IMPROVING SCHOOL SUCCESS FOR FIRST NATIONS STUDENTS

First Nations Education Study
First Nations Education Council
School District No. 73 (Kamloops/Thompson)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Preface
• Introduction
• Report: Improving School Success for First Nations Students
• Recommendations
• Annotated Bibliography
• Survey of Secondary School Experiences
• Acknowledgements

PREFACE

The First Nations Education Council of School District No. 73 (Kamloops/Thompson) commissioned this study.

The study was prompted by the Report on First Nations Students (October 1997). It showed that when compared with the general population, 20% more First Nations students performed below grade expectations in Grade 7, and 22% were still below grade expectations when tested again in Grade 9. It showed, too, that when compared to the general population, 9.6% more of them selected courses leading to the easier School Leaving Certificates, and that 12% fewer took the courses leading to the more difficult Dogwood Certificate.

The First Nations Education Council asked that factors influencing these problems be identified. They asked that successful programs and practices dealing with First Nations early reading/language and First Nations secondary student retention to be analyzed as to their potential use in this school district, and that recommendations based on the research findings be made.