantly to the literature and professional
practice knowledge base on how to design, implement, and sustain engaging STEM
programs for Native American students and families.
Evaluation And Assessment Of NAYA ECA Native Environmental Science:
The Native American Teacher’s curriculum support project will use
established criteria to work with NAYA and CMOP K-12 through evaluation of the
Native Environmental Science design. This will include atypical means of
assessment that supports strong schools and communities throughout the
northwest region by using portfolios and elder reporting.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 47
The focus of the evaluation will be on student-level influence of the project.
The broad student aims (goals) of the project appear to be, 1) stimulating interest in
academic science and cultural knowledge (or more specifically Traditional
Ecological Knowledge), 2) promoting interest in pursuing STEM coursework and
careers, and 3) developing conceptual and cultural understanding of watersheds.
Activities within the Native Environmental Science class overlap and
reinforce each other, but might be described as experiences which 1) expose
students to professionals in STEM careers as well as tribal members who hold
cultural knowledge, 2) actively engage students in field studies (e.g., water quality
studies) and authentic projects (e.g., developing a Bioswale), and 3) immerse
students in watershed science concepts.
Over the course of the project, we would expect activities to be modified
based on evaluative feedback measuring the extent to which students are moving
toward achieving the aims. Proposed measures include standardized assessments
(NWEA Measures of Academic Progress or MAP), reliable surveys of attitudes and
self-efficacy in science, authentic assessments of field problems, and a portfolio of
documents, products, and materials, demonstrate students’ understanding of key
ideas embedded in each of the nine units. MAP standardized assessment is “created
by educators for educators. MAP assessments provide detailed, actionable data
about where each child is on her or his unique learning path. Because student
engagement is essential to any testing experience, the evaluator works with
educators to create test items that interest children and help to capture detail about
what they know and what they’re ready to learn. It is information teachers can use
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 48
in the classroom to help every child, every day. Each set of assessments is aligned to
state and federal curricula and standards. There are (for descriptive purposes) three
groups: “Teacher A” group in the evaluation is the group at NAYA ECA pre-curricula
introduction. “Teacher B” group is the current participant in the curriculum at NAYA
ECA, and “Teacher B” group is a non-participant in the state in the sciences who are
not using the curricula in the same time frame.
Each of the evaluation strategies is aimed at gathering meaningful data on
the influence of the project on students. By using multiple strategies, both
qualitative and quantitative, and any weaknesses in one strategy will be counterbalanced by strengths of another. Other than the NWEA MAP assessment which is
already being used in the school and nationally normed, the remaining strategies
will be developed and implemented in close collaboration with the classroom
teacher and the evaluators. The teacher will primarily implement
Instruments/strategies and fully embed evaluation into the class, and reduce the
number of hours for the evaluator (with analytic responsibilities falling to the
evaluator).
These are examples of the instruments for Measures: 1) NWEA MAP
assessment in science; 2) Online survey of science attitudes, self-efficacy, and
interest in science. Includes open-ended self-reflection on changes in understanding
(spring); 3) Authentic assessment of knowledge through field problem; 4) Portfolio
collection of work demonstrating understanding; 5) Parent focus group/survey on
perceived influence of the class on student interest and understanding in science.
The information is gathered for the report, as well as support for overall statement
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 49
of need; the environmental factors described at the start of this proposal. The
curriculum will be available for access on CMOP’s website and refined over time as
schools are added to the project.
The most important aspect to evaluation and assessment is the cooperation
and coordination with the teacher and the schools. In the process of expansion there
may be new indicators required; or actual experiences shared across the schools
could also reshape certain aspects of this curriculum. The common threads is every
school taking part is located near water, connected to the Columbia River Basin,
lives within travel distance of the Pacific Ocean, and is culturally aware of the Pacific
Northwest Tribes and cultural activities of the tribes. Additional layers may include;
awareness of the complex of community colleges and state and private universities
in the region and their calendar of activities that are multi-cultural and open to
participation. In the metropolitan area of Portland, the schools have annual events
that are Native American, Native Hawaiian, and community supported. Portland
State University holds a Spring Salmon Bake and Pow Wow. Pacific University and
Portland State University hold an annual Luau. This provides opportunity for a
younger student to visit and see others like themselves in a collegiate setting.
The following graphs and materials illustrate the evaluation elements.
Figure 1 shows a graphic of these activities, aims and measures (provided as
proposal by the Northwest Evaluation Association, 2011).
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 50
Figure 1: Model of Student Activities, Aims, and Measures
Activities
Aims
Exposure to:
- professionals in STEM
Stimulate interest in:
careers
- Academic science
- tribal members who hold
- Cultural knowledge
cultural understanding
Active engagement in:
- Field studies (e.g., water
quality studies)
- Authentic projects (e.g.,
developing a bioswale)
Immersion in watershed science
Promote interest in pursuing
STEM:
- Coursework
- Careers
Develop conceptual and
cultural understanding of
concepts
watersheds
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 51
NWEA MAP assessment in science will be administered each spring to all
NAYA science students. The MAP science assessment is an adaptive assessment that
measures students in general science, concepts, and processes. NAYA will
administer the tests; results will be shared with Education Northwest. Performance
results will be analyzed by comparison with state and national scores and other
NAYA students not involved in the bioswale class. The cohort of students who
participate in the class over time will be followed along with a comparison group to
see if their trajectory varies from the expected growth rate.
An online student survey of science attitudes, self-efficacy, and interest in
science drawn from the Fennema-Sherman scales, will probe students’ attitudes
toward science, interest in pursuing science coursework and/or science careers, and
self-efficacy as science learners. The survey will be hosted on Education Northwest’s
server. An open-ended self-reflection on changes in understanding will be included
in the spring version.
An authentic assessment of knowledge will be conducted by posing a field
problem that requires students to apply what they’ve learned in the class to solve
the “Spring Challenge.” The authentic assessment and scoring guide will be codeveloped with the course instructor and evaluators. Two peers, to build in-depth
understanding of various viable solutions, as well as the instructor and evaluators,
will score solutions. The authentic assessment is envisioned as part of the
curriculum in development.
A portfolio collection of work will demonstrate students’ understanding of
each of the nine units in the curriculum. Through the term, students will select a
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 52
piece of evidence from each unit to include in their portfolios. Before the end of the
term, students will curate their portfolios and write a reflection on their
observations and efforts as documented in the portfolio. A scoring guide will be codeveloped by the instructor and evaluators. Portfolios will be scored by the
instructor and independently by evaluators.
A focus group (or survey) of parents/guardians will be conducted toward
the end of the term by evaluators. The purpose of this strategy is to gather feedback
on parents’/guardians’ perceptions of ways in which involvement in the bioswale
class influenced their children.
An annual summary of findings will be compiled by the evaluators to
include results from analyses including comparisons over time. As the project is
considered to be under development, ongoing feedback from various evaluation
strategies will be shared with project leaders to promote continuous improvement.
Table 1 shows when each measure will be used and how data from the
measure will be analyzed.
Table 1: Measures, Timeline, and Analyses
Measures
When
Analytic Strategy
Conducted/Collected
Compare assessment results
NWEA MAP
assessment in science
Y1-3: Spring only
Y2-3: Fall & Spring
to:
-State and national
sample
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 53
- Other NAYA students
not in Bioswale class
- Follow cohort of
students who enroll in
class over time (intact
cohort ~ 9/10)
- Online student survey
Y2-3:
of science attitudes and
-Track changes in attitudes
self-efficacy in science.
Y1: Spring only
pre-post through each year.
- With open-ended self-
Y2-3: Fall and Spring
-Intact group followed over
reflection on changes in
all three years.
understanding
- Co-develop with instructor,
Authentic assessment of
knowledge through field
problem
scoring guide for field
Y1-3: Spring Challenge
problem.
Developed by instructor
- Solutions scored by 2 peers,
instructor, and evaluators
Portfolio
Y1: Planning only
- Individual students
collection of work
Y2-3: Ongoing collection
will include a written
demonstrating
of products to
reflection on evidence
understanding
authentically
gathered in portfolio.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 54
demonstrate
- A scoring guide will
understanding of big
be co-developed with
ideas in each of 9 units
instructor.
- Portfolios will be
scored by instructor
and independently by
evaluators
Thematic analysis of patterns
Focus group (or survey)
of parents/guardians
in responses and emergent
Y1-3: Spring
concepts regarding
perceptions of the class and
its influence on students.
CONCLUSION
For all of the reasons stated in this paper, there is vortex of activity in the
Pacific Northwest that can provide a model of interactions between educational
institutions, government to government, and the individual educator in the field
who may be struggling with the process of educational ups and downs in funding.
The future for AI/AN communities is inextricably tied to the education of its
citizenry, and their neighbors. Often AI/AN and non-AI/AN communities share the
same school system. They certainly share the same economic conditions and policy
impacts of education. In the middle of economic tensions, historical trauma, and the
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 55
racism still prevalent in the U.S., all students suffer from disparities, and lack of
proper action.
The majority of the English speaking citizens, and our Indigenous population
must deal with the multiplicities of the nations within nations with acceptance of
the fact an enormous transfer of wealth from the aboriginal peoples is the basis of
its strength. The common thread throughout all Indigenous colonial histories are
best described from the words of historian Patricia Limerick, paraphrased on
American Indian and U.S. relations, there comes a time when one is no longer useful to
the other and conflict ensues. We are in midst on conflict, and in the midst of crises
that are unparalleled in written human history, we need one another more than
ever. The difference is that we are on the edge of decline that may cause demise of
all.
Perhaps we may not vacate huge structures and abandon our cities as the
Incans, and others of the Americas in the past have, but we will come to a point of
admitting a certain defeat in the ability of Western Sciences to save humanity. In the
past five hundred years the original peoples of the Americas have survived
biological ravages, massive alterations of the once well-understood eco-systems,
and the stresses of overt racial violence. It is time to teach and share knowledge
systems across the fields, as well as an integrated history of human genius and
adaptability. The world is different, yes, but the human condition remains the same.
We must stimulate ideas and provide all with a skilled workforce on par with the
rest of the world.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 56
The grand challenges of the 21st century will not be the ones put forth by our
governments, but the ones put forth by the core and heart of our nations for the
benefit of our children through the schools that teach our future voting citizens. We
are lifelong learners, and the work fields require us to change our jobs frequently as
the technical aspects change. It is time to step up to the challenge of diminishing
roles of our differences, secure our sense of belonging and become proactive
learners and leaders. It means, ultimately, the STEM arena cannot be separate from
community, and interactions by institutions must open. Grassroots movements are
fearless, and arise in partnerships, risk-taking and linking visions. This is where the
AI/AN communities shine --- in action.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 57
ADDENDUM US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION HISTORY AI/AN
This is recent legislative history from the US Department of Education (US
Department of Education, 2005), with insertions that impact American Indian and
Alaskan Natives 1:

1924: Snyder Act authorizes expenditures for Education of American
Indian Children, among other programs for American Indians.

1934: Johnson-O’Malley Act is one of the principle vehicles for
subsidizing education by the federal government for American Indian and Alaskan
Native Children age 3 through grade 12. Designed to provide eligible students with
optimal educational opportunities.

1965: The Elementary and Secondary Education Act as part of the
“War of Poverty." ESEA emphasizes equal access to education and establishes high
standards and accountability. The law authorizes federally funded education
programs that are administered by the states.

1969: A Special Senate Subcommittee on Indian Education issues a
final report "Indian Education: A National Tragedy - A National Challenge" focusing
national attention on the educational situation of American Indian and Alaska
Native students. http://www.tedna.org/pubs/Kennedy/toc.htm

1972: Indian Education Act enacted. Establishes the Office of Indian
Education and the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. The various parts
of the Act authorized a formula program and several competitive grant programs for
Indian children and adults. The unique aspects of the original authority have been
1
I used some other links on the website to describe earlier legislation in a similar format of timeline.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 58
retained through subsequent legislative reauthorizing statutes, with the latest
revision occurring with the amendments made by the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act
(NCLB), which reauthorized the program as Title VII Part A of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act.
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oie/history.html

1974: PL 93-380 amends the Act to add a teacher-training program
and a fellowship program.

1988: PL 100-297 makes BIA funded schools eligible to apply for
formula grants. Also creates an authorization for Gifted and Talented education.

1994: PL 103-382 reauthorizes Indian Education as Title IX Part A of
ESEA. The formula grants reauthorization is amended to require a comprehensive
plan to meet the academic and culturally related academic needs of American Indian
and Alaska Native students.

2001: PL 107-110 Indian Education is reauthorized as Title VII Part A
of the No Child Left Behind Act. The formula grants are to be based on challenging
State academic content and student academic achievement standards that are used
for all students and designed to assist Indian students in meeting those standards.

In 2002, Congress amended ESEA and reauthorized it as the No Child
Left Behind Act (NCLB).

2011 ESEA Reauthorization: A Blueprint for Reform. On March 13, the
Obama administration released its blueprint for revising the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (ESEA) The blueprint challenges the nation to embrace
education standards that would put America on a path to global leadership. It
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 59
provides incentives for states to adopt academic standards that prepare students to
succeed in college and the workplace, and create accountability systems that
measure student growth toward meeting the goal that all children graduate and
succeed in college (http://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/index.html).
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 60
ADDENDUM MERKLEY STEM EDUCATION BILL
Fact Sheet on Merkley STEM Education Bill
Here is a link to the full text of the bill:
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112s1675is/pdf/BILLS112s1675is.pdf
Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), a member of the Senate's Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Preparing Students for
Success in the Global Economy Act (S. 1675), which would reauthorize and
strengthen the current Math and Science Partnership Program at the Department of
Education.
Merkley's bill will play a central role in framing the debate over STEM
education priorities as the Senate HELP panel, led by Chairman Tom Harkin (DIA), advances legislation to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act. The STEM Education Coalition [http://www.stemedcoalition.org/] has
worked closely with Senator Merkley over the last several months to craft this
comprehensive STEM education bill, which directly reflects a number of our core
policy objectives.
The bill will provide an array of competitive grants to states and districts to
improve student achievement in the STEM fields, with a provision for the program
to transition to formula-based grants after a threshold funding level was reached.
The bill aims to:
•
Improve student engagement in, and increase student access to,
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 61
courses in STEM subjects
•
Strengthen quality STEM instruction and professional development
programs
•
Recruit, train, and support highly-effective teachers in STEM subjects
and providing robust tools and supports for students and teachers
•
Close student achievement gaps, and prepare more students to be on
track to college and career readiness and success in these subjects
•
Require states to develop a statewide STEM education plans.
•
States and districts could also use funding to provide mentoring and
induction programs, establish a master teacher corps and provide support for STEM
related competitions and other out-of-school activities.
Here are some further aspects of the bill to keep in mind as you read it:
•
Not a New Program: The bill is intended to amend an existing
program, the Math and Science Partnerships (Title IIB of ESEA), rather than creating
a new one. This is especially important in the current fiscal climate.
•
Balances Formula and Competitive Granting: The bill strikes a balance
between formula and competitive grant funding, with options for both approaches.
•
Emphasizes State Flexibility: States will have an extensive
opportunity to involve their own business, education, and other STEM stakeholders
in the formulation and articulation of their unique STEM needs.
•
Supports Best Practices and Innovation: The allowable activities
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 62
proposed through the amended program reflect broad input from the business,
education, and professional S+T communities and incorporate a variety of best
practices that have evolved since NCLB, such as STEM Master Teachers, hands-on
engineering competitions, and innovative professional development models.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 63
ADDENDUM OF ORGANIZATIONS ENGAGED WITH CMOP- NAYA CURRICULUM
This curriculum infusion of sciences program is housed under the Oregon
Health & Sciences University’s Institute of Environmental Health Center with the
Center for Coastal Margin and Observation and Prediction says there is
overwhelming evidence that human activities and global climate change are
affecting environmental health and sustainability, posing serious risks for human
health. IEH believes that predicting and steering environmental change will be
integral to next generation preventative medicine. We are poised to develop
scientific understanding in environmental and Biomolecular systems that elucidates
environmental processes and their links to human health.
http://www.stccmop.org/home
http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/centers-institutes/environmental-health/
Columbia River Slough Watershed Council sponsors the Slough School is
an educational program of the Columbia Slough Watershed Council created to
provide hands-on programs for students to learn about the history and ecology of
the watershed and its organisms as well as human impacts on the area. Students in
grades K-college who attend schools or are part of communities within the Columbia
Slough Watershed are the principal recipients of Slough School programming. A
variety of academic programs are offered, including classroom activities, field
studies, watershed and community action projects, and service projects at sites along
the Slough. Slough School is based out of the Council offices at the Whitaker Ponds
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 64
Natural Area, at 7040 NE 47th Ave. in Portland, Oregon.
http://www.columbiaslough.org/sloughschool/index.htm
Clean Rivers Education Program of the City of Portland, OR Environmental
Services offers free, classroom and field study science education programs for K –
college students within the City of Portland. Students learn about watershed health,
urban ecology, the causes and effects of water pollution and what they can do to
protect rivers and streams.
Clean Rivers Education programs address local water quality, environmental
design and habitat issues. The program offers hands-on classroom lessons designed
to complement teachers’ curricula. Classroom programs often serve as a prelude or
follow-up to a field trip. During field experiences, students spend time outdoors
observing, interpreting, exploring and connecting to local natural areas. Students
apply the skills they learn through watershed investigations and
stewardship/community action projects. Clean Rivers Educators work with teachers
to develop a unit of study to best meet learning objectives.
(http://www.portlandonline.com/bes/index.cfm%3Fc=41186)
Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership provides the Connect to the
Columbia Canoe Paddle Series of community canoe trips to explore the lower
Columbia this summer. The trips allow people to paddle on our large 34’ voyageur
canoes and experience the area from the unique on-water perspective. They also
offer Classroom and Field Programs (grades 2-12) Classroom programs cover an
array of Columbia River topics and are typically 45-60 minutes in length. Lessons
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 65
aim to bring the outdoors inside and many are designed as a prelude to a field
program, service learning project, or on-river program. Field programs build on
concepts learned in the classroom and often involve exploring a local natural area or
school ground through a variety of educational activities. Education programs are
offered to schools at no cost. http://www.lcrep.org/
Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission serves the four treaty tribes
of the Middle Columbia River: Nez Perce, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, Yakama Nation, and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, OR. The
tribes created a coordinating and technical organization to support their joint and
individual exercise of sovereign authority. Based as it was on a time-tested tradition,
the new organization, the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, became a
valuable means for organized intertribal representation in regional planning, policy,
and decision-making. As its founders intended, the organization’s assignment
remains the same today: unity of action in service of the salmon.
They offer through their communications arm presentations for schools.
Recently, they hired an education specialist to develop programs for increasing
interest in STEM fields. http://www.critfc.org/text/work.html
Portland State University’s Pacific Northwest Native Community
Sustainability is situated at Portland State University and reaches out to the larger
region. Pacific Northwest Native Community Sustainability project (PNWNCSP) is
designed to promote collaborative efforts by Native (American Indian; First Nation;
Inuit, Yu’piak and other Arctic and sub-Arctic indigenous groups; Native Alaskan;
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 66
Native American) community members and mainstream scientists toward meeting
the goals and needs of indigenous communities in the Canadian and U.S. Pacific
Northwest region. http://pnwnativesustain.research.pdx.edu/%3Fpage_id=143
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 67
STEM FIELDS CMOP AND NAYA SCIENCE PROGRAM
Place-based support for American Indian and Alaskan Natives Educators in the
extended Columbia River Basin
Concept Paper, prepared by the Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction
(CMOP)
The Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction (CMOP) is a multiinstitutional Science and Technology Center lead by the Oregon Health & Science
University (OHSU) and with core funding from the National Science Foundation. CMOP
seeks to develop a new way of studying and understanding rivers and coasts (the
‘coastal margin’), moving from reactive science to predictive science in order to
proactively manage and minimize the impact of natural and man-made change on the
health of people and the environment.
The center’s geographic research focus is the Columbia River, from the
Bonneville Dam to the coasts of Oregon and Washington. CMOP is working to identify
early warning signs or “sentinels” in the Columbia River coastal margin that can
forewarn impending environmental changes earlier than currently possible, and allow
resource managers to make strategic decisions to mitigate the severity of impacts on
both ecosystem and human health. To accomplish this, CMOP pursues four inter-related
missions: research, education, knowledge transfer, and broadening participation. In all
four missions CMOP employs a highly interdisciplinary and inclusionary approach, to
address very complex environmental issues with a breadth of knowledge, expertise and
stakeholder participation.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 68
Vision Unique to CMOP is its collaboration with American Indian and Alaskan
Natives (AI/AN) tribal and corporate organizations and other stakeholders in the Pacific
Northwest to create a common science-based understanding of complex issues affecting
the health and natural resources in the Columbia River and regional coastal margins. As
you will see later in this paper, the place-based support for AI/AN Educators in the
Columbia River Basin increases inclusion by developing a geographic cultural context in
which to place rigorous STEM education. CMOP envisions this initiative as a means to
increase participation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in the STEM workforce. 2
Tribes and AI/AN nonprofits work within a unique niche in issues of Natural Resource
management, Treaty Rights concerning the access to and proliferation of fisheries,
water quality, food systems, and climate impacts that extend beyond reservation
borders.
Recognizing, as do our tribal and non-tribal partners, that workforce
development is integral to sustainable management of natural resources, CMOP has
also established a successful educational program that engages students along a ‘K-gray’
pathway toward scientific inquiry. CMOP’s growing educational programs encompass K12 and higher-education initiatives designed to achieve a scientifically savvy workforce
and an environmentally aware citizenry. K-12 activities include student engagement and
science exposure, as well as teacher professional development.
2
“For it is these more rigorous math and science courses that are the entry point to careers in science and
engineering.” Babco, E. The Status of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in Science and Engineering
http://www.cpst.org/NativeIV.pdf
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 69
In September 2010, CMOP collaborated and launched a pilot project with Native
American Youth Association’s (NAYA) Early College Academy to develop environmental
curriculum that engages high school students in a culturally relevant, place-based
learning experience. CMOP and a collective of contributors worked with the NAYA’s
science teacher and created a one-week per month infusion of American Indian and
Alaskan Native and CMOP centered elements into the high-school environmental
science curriculum. The curriculum culminated in design, planting and maintenance
planning for a bioswale project within NAYA’s property, and places regional (Columbia
River basin) science and policy issues in a locally relevant context for the students and
school through the Columbia River Slough. CMOP will conduct a full external assessment
at the end of this 2012 academic year, and subsequent two years. Currently, the
anecdotal evidence indicates the project is progressing well. NAYA administrators are
enthusiastic about the project and the future of the classes as a part of an increasingly
rigorous academic curriculum. Many American Indian and Alaskan Natives leaders, local
environmental educators and scientists have volunteered their time to appear as guest
speakers.
Background American Indian and Alaskan Natives are valuable stewards of the
environment, yet are among the least represented groups in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, resulting in insufficient numbers of
skilled American Indian and Alaskan Natives scientists to manage such valuable
resources through these environmentally uncertain times. American Indians and
Alaskan Natives, who represent .8 % of the population, held just .4% of the over five-
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 70
million US and science and engineering jobs in 2006.3 The target audience for this
initiative is American Indian and Alaskan Natives educators because they are the
foundation for any sustainable workforce development strategy. For the purpose of this
initiative, we define American Indian and Alaskan Natives educators as educators of
American Indian and Alaskan Natives origin, or serving populations of American Indian
and Alaskan Natives students.
Project CMOP’s first step towards implementing this initiative is a multi-year
collaboration with the Native American Youth Association’s (NAYA) Early College
Academy to develop environmental science curriculum that combines (a) the planning
and building of a bioswale and (b) water monitoring and basin-scale ecosystem
understanding, with (c) enduring understandings from the mid-Columbia River tribes
and (d) respect for water and cycles of the Sacred Foods.
The first year of this project concluded in June 2011 was focused on the creation
of environmental science classes covering basic history and science of the Columbia
River Slough, ground water management and chemistry, traditional ecological
knowledge (native science and systems), bioswale installation, and relevant U.S. policies
and treaties. We are replicating its elements in Academic Year 2011-12 to refine and
package elements for export. The team will also develop the following years. Year two’s
classes will cover coastal margins, climate change, environmental modeling, and impacts
and sustainable best practices for Indigenous communities. Guest speakers and cultural
3
National Science Foundation: Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and
Engineering http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/wmpd/
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 71
activities interweave Western Science with Traditional Ecological Knowledge systems. In
year two, curriculum development will expand beyond the science classroom to include
new curriculum in English, social studies, state history and other high school subjects
along with introduction of climate sciences and crisis. In year three, the curriculum will
broaden into Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Rim, the “rim of fire, and include
Indigenous foods, and food security, reviewing tribal management and policies.
Objectives This project design places STEM education within the context of US
Policy on tribal governments, history, and culture of the Columbia River Basin,
traditional ecological knowledge, and geographical location to strengthen the relevance
and impact of the educational experiences. Based on the success of the NAYA project
and lessons learned, CMOP plans to expand the partnerships to include other American
Indian and Alaskan Natives schools, developing a network of educators dedicated to
promoting their students’ pursuit of STEM coursework and careers. Teachers will
receive professional development support and resources to fully realize college
preparatory awareness and school-wide implementation of STEM curriculum. By
promoting culturally-relevant activities and curriculum for American Indian and Alaskan
Natives students, subsequently shared with their families, this initiative can ignite the
student’s interest and confidence in STEM, perhaps leading those who may not be
college bound to reconsider their higher education options. Ultimately, the curriculum
succeeds when schools in the region seek it, alters it to suit place-based criteria, and
share their refinements freely over time. Bayta Maring of the Office of Educational
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 72
Assessment of University of Washington is performing assessment of the project to
guide the modifications and future development.
In collaboration with partner institutions, CMOP proposes a place-based
educational initiative focused on American Indian and Alaskan Natives Educators within
the (broadly defined) region of the Columbia River Basin and near coast ecosystems. The
initiative is potentially transformative for STEM tribal workforce development, with
emphasis on the tribes of the Columbia River basin and of the Oregon and Washington
coasts.
By developing a geographic cultural context in which to place STEM knowledge,
the proposed initiative intends to increase participation of this group in the STEM
workforce, by creating an effective support strategy for middle- and high-school
American Indian and Alaskan Natives Educators. We concentrate on educators because
they are the foundation for any sustainable workforce development strategy.

The initiative will include the development over time of a network of
American Indian and Alaskan Native Educators, interested in one another’s schools,
cultures, and communities, and committed to promoting the pursuit of STEM
coursework and careers by their students.

The ultimate objective of this proposed network is to enable more STEM-
skilled and less overworked teachers to better support college preparatory awareness
and support the school’s curriculum in the STEM areas.
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 73

The focus of the initiative will be on creating and sustaining an effective
support infrastructure and tools for educators already working in the classroom, and
who are willing to work with CMOP in content delivery and in inquiry-based learning
experiences for their students. It will also meet the requirement of inclusion of
American Indian history in the curriculum of Oregon and Washington public schools.

The initiative will lead to activities for Native population schools that
comprise culturally-relevant activities and curriculum targeted for American Indian and
Alaskan Natives students and their families who may not be college bound, but could
become college ready with proper support and assistance.

By developing, evaluating, and analyzing the curriculum and strategies
used in and across each of several pilot projects, the initiative will contribute
significantly, at regional and national levels, to literature and professional practice
knowledge base on how to design, implement, and sustain engaging STEM programs for
American Indian and Alaskan Natives students and families.
The innovation of the proposed collaborative approach lies in the coordination
of programs that allow for a natural integration of STEM learning with geography and
culture, learned by students and shared among families. The project design is researchbased and uses best practices from current informal learning literature and indigenous
youth programming literature. Supporting this design from an environmental research
perspective are CMOP’s structured integrations of information, methods and people,
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 74
reliant on modern observation and modeling systems for the Columbia River coastal
margin: the SATURN collaboratory (http://www.stccmop.org/saturn.)
Potential Partnerships The proposed teacher network is expected to be rooted
on American Indian and Alaskan Natives Educators from schools such as: NAYA
Community School, Nixyáawii Community School of the Confederated Tribes of Umatilla
Indian Reservation (CTUIR), the Siletz Valley School of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz
Indians (CTSI), and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) Chemawa Indian School, and
eventually perhaps the schools that serve the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs
(Warm Springs), Yakama Nation, and the Chinook Indian Tribe. All of these schools with
the exception of the schools that serve the Warm Springs, Yakama and Chinook are
preparing to become, or aspire to become, part of an early college high school concept.
Additionally, possible collaborations with the following organizations will
enhance the breadth and the depth of this program:

Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC)

Northwest Indian Fish Commission (NWIFC)

American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) of Portland

Northwest American Indian Research Institute The Evergreen State
College

Northwest Indian College (NWIC)

Pacific University

Native Studies Program at Portland State University
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 75
NAYA Pilot Project in a Nutshell
“Part of the reason I teach science at NAYA is to ensure that young American
Indian and Alaskan Natives students have all the same opportunities as other students
around the country. On reservations, they have to manage their own natural resources.
It would be great if more people from their own tribe could have the scientific knowledge
to help them be self-sufficient in managing their own resources.” Stephanie Kelley,
NAYA teacher
Our on-going experimental partnership with the American Indian and Alaskan
Natives Youth Association and Family Center (NAYA) Early Academy is illustrative of pilot
projects that we will pursue.
The project uses the Columbia River Slough and a Bioswale in the NAYA property
as the anchor. Curriculum and activities includes elements of environmental justice,
Pacific Northwest policy, and a place based learning approach as part of a nine-week
course (Enduring Understandings) led by science teacher Stephanie Kelley.
Activities involve the assessment of the positive impacts of the Bioswale that
students undertook with non-profit VERDE. The students experience directly the
broader context of the Columbia River Basin’s presence and about water quality as one
of several issues (salmon recovery, navigation, hydropower management, etc.) they will
encounter as adults in the management of a complex river-to-ocean system.
Outside of the traditional science curriculum are policy elements, such as the
Treaty of 1855, the ESA act of 1974, and the 1964 Pacific Salmon Treaty. In additions to
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 76
policy issues are new areas of concern, Native plants, and Native foods. All are
important issues that impact the citizens and the Pacific Northwest economy. There are
five 50-minute hours to the week. Two weeks focus on presentations by American
Indian and Alaskan Natives scientists and STEM professionals.
To develop the concepts and to support the teacher and the project we have
completed:

NAYA’s teacher Stephanie Kelley interned at CMOP during Summer 2009,
to get acquainted with CMOP’s vision, staff and science.
(http://www.stccmop.org/news/2009/teacherinternship)

CMOP’s K-12 coordinator spent one year fully dedicated to the project,
working mostly on location at NAYA, writing the elements up, setting up appointments,
coordinating the field trips, and bridging CMOP and NAYA cultures and developing the
networking with NAYA partners (such as VERDE and the city of Portland).

CMOP’s Research Associate Grant Law has taught two weeks at NAYA in
the fall of 2010, and is now adjusting the class content based on that experience, so that
(a) the content can be delivered by the teacher; (b) the content can be exported to
other classrooms and schools.
Potential Schools we have as partners are identified in the following websites:
NAYA ECA (http://www.nayapdx.org/youth-services/naya-early-collegeacademy.ph)
Siletz Charter Schools (http://www.siletzvalleyschool.org/)
Nixyáawii Community School http://www.oncsw.blogspot.com/)
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 77
Chemawa Indian School (http://www.chemawa.bia.edu/
NWRED Indian Education Program (Title VII Northwest Regional Education
Service District)
Eventually these tribes and the school districts that serve them will be added:
The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, OR (http://www.warmsprings.com/)
The Yakama Nation, (http://www.yakamanation-nsn.gov/)
The Chinook Indian Tribe of Washington, (http://www.chinooknation.org/)
Klamath River Early College (http://www.krecr.org/)
More information about the program at CMOP contact:
Antonio M. Baptista
Professor and Director, Center for Coastal Margin Observation & Prediction
503-748-1147
baptista@stccmop.org
OUTLINE NAYA ENVIRONMENTAL CURRICULUM 2010-13
Year One:
Columbia River Slough and Basin
Basic History of the Columbia River Slough,
US Policy re: CR Systems, salmon and tribes
Intro to watershed, storm water and groundwater management
Water chemistry
Water – History of Bullrun Watershed, Portland Metro area water
system
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 78
Native Science and systems, known as Traditional Ecological
Knowledge (TEK).
STEM careers, Native Professionals
Start concept of IDA accounts for students to invest concept.
Year Two:
Pacific Ocean, Estuaries and Climate Change
Near Coast ecosystems, computer modeling
Impacts of Indigenous communities and environment
Sustainable best practices by indigenous peoples
Coastal Temperate Rainforest system
Set up of IDA accounts
Year Three:
Food Production and Security - Global Indigenous Issues
Native Food propagation, seed preservation, gardening and
gathering. Traditional Diets and Healthy body = Healthy
Communities
Herbal Identification, Product development, marketing excess
food.
Presence at Farmers Market, final year of IDA Accounts for
college.
Stephanie Kelly
503-913-5037
stepaniek@nayapdx.org
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 79
ADDENDUM OREGONIAN 40-40-20 EDUCATION PLAN
Gov. John Kitzhaber, Oregon education leaders push for more college
graduates by 2025
Published: Friday, November 04, 2011, 9:04 PM
December 02, 2011, 11:23 AM
Updated: Friday,
http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2011/11/gov_john_ki
tzhaber_oregon_educ.html
Bill Graves, The Oregonian
Follow
CORVALLIS -- Oregon has staked its education and economic future on a goal
called 40-40-20, and top education leaders gathered in Corvallis this week to
consider how they are going to reach it.
The goal declares that by 2025, Oregon will ensure that:

40 percent of adults will have earned a bachelor's degree or higher.

40 percent of adults will have earned an associate degree or postsecondary credential.
20 percent of adults will have earned a high school diploma, modified
high school diploma or the equivalent of a high school diploma.

Earlier this year, the Legislature not only made this goal law, it also adopted
an implementation plan, across all levels of education that bases student
advancement on proficiency rather than age and course credits.
The new Oregon Education Investment Board, chaired by Gov. John Kitzhaber, will
oversee all school spending in public schools and universities to help foster a
seamless system extending from preschool through graduate school.
"There is no other state in the United States that is imagining something of the scope
and audacity that 40-40-20 proposes," Curtis Johnson, president of the Citistates
Group, a network of civic leaders focused on building competitive cities, told the
Corvallis summit. "There is no other place that proposes to support proficiency in
place of age, grade and seat time."
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 80
Economists say the payoff for coming anywhere near the 40-40-20 goal is
that Oregon would see financial gains along with declines in poverty and all the
social problems that come with it.
Places with high proportions of educated people see more local innovation and
attract sophisticated, high-paying industries that need smart workers. They also
tend to be healthier with less crime and unemployment.
Benton County, for example, has Oregon's highest educated adult population, with
59 percent holding an associate degree or higher. It also has the state's healthiest
population and lowest unemployment rate at 6.6 percent. Corvallis, with Oregon
State University, is the county seat.
Another set of numbers compiled recently by the Lumina Foundation shows what
education reformers are up against:

Nine percent of Oregon adults ages 25 to 64 have an associate degree
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 81

Thirty percent of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher

Ten percent of adults have not completed high school.
To boost those numbers to 40-40-20, Oregon would have to send about
650,000 people -- nearly a third of the adult working-age population -- back to
school. About 27 percent of adults, however, have some college, so they might not
need much more schooling or may already qualify for a certificate or degree.
In addition, to reach the goal, schools and colleges must dramatically increase
student success and completion rates. They would have to wipe out high school
dropouts and send 80 percent of high school graduates on to community colleges
and universities, where all would have to succeed.
But to achieve those rates, Oregon schools must contend with their current rates:

out.
Two in three high school students graduate on time. One in four drops
One in five Oregon full-time community college students earns a twoyear degree after four years; 8 percent of part-time students do so.


Two-thirds of full-time students in Oregon's seven public universities
earn a bachelor's degree within eight years; only 29 percent of part-time students
do so.
Oregon leaders in Corvallis agreed that to increase high school and college
completion rates, they are going to have to find ways to succeed with students who
have traditionally been underrepresented at the finish line -- poor, minority and
rural students, and those whose parents did not complete college.
They are students like Tiffany Dollar, who grew up in Portland with a mother
addicted to drugs. She attended 13 different schools, four in third grade alone, and
often slept on couches of other people's living rooms, she said. But a couple of key
teachers recognized she was bright and helped her find a path to Portland State
University, where she's studying to become a history teacher.
"I love this state and want to contribute to my state," she said.
The state's education reform plan calls for spending more money on places and
practices that help the state reach its goals. The investment board wants to foster an
education system that focuses on proficiency, which would make it easier for
students to learn and advance at their own paces.
It also would put a premium on prevention. The investment board, for example,
wants to expand early childhood education. Spending more early in the education
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 82
pipeline could prevent the achievement gap between disadvantaged and middle
class children from ever emerging and reduce remediation costs later.
Kitzhaber said the investment board wants to make achievement compacts next
year with districts and universities that will define the outcomes the state wants for
the money it invests in them.
He calls the 40-40-20 goals "our North Star, the compass setting that will guide us."
One more fact adds a little urgency to the quest for 40-40-20: The high school Class
of 2025 enters kindergarten next fall.
--Bill Graves
UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITIES IN THE STEM FIELDS – 83
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