Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 October 1980 — "Hawaiian Education: Problems... Hope" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

"Hawaiian Education: Problems... Hope"

Neil J. Kaho'okele Hannahs, Administrative Assistant to President of Kamehameha Schools This article offers some thoughts on the educational needs of the Hawaiian people. It is neither a sales pitch nor a directive— just one person's mana'o. NEEDS A look at the academic performance of school-age Hawaiians is a grim picture of a depressive cycle. It is possible to argue that children of Hawaiian ancestry are educationally the lowest-achieving ethnic minority in the United States. Results of the 1978 administration of the Stanford Achievement Test by Hawaii's public school system indicate that Hawaiian students perform very poorly in eaeh area of the test. This sub-standard performance increases in severity with grade level. At eaeh higher grade more students fall into the below average category on all subjects. In mathematics, at Grade 4, 42% of the public school's Hawaiian students are performing below average eompared to 23% nationally, 51% are average compared to 54% nationally, and 8% are above average compared to 23% nationally. By Grade 8, 65% of the Hawaiian students are performing below average, 34% are average, and 1% are above average. In reading, at grade 4, 45% of the Hawaiian students in public schools are performing below average compared to 23% nationally, 51% are average compared to 54% nationally, and 4% are above average compared to 23% nationally. By Grade 8, 69% of the Hawaiian students are performing below average, 31% are average, and 0% are above average. It's not surprising then that Hawaiian youth are represented in disproportionately high percentages among public school dropouts, suspensions, absentees and disciplinary cases. TTiese signs of alienttion are predictable symptoms of their psychological, educational, social and eeonomie depression. So, it is not simply a matter of scattered individual casualties. The casualty is an entire group. And it is not simply a matter of a good people being done in by bad institutions. The Hawaiian people and the educational institutions that serve them must work together to bridge the eultural cleavage between home and school that underlies this group's failure. Research conducted by The Kamehameha Schools shows that while Hawaiians may contribute to their own failure through their unconscious acceptance of the negative patterns of behavior generated by their depressed conditions, their failure does not stem from an inherent inability to learn. Hawaiian children eome to school with

sufficient faculties to perform at their level of potential, whieh, collectively, falls along the lines of nahonal norms. APPROACHES No single approach to resolving the educational needs of the Hawaiian people exists. There is no panaeea. Numerous program models or strategies must be employed. The target audience must be stratified into compatible groups according to their district needs and stage of development. One way of stratifying the population is according to ranges of a learning spectrum. This is seen as follows: Leamine Spectrum Prenatal/Infant - 0-4 years Early Elementary - 5-8 years Middle/Secondary - 9-18 years Post-High School - 1 9 years and above The boundaries between the ranges are, of course, "fuzzy" and eaeh range could be subdivided into several smaller sections. For example, "Middle/Secondary" divides into upper elementary, intermediate and high school. But, there are enough educational and developmental commonalities among the individuals within a given range to make it practical to use the spectrum to plan and implement programs. While it is true that all individuals ean profit from a dollar spent to provide a leaming experience for them, the yield or impact of a dollar or leaming experience tends to be greatest when the individual is young and malleable . . . in the most formative years from conception to age 8, when parameters for intellectual development are being established. Also, assisting someone in the acquisition of a eollege degree or vocational certificate has retumed handsome dividends to society. If the Office of Hawaiian Affairs elects to intervene in this situation, it should consider extending support to those programs that will have the most significant impact and are more likely to achieve long-term social change. Many feel the best age ranges on whieh to focus are: • Prenatal/Infant — maximize development during the most critical period of human development; nurture an eagemess to leam. • Early Elementary — children must begin their school

experiences on a positive note, mastering reading skills is the key to future success in school. • Post-High School — a high school diploma is now viewed as a symbol of minimum eompetency at best; more Hawaiians should benefit from the necessary scholarships and counseling services whieh they need to eam a eollege degree . . . documentation that they are more than minimally eompetent. Effective approaches have been developed to assist native Hawaiians during these emeial ranges. These program models are prime candidates for expansion or replication should more resources be made available for Hawai- 1 ian education services. CONCLUSIQN The Hawaiian people have voiced and displayed very nearly unanimous support for the soon-to-be Office of Hawaiian Affairs. OHA is a source of hope. It has the potential to make a significant impact — to help break what has been referred to as a "rags to rags" syndrome. However, OHA will not meet its objectives, nor will it satisfy the needs of the Hawaiian people, by simply throwing money at our problems. Success will ride on the quantity and quality of the programs implemented. We must all bear in mind that there is a distinction between process and results. When OHA becomes a reality, when it implements its first programs, we will have won ony half a victory. The impact that these programs have on their intended beneficiaries will be the ultimate measure of OHA's success. i If OHA assists Hawaiians in their efforts to become ef- Ā fective citizens in contemporary society, if it snaps the cur M rent cycle of frustration and despair, if it enables Hawaiians to become educationally self-sufficient, if it lifts Hawaiian achievement to points representing naūonal ^ averages, then will it be labeled wisely managed and successful, then will our investment of human and material resources have had a proper return, then ean Hawaiians say that OHA has given them control of their destiny.