J P Leary, Consultant

1
Act 31 in 3-D!!! Considerations for
Implementation and Evaluation

• J P Leary, Consultant
• American Indian Studies Program
• WI Department of Public Instruction

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1989 Act 31

• 1989-1991 biennial budget bill.
• Included provisions related to American Indian
  Studies.
• Created the American Indian Studies Program at
  DPI.

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Act 31 created the following statutory sections

• s. 115.28(17)(d) Wis. Stats.
• s. 118.01(c)7-8 Wis. Stats.
• s. 118.19(8) Wis. Stats.
• s. 121.02(1)(h) Wis. Stats.
• s. 121.02(1)(L)4 Wis. Stats.

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s.115.28(17)(d) Wis. Stats.Treaty Rights
Curriculum

• The State Superintendent shall
• In conjunction with the American Indian Language
  and Culture Board, develop a curriculum for
  grades 4 to 12 on the Chippewa Indians
  treaty-based, off-reservation rights to hunt,
  fish, and gather.

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s.118.01(c)7-8 Wis. Stats.Human Relations

• Each school board shall provide an instructional
  program designed to give pupils
• 7. An appreciation and understanding of
  different value systems and cultures.
• 8. At all grade levels, an understanding of
  human relations, particularly with regard to
  American Indians, Black Americans, and Hispanics.

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s.118.19(8) Wis. Stats.Teacher Certification

• Beginning July 1, 1991, the state superintendent
  may not grant to any person a license to teach
  unless the person has received instruction in the
  study of minority group relations, including the
  history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of the
  federally recognized tribes and bands located in
  the state.

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s.121.02(1)(h) Wis. Stats.Instructional Materials

• Each school board shall
• Provide adequate instructional materials, texts,
  and library services which reflect the cultural
  diversity and pluralistic nature of American
  society.

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s.121.02(1)(L)4 Wis. Stats.K-12 Social Studies
Instruction

• Each school board shall
• Beginning September 1, 1991, as part of the
  social studies curriculum, include instruction in
  the history, culture, and tribal sovereignty of
  the federally recognized American Indian tribes
  and bands located in the state at least twice in
  the elementary grades and at least once in the
  high school grades.

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Act 31 Two Approaches

• Technical/Managerial
• Historically Situated

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Technical/Managerial View

• Problem State statues require and the Model
  Academic Standards include a lot of topics that
  must be covered.
• Task Design curriculum that covers these areas
  and prepares students for success on the WKCE.
• Key questions
• What do the statutes and standards require?
• How can my curriculum balance these competing
  needs?

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Standards-Based Reform
Relevant Statutes
Standards
Assessment
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American Indian Studies and Standards-Based
Reform

• Themes related to the history, culture, and
  tribal sovereignty of the federally recognized
  tribes and bands are reflected in the both the
• Model Academic Standards for Social Studies
• Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Exams

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American Indian Studies and Standards-Based Reform

• There are three American Indian Studies-specific
  standards
• B.4.10 Explain the history, culture, tribal
  sovereignty, and current status of the federally
  recognized tribes and bands in Wisconsin.
• B.8.11 Summarize major issues associated with the
  history, culture, tribal sovereignty, and current
  status of the federally recognized tribes and
  bands in Wisconsin.
• B.12.12 Analyze the history, culture, tribal
  sovereignty, and current status of the federally
  recognized tribes and bands in Wisconsin.

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American Indian Studies and Standards-Based Reform

• Because Wisconsins Model Academic Standards are
  broadly thematic or skill-based, an additional 84
  Social Studies standards can be met through
  American Indian Studies content.

• See
• Integrating Wisconsin American Indian History,
  Culture, and Tribal Sovereignty into the
  Curriculum
• and American Indian Studies, Standards, and
  Curriculum
• in the American Indian Studies Program
  Information Packet

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Technical/Managerial View

• Education is a technical process.
• Approach is compliance-driven
• Is it going to be on the test?
• Practice is evaluated on narrowly-defined,
  clearly measurable, often short-term objectives.
• Values, social justice, etc. are secondary
  considerations.
• The technical skills are useful but the overall
  approach is incomplete.

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Historically Situated

• Problems
• Misrepresentation or invisibility in the
  curriculum
• Lack of public understanding or awareness
• Conflict re Voight Decision
• Task
• Actively address these problems by providing
  accurate, authentic instruction about the
  history, culture, and tribal sovereignty.
• Key questions
• Does my curriculum address these problems?
• Does it reflect legislative intent?

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When Students Learn This . . .
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Pre-School
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Early Elementary
I is for Indian appears in P.D. Eastman, The
Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary (New
York Random House, 1964).
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Intermediate Grades
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American History Textbook

• Some people use Native Americans instead of
  Indians, although the word native is confusing.
  It has two meanings. Anyone who is born in a
  country in a native of that country, so many of
  us are native Americans. Native also means to
  have an origin, or beginning, in a country. As
  far as we know, no people is native to America.
  Our ancestors all came from somewhere else.
  (italics in original)

Dangel,Susan. Teaching Guide and Resource Book
The First Americans, Book One of A History of US
by Joy Hakim, Susan Dangel and Maria Garriott.
(Baltimore, Md. Talent Development Middle
School, United States History Curriculum, Johns
Hopkins University, 2000).
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Words Commonly Used to Describe American Indians
in Textbooks
Noland, 1991
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Instead of This . . .

• These land cession treaties reflect U.S. demand
  for
• Fertile Land (1829-1848)
• Lead (1829)
• Timber (1837)
• Copper (1842)

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Usufructuary Rights

• Tribes reserved specific usage rights on ceded
  lands, including hunting, fishing, and gathering.
• Standard principle in real estate, similar to
  usage rights retained after selling private
  property.
• Most treaties specified services or payments to
  be provided to the tribe for a period or time or
  in perpetuity.

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Treaty of 1837 Pine Tree Treaty

• Article 5. The privilege of hunting, fishing,
  and gathering the wild rice, upon the lands, the
  rivers and the lakes included in the territory
  ceded, is guaranteed to the Indians, during the
  pleasure of the President of the United States.

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Treaty of 1842 Copper Treaty

• Article II. The Indians stipulate for the right
  of hunting on the ceded territory, with the other
  usual privileges of occupancy, until required to
  remove by the President of the United States, and
  that the laws of the United States shall be
  continued in force, in respect to their trade and
  inter course with the whites, until otherwise
  ordered by Congress.

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Voight Decision (1983)

• For generations, state wardens arrested
  violators and confiscated their equipment
• Fred and Mike Tribble (LCO) speared
  off-reservation, were cited, and took the case to
  court.
• Suit filed in Federal Court, 7th Circuit
• Lac Courte Oreilles, et al. v. WI (LCO I), 700 F
  2nd 341 (7th Cir.1983) upheld reserved rights,
  and later cases defined their scope.
• Multi-phase trial concluded in 1991.

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Voight and the Aftermath

• As Walt Bresette noted, the Voight Decision
  caught the State of Wisconsin socially,
  politically, and educationally unprepared.

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Anti-Treaty Flyer

• This flyer printed here was found in 1987 in a
  tavern in Eagle River, WI.
• Similar versions circulated throughout Wisconsin
  in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

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School and Society

• This drawing was brought home by a student from
  North Lakeland Elementary.
• Other drawings showed someone firing a shotgun
  at two Indians with a caption reading, Shoot the
  Indians . . . save the fish.

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Anti-Indian Backlash
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Media Reaction
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Witness for Nonviolence

• Organized in 1987 to monitor harassment and
  violence at boat landings.
• Neutral third party to observe and document
  abuses.
• Other organizations, including treaty-rights
  support groups, also were active.

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Movement Toward Act 31

• Ad Hoc Commission on Racism in Northern Wisconsin
  (1984)
• American Indian Language and Culture Education
  Board
• Wisconsin Indian Education Association
• Rep. Frank Boyle and Gov. Tommy Thompson

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Historically Situated

• Recognizes the importance of the social,
  cultural, political, and historical context of
  education.
• Approach is driven by concern for justice.
• Practice is evaluated in terms of legislative
  intent.
• Larger policy considerations are secondary issues
  at best.
• Lacks framework for implementation.

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Act 31 in 3-D!!!

• Merges Technical/Managerial and Historically
  Situated Approaches
• Acknowledges historical and contemporary contexts
• Recognizes political nature of teaching and
  learning
• Draws upon existing policy frameworks
  (standards-based reform) for socially just ends

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Act 31 in 3-D!!!

• What opportunities do the statutes and standards
  provide for infusing American Indian Studies
  content?
• Evaluated in terms of
• Short-term Academic proficiency
• Intermediate Action for social justice (Banks)
• Long-term Remedying key social issues
• Requires a qualitative or mixed evaluation.

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Evaluating Content

• Is the content of the lesson accurate?
• Is the portrayal of the community depicted
  recognizable to them?
• Does it reflect multiple perspectives, including
  an insider perspective?
• Does it address short-, intermediate-, and
  long-term objectives?

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Act 31 Evaluations

• Three studies
• Scott Johnson (1996)
• Maureen Smith (1997)
• WIEA/WTEDA/UW-Extension (2001)

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Scott Johnson (1996)

• Random telephone survey of 43 public school
  districts.
• Districts tended to include more content related
  to history, culture, and tribal sovereignty if
  they
• Were larger, or had a full-time curriculum
  director
• Had a significant population of American Indian
  students
• Were 25 miles or closer to a reservation
  community.
• Many districts thought they were in compliance,
  but included American Indians only at the
  elementary level in the context of a lesson on
  early settlers.
• Most districts excluded the critical issues of
  tribal sovereignty and treaty rights.

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Maureen Smith (1997)

• Survey of 500 elementary and secondary schools
  (both urban and rural) on awareness,
  understanding, students perceptions and
  understandings, concerns, curricular materials,
  and training.
• Detailed survey results showed an overall lack of
  understanding of the requirements and essentially
  confirmed Johnsons study.

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WIEA Survey (2000)

• Commissioned by Wisconsin Indian Education
  Association
• Survey given to K-12 principals and teachers,
  teacher education programs, and CESAs
• The study focused primarily on administrators
  awareness and teachers practices.
• A series of findings and recommendations emerged.

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Analysis

• All use a Technical/Managerial method to
  investigate curriculum and instructional
  practice. the what are they doing?
• In each case, the authors seem to implicitly use
  a Historically Situated approach to evaluate its
  adequacy. the how well are they doing?

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Discussion

• Educators, implicitly or explicitly, tend toward
  a Technical/Managerial Approach.
• Community members, implicitly or explicitly, tend
  toward the Historically Situated Approach.
• An understanding of the similarities and
  differences can be helpful in pursuing changes in
  curriculum and instructional practice.

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Evaluating Act 31

• These are guidelines, not criteria.
• They can serve as a basis for focusing discussion
  when examining curriculum.
• The assumed policy context includes academic
  standards and large-scale assessment.

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Questions and Discussion
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DPIAmerican Indian Studies Program

• Contact Information
• J P Leary
• Consultant
• PO Box 7841
• Madison, WI 53707-7841
• 608/267-2283
• jp.leary_at_dpi.wi.gov

• Connie Ellingson,
• Program Assistant
• PO Box 7841
• Madison, WI 53707-7841
• 608/267-9155
• connie.ellingson_at_dpi.wi.gov