A Review of the Research Literature on the Influences of Culturally Based Education on the Academic Performance of Native American Students. Final Paper.

There is a widespread, firm belief among Native American communities (American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians) and among professional Native educators that meaningful educational experiences require an appropriate language and cultural context. From their perspective, such context supports the traditions, knowledge, and language(s) of the community as a starting place for learning new knowledge. This review collects, reports on, and critically analyzes the research literature to determine whether a culturally based education (CBE) curriculum improves the school performance of American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian students. Introductory sections discuss events of the past three decades supporting development of CBE, three theories underlying CBE interventions, an operational definition of the elements of CBE, definitions of experimental and quasi-experimental research, and the difficulties in conducting such research. The review found only four studies that could legitimately be classified as experimental or quasi-experimental. Because of these limited numbers, a small number of non-experimental comparative studies were added. Only one research project was found that provides insights on how researchers might show a direct connection between CBE and improved academic performance. Recommendations are presented for improving the research base on CBE for Native Americans. Data tables summarize the studies examined. Appendices describe the resources used in the literature search and present a lengthy annotated bibliography. (Contains 41 references.) (SV)