Q&A from Alaska: Teachers sleeping in the classroom and fighting the achievement gap
The persistence of the Native American achievement gap has stumped educators for decades. Even as black and Hispanic students have made gains in recent years, test scores, high school graduation rates and the college-going rates have stagnated for Native students. On St. Lawrence Island in Alaska, the challenges are especially stark. Many Yupik Eskimo families who live there depend on whaling and berry-picking to survive, and college can seem irrelevant. Using a pot of $2 million in federal funds, the St. Lawrence schools have launched a set of reforms outlined by the Obama administration, which include an extended school day and new teacher evaluations based partly student standardized test scores. A group of teachers at the Hogarth Kingeekuk Sr. Memorial School in Savoonga, one of two villages on the island, spoke to The Hechinger Report about what they think works to improve outcomes for Native children. Scott Herrmann is in his sixth year teaching middle school math at the school. Kristina Sieff is in her fifth year teaching high school science. And Gaetano Brancaleone has taught elementary reading for two years. Why did you come here? Kristina Sieff: I wanted to come where they