ABSTRACT
School turnaround efforts aiming to improve the lowest performing schools have become a prevalent approach to school improvement. In this study, we explore how a school turnaround program influenced school outcomes of a reservation school district. Findings show that one of the biggest struggles in the school turnaround efforts was creating hope for the students, and the struggle is likely due to the fact that school turnaround efforts are a reflection of government values as opposed to tribal values. The continued adoption of government education policies toward American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students based in government values, without proper tribal nation government officials engaged in the stakeholder process, will continually ensure that AI/AN students remain in an assimilation process at the bottom of how the United States measures academic achievement.
