CHALLENGE:

 

 

By nearly all measurable standards—dropout
rates, college attendance and completion rates,
test scores, even literacy rates—Native American
and Aboriginal youth are well behind their peers.
This is true within and without the communities.
It is true for all age groups. The reasons are many
and complex, but this much is clear: the cycle of
failure in education keeps Native American and
Aboriginal youth in trouble, in poverty and
out of options.

The best athletes know that success is all about
training. In sports there is a 10,000-hour rule:
Train for 10,000 hours to hone your skills and you
become an expert. An expert jump shooter, linedrive
hitter or hurdler. Training is winning.
The same is true in school. Practice is key. And
practice means keeping kids in school and doing
the work to fulfill their potential. Native American
and Aboriginal youth who spend the hours in
training will leave school as capable as any of
their peers, and encounter more opportunities
to succeed.