The National Indian Education Study (NIES) is a two-part study designed to describe the condition of education for American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the United States. NIES is conducted under the direction of the National Center for Education Statistics on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Indian Education. This report presents the results for Part I of the study focusing on the performance of AI/AN fourth- and eighth-graders on the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics.
A national sample of approximately 9,300 AI/AN students at grades 4 and 8 participated in the 2009 reading assessment, and 8,900 participated in the mathematics assessment. Results from this study are compared to those from earlier studies in 2005 and 2007. The results for 12 states with relatively large populations of AI/AN students are presented in addition to the national results.
The average reading score for AI/AN fourth-graders in 2009 was not significantly different from the scores in either 2007 or 2005. The average score for AI/AN students at grade 8 was higher in 2009 than in 2007 but was not significantly different from the score in 2005. Average mathematics scores in 2009 were not significantly different from earlier assessments at either grade. Fourth- and eighth-grade AI/AN students attending BIE schools scored lower on average in reading and mathematics than students attending public schools. Among the 11 states with samples large enough to report results for AI/AN students in both 2009 and 2007, Alaska had a decrease in the reading score at grade 4, and Arizona had an increase in the reading score at grade 8. None of the participating states had a significant change in average mathematics scores since 2007 at grade 4, and South Dakota had an increase at grade 8.
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