The Montezuma-Cortez Board of Education presented and discussed data and growth strategies for Native American students at its meeting Oct. 24

Celebrations were discussed first, with the board sharing information about the Native American Student and Education Mini Academy that took place in the spring of 2023, Indigenous clubs at the schools, the Native Voices Native Hands class at MCHS and a Native language and arts class at MCMS.

Native Student Academic Achievement and Growth

They also reported on positive academic achievement and growth, as well as the district’s success in school improvement and getting schools off the state watch.

Enrollment for the 2022-2023 school year was 2,396 students in the district, with 15% of students identifying as Navajo and 12% Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

In STAR Assessment data, 31% of Native students in kindergarten through first grade students are marked as needing urgent intervention, while 28% are meeting standards. The others are either on watch or at intervention status.

In English Language Arts and math for grades 3-5, there was a 6 percentage point increase in Native students meeting and exceeding expectations and a 9 percentage point drop in students not meeting expectations. Third through fifth graders also saw a 17 percentage point drop in students not meeting expectations in math.

In the 2018-19 school year, 10% of third through fifth graders were meeting standards in ELA, and 12% in 2020-21, but that number dropped to 9% in 2022-23.

There were 37% not meeting standards for ELA in 2018-19, 47% in 2021-22 and 38% in the 2022-23 school year.

In math, only 3% were meeting standards in 2018-19, and that number dropped to 2% in 2022-23. In 2018-19, 44% were not meeting standards and the percentage is the same for 2022-23, lowering from 61% not meeting standards in 2020-21.

In second through fifth grade STAR Assessments, 43% were marked as urgent intervention for ELA and 39% for math. Only 11% are meeting standards in ELA and 18% for math.

For grades sixth through eighth, there was an 8 percentage point drop in Ute Mountain Ute students not meeting expectations in ELA and a 15% drop in students not meeting expectations in math.

During the 2018-19 school year 5% were meeting standards in ELA and 2% in math. For the 2022-23 school year, 3% are meeting standards in ELA and 2% in math. In 2021-22, 0% of Native students were reported as meeting standards in math.

Currently, 32% are currently not meeting expectations in ELA and 46% are not in math.

Grades 6-8 showed the need for urgent intervention for 47% of students in ELA and 58% in math. Data showed that only 7% are meeting the benchmark in reading and 5% in math.

For grades 9-11, more Native students were reported in Ready Performance Level for reading and writing, and there was a 9 percentage point increase in students who showed readiness on the PSAT/SAT in math.

Grades 9-11 had 19% of students meeting standards in 2018-19 in ELA and 5% in math. In 2022-23, 21% are meeting expectations in ELA and 11% in math, showing slight improvement in the high school.

Currently, however, 79% are still not making standard in ELA and 89% are not in math.

In STAR Assessment data, ninth through eleventh grades showed 71% of students of Native students are in need of urgent intervention for ELA and 57% for math. The percentages for those reaching standard in ELA and math are 10% and 17% respectively.

In the elementary schools, Native students are at or above the state goal of 50 in both ELA and math. According to the Colorado Department of Education, a score of 50 is considered average growth, and is the approximate equivalent of a C.

During the 2018-2019 school year, the graduation rates for Native American students was 68.8% (compared to 74.6% rate among non-Native students), but it drastically dropped in years following the pandemic, with 2021-2022 reaching a new low of 35.7% (compared to 58.6% for non-Native students).

Similarly, dropout rates for students 7-12 were 3.9% during the 2018-2019 school year, but rose to 11% during the 2021-2022 school year.

Special population data showed that 21% of Native students are in ESS, 4.1% are English language learners and 1.4% are gifted learners.

For attendance, 25% of Native students are reporting absences and 75% attendance in secondary, and 14% absent and 86% attendance in the elementary schools.

The percentage of suspensions showed 23 suspensions (49% of all students) for Native students across the elementary schools, 30 suspensions (31% of all students) in the middle school and 31 suspensions (32% of all students) in the high school.

They also reported Native American student participation in athletics, showing 31% in boys basketball, 47% in girls basketball, 5% in cheerleading, 0% in cross country and track, 24% in football, 19% in volleyball and 15% in wrestling.

In previous data, both Ute Mountain Ute students and Navajo students had separate data, but in the 2023 report, only Ute Mountain Ute students had separate data.

Additionally, reports on the district website for progress of American Indian students hasn’t updated since 2020.

The schools are reported on their Native American policies and procedures in their individual schools before moving to next steps and areas of focus for Native American students and their education.

To continue providing the best quality for all students, including Native students, next steps discussed included continuing to monitor student performance, giving regular and consistent progress updates, commitment to staffing, integration of materials and maintaining and refining district partnership with the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

They also proposed new areas of focus.

They proposed an adjusted schedule and approach to sharing, while also discussing policies and procedures between RE-1 school district and the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

“We intend to make these discussions more focused, collaborative and action-oriented,” they said.

At each meeting, they hope to discuss policies and procedures within specific focus areas, as well as data.

Proposed focus areas are assessing performance and course enrollment, keeping up to date on graduation, dropout and college rates, participation in special programs, attendance, discipline, participation in athletics and clubs, growing parent engagement and feedback and finances.

The Native Parent Advisory Committee will have meetings from November 2023 to May 2024.