The Office of Educational Research and Statistics (OERS) serves as a resource for the Navajo Nation by providing educational research and quality statistical analysis on the status of Navajo education. We provide school demographic data for the Navajo Nation, research current education policies and Indian education issues affecting the Navajo Nation, and work collaboratively with other Department of Diné Education (DODE) programs. Examples of our work is assisting the Office of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Technical Assistance (OMETA) with school reauthorization data, the Office of Diné Science, Math and Technology (ODSMT) with trainings for the Using Data Process (UDP) meetings and personalize data for each of the UDP schools. In addition, we publish school enrollment and AYP tests results for all schools on and off the Navajo Nation, assisting Diné Culture with data compilations, and to serve the needs of stakeholders with data needs.
The Navajo Nation and Education: Demographic Overview
On the Navajo Nation, according to the 2000 Census, there are 180,462 residents of which 167,528 are Navajo alone or in combination with one or more other races (92.83%). In April 2011, we expect to update this data with the release of the 2010 Census National Summary File which includes population and housing counts for the United States regions, divisions, and American Indian, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Areas.
School enrollment on the Navajo Nation beginning in 2000 was 55,648 from 1stto 12thgrade. There were 7,951 enrolled in nursery school, preschool and kindergarten (US Census 2000). Since then, based on our data collection from New Mexico Public Education department, Arizona Department of Education, the Utah State Education Department and the Bureau of Indian Education, school enrollment on the Navajo Nation has been in a decline from 42,492 in 2006, 40,974 in 2007, 39,203 in 2008, and 38,990 in 2009. These enrollment numbers are for all public schools, Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) schools, and grant schools.
Educational Attainment on the Navajo Nation shows that 55.93% (49,593) of the population has a High School graduate or higher and that 7.29% (6,464) of the population has a Bachelor’s degree or Higher based on the 2000 Census. We currently do not have any current 2011 data.
The total number of certified teachers on the Navajo Nation is approximated to be 3,022 teaching on the Navajo Nation for all school types (Public, BIE, and contract schools) for the 2009-2010 school years.
It’s clear that Navajo Nation does not have a uniform educational system that allows absolute oversight of the educational opportunities offered to Navajo students. The Department of Diné Education (DODE) has to cope with uneven group when confronting differing gradations of economic, social, geographical and jurisdictional challenges.
Initiatives and Challenges
The Navajo Nation currently does not hold the status as a State Education Agency (SEA) which prevents our tribe from acquiring student-level data to provide a detailed analysis. DODE is currently in the process of seeking SEA status and has recently submitted an accountability workbook to the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE). OERS currently serves to strengthen our data warehouse and technological capabilities through the coordinated efforts of educational stakeholders and programs on the Navajo Nation.
Some of our major initiatives for fiscal year 2011 are to organize a longitudinal study on the social and cultural impacts on our Navajo student’s education. We currently are implementing a Navajo-wide survey to administrators, teachers, students and parents. We hope to evaluate trends that lead to the success of students and to identify areas of high need.