Education | Case Subject

Washington State House Bill 1495 encourages school districts to incorporate curricula about the culture, history, and government of the nearest federally recognized tribe or tribes. The purpose is to familiarize the students with the unique heritage of their community. The case study of Whose History Should We Teach? suggests a curriculum that is a response to the mandate of the bill. It is based on a conversation that takes place in a teachers' staff room. A group of teachers expresses their deeply held beliefs about the possibility of developing a curriculum that presents Washington State history from the Native American perspective. They clash around their views of several historical milestones. Each question and each answer has a number of historical events embedded in them. The core of the curriculum is the research topics and the relevant discussion questions which guide students' learning. The intended learning outcomes state specifically what the students are expected to learn. The teaching notes describe the tasks that students will engage in, in order to investigate the issues. The curriculum can be used in K-12 or college with appropriate adaptations. It would be effective and appropriate for native as well as non-native students.

Safe school environments are a challenge as societal pressures about tolerance and diversity mold young people across the nation and within Indian communities. Native students who have a sexual orientation different from their classmates are often subject to bullying and harassment and may not complete their educational goals. Gay students are 30% more likely to commit suicide than their peers. This case study looks at a high school where a suicide has led students to suggest providing a support group for gay students to have a place to come and talk. Student organizers hope to eliminate the bullying and harassment and increase tolerance to protect the lives of all students.

This case tells the story of the origin and passage of House Bill 1495 in the Washington State Legislature. This bill required the inclusion of tribal history, culture and government in the social studies curriculum in the public schools. The case discusses the process of implementing this bill as well. The case provides a good opportunity to study the policymaking process as well as issues in Indian education.

In 1997 Washington, like many states across the nation, established a new framework for assessing student performance in K-12 education believing this was key to making the high school diploma mean something. The new standards, implemented through the WASL (the Washington Assessment of Student Learning), were gradually phased in but will eventually become graduation requirements. While student performance has improved, students of color continue to have lower achievement scores than other students. This case looks at a reservation community struggling with the question of how to improve student performance on the WASL and the various factors that might explain poor performance.

This case involves a Native student with poor attendance in a first grade classroom and the series of interventions made by the classroom teacher and the school system to alleviate the problem. Issues including extended family systems, home/school cross-cultural communication, and Federal and State school reform regulations are a part of the discussion.