Study of parental factors affecting success or failure of Navajo Indian students

One of the problems facing Indian education in the United States is how to involve the Indian parents in the educational programs of their children. There is growing concern among governmental and tribal agencies about the task of involving Indian people in their own self-determination. Much research has been done in comparing various educational systems and methods, but little has been done to determine the educational needs of Indian people or in finding ways to involve them in various programs. At San Juan High School, Blanding, Utah, the number of Navajo Indian children attenting school has increased every year for the past several years. Navajo Indian students comprised about 25 per cent of the student body in the 1967-68 school year. The problem of this thesis was to analyze the influence selected factors may have had on the success or failure of Navajo Indian students at San Juan High School. This research project compared Navajo Indian students1 family backgrounds and problems with their achievement. essary data from the parents, and a questionnaire was constructed and administered to students who attended San Juan High School, 1967-68. Two Navajo Indian people assisted in the construction and administration of the instruments used in the study. The hypothesis of the study was that the success or failure a Navajo Indian student may experience in school is not affected by the attitudes, educational level, or cultural factors of the studentfs parents. The research in this study would not support this hypothesis. It appears that the cultural factors and family background do affect a student's success or failure in school. Parents with goals for their children seem to take the time to talk to their children, and, as a result, their children experience more success in school. Parents wjio understand the educational system and have contact with the schools, positive or negative, have children who are more successful in school. The analysis of the data suggests that the amount of education obtained by the mother had an effect on the childfs success in school, and that Indian students whose parents could provide a home that more nearly reflected present-day middle-class levels of living experienced more success in school. The research indicates that those parents who understood the school1s report card system had children who did better in school, and also those students who had a home which provided some opportunity to discuss homework appeared to enjoy more success in school.