Geographic Factors Summary

NATIONAL

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students make up about 1 percent of the students at grades 4 and 8 nationally. About 9,900 AI/AN fourth-graders and 8,400 eighth-graders were assessed in either reading or mathematics in 2009.

• At grade 4, there were no significant changes in the average scores or achievement level results in reading or mathematics for AI/AN students in comparison to 2005 or 2007.
  
• At grade 8, the average score for AI/AN students in reading was higher in 2009 than in 2007, and the percentage of AI/AN students at or above Proficient and at Advanced in mathematics was higher in 2009 than in 2005. All other apparent differences in grade 8 reading and mathematics scores between 2009 and earlier assessment years were not statistically significant. 

See complete national results.

REGIONAL

NAEP results for AI/AN students are reported for five regions of the country: Atlantic, North Central, South Central, Mountain, and Pacific. Over one-half of AI/AN students attend schools in the South Central and Mountain regions.

Percentage of AI/AN students by region: 2009 Region Grade 4 Grade 8 Atlantic 8 10 North Central 17 17 South Central 25 25 Mountain 30 27 Pacific 20 20

In 2009, average reading and mathematics scores for AI/AN students in each of the regions were not significantly different from the scores in earlier assessment years at either grade.

AI/AN students in the South Central region scored higher in 2009 in reading and mathematics than students in the Mountain region at both grades.

See complete regional results.

STATE

Twelve states had samples of AI/AN students large enough to report results separately for the state. Over half of the nation’s AI/AN students attend schools in the 12 states listed below. In five of these states, the AI/AN students represent at least 10 percent of that state’s total elementary and secondary school enrollment.

• Consistent with the national and regional results, most of the selected states showed no significant changes in average scores since earlier assessment years, but a few states did (as shown in the table below).

States with significant changes in average scores for AI/AN students since 2005 or 2007

Grade	Reading	Mathematics
4	Alaska down 8 points since 2007	Oklahoma up 5 points since 2005
8	Arizona up 10 points since 2007	South Dakota up 6 points since 2007 up 10 points since 2005

See complete selected state results.

SCHOOL LOCATION

While approximately 20 percent of fourth- and eighth-grade students in the nation attend school in rural locations, over 45 percent of AI/AN students attend rural schools.

At grade 4 in 2009, AI/AN students attending schools in rural locations scored lower in both reading and mathematics than their counterparts attending schools in other locations.

At grade 8 in 2009, AI/AN students attending schools in suburban locations scored higher in reading than students in other school locations.

See complete results by school location.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2005, 2007, and 2009 National Indian Education Studies.