Indigenous Students and Literacy and Numeracy: What Does the Research Say?
From the Publisher: “[Australian] Indigenous students typically achieve at significantly lower levels than non-Indigenous students by the time they reach year 3. This article reports on the findings of a longitudinal study conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research called the Longitudinal English Literacy and Numeracy Survey for Indigenous Students commenced in 2000. The findings show that there are several key underlaying factors present in schools that support growth in achievement for Indigenous students: leadership; good teaching; student attendance and engagement; and Indigenous presence at the school.”
Similar to the United States, indigenous students in Australia achieve at substantially lower levels than most other students. This policy brief summarizes an Australian Council for Educational Research study examining the causes for those achievement gaps, which tend to be similar to the United States, including schools, teaching, and student attendance. The methodology in the study is sound and communications quality is good. Utility should be reasonably high for U.S. schools serving Native American students. Evidence of effectiveness is not provided; however, the overall quality of this policy brief suggests a possible impact on learning.