Another aspect of scholastic achievement which has received considerable attention is the difference in scores for the various grade levels. It has long been believed by many whites that Indians, by their very nature, soon reach a learning plateau. There is some evidence that this is true, but the reasons are more complex than earlier educators suspected. Peterson (489) found that "the fourth grade group made consistently better scores in comparison to standardized norms and in comparison to public school non-Indians, than Indian pupils in the upper grades," and subsequent studies have tended to bear him out. Coombs (123) discovered that "Indian pupils compared much more favorably with white pupils in the elementary grades, and particularly in grade four, than in the junior and senior high school grades." Parmee (476) says of the Apaches, "The rate of academic progress at least beyond the fourth grade level was significantly below that for non-Indians"; Branchard (77) says of the Chippewas, "Starting with the fifth grade, the Indian pupils seem to be slower in scholastic ability"; and for the Hopi, Peters (488) reports, "Performance seems to reach its peak in Grades III and IV after which learning appears to be more difficult." Among others who have found a break in achievement between the fourth and fifth grades are Rist (524), Safar (548), Lloyd (373), Uhlman (633), and Dorn (153). Other investigators would put the break, if there is one, at some other level. On the Pine Ridge Reservation Wax (660) found children in the lower elementary grades "attentive, busy, and happy," while those in the intermediate grades presented a sharp contrast and appeared to be "shy, withdrawn, stupid, and sullen." Graham (222), admittedly on the basis of a small sample of Indian children in the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades of a Minnesota school, found the eighth graders equal to county and State norms, and above national norms, while the other two grades were below. Departing most radically from the conventional view is Bryde (89), who studied a total of 415 Indian and 223 white adolescents at Pine Ridge, and concluded, "On achievement variables the Indian students scored significantly higher than national test norms from the fourth through the eighth grade. At the eighth grade level, the Indian students were significantly below national test norms."

Not all investigators, it must be noted, have discerned a sharp break between the fourth and fifth grades, or between any other grades. Cowen (129) simply noted a "progressive decline in achievement" for the New York Iroquois as they moved through the school grades. Zintz (706:82), in his study of the New Mexico public schools, reports: "The Indian population became more educationally retarded as they progressed through the elementary school. Retardation was 7 months in the third grade, 11 months in the fourth grade, 14 months in the fifth grade, and 15 months in the sixth grade."

There is no denying the fact that academic performance for Indians declines as they move through the school, but the cause of this socalled "cross-over" phenomenon is difficult to determine. Some maintain that it is characteristic of adolescents, and not peculiar to Indians. Kayser (326) did a study of 207 students-Ute, Anglo, and SpanishAmerican-in a Colorado public school, and found that the three groups, while unequal in performance, followed roughly the same pattern. A few have maintained that superior performance for Indians

in the early grades is a tribute to the skill of the teachers of those grades. Peters (488), seeking to account for the "cross-over" phenomenon among the Hopi, supposes it is a result of the acculturation

process:

The Hopi have become partly acculturated, especially in the most general aspects of American culture. The younger children are quick in learning these most obvious elements of the culture, in school, movies, radio, and through occasional visits to the city. However, for the older child, the broad cultural experiences, with their varied nuances, are not available. Furthermore, the increasing Hopi cultural emphasis denies the child the same opportunities available to the children of the general population.

Still others suspect that the explanation lies in the language. Blossom (65) addresses herself to the problem: "There must be some underIving reason for the widespread belief that retardation starts at the fourth-grade level." She suspects that the cause may lie in the fact that people "have two vocabularies, one composed of words used in speaking and a much larger hidden one called a recognition or comprehension vocabulary." Elementary texts, she explains, are written in a carefully controlled "talking vocabulary," while upper-grade texts shift to a comprehension vocabulary. This shift affects especially the bilingual pupil, and Blossom hints that "There may be a relationship between this shift and retardation."

Perhaps the most plausible explanation of the cross-over phenomenon is psychological. Bryde (89), among others, maintains the alienation is the central concept for explaining that problem. Conflict between white and Indian cultures comes to a focus at adolescence and causes severe personality disturbances which block achievement. In view of the fact that Indian pupils tend to be overage, it may well be that adolescence arrives during the intermediate elementary grades, bringing with it problems of identity, alienation, and negative selffeelings, which manifest themselves in low achievement.

It also appears that on their achievement tests Indian pupils do relatively better in certain areas than in others. However, it is difficult to generalize or to draw definite conclusions, since the various studies have used different instruments and criteria. Peterson (489) noted "the relatively high achievement of Indian students in arithmetic," which surprised him, since arithmetical concepts and ideas were not emphasized in Indian culture, and he attributed such achievement to the educational program. Coombs (123), however, found that Indians compared very favorably with whites in arithmetic fundamentals, but very poorly in arithmetic reasoning. Lloyd (373), on the other hand, found that they scored rather low in both areas. Blanchard (77), too, reported the North Dakota Chippewas "noticeably below" others in the public schools in arithmetic reasoning. The Indian's superiority in spelling has been reported by Coombs (123), Safar (548), Lloyd (373), and Dorn (153). Uhlman (633) found the Nez Perce "measurably inferior on tests of linguistic and verbal skills," but reports that differences disappear on nonlinguistic and performance-type tests. Coombs (123) díscovered the Indians did poorest of all on reading vocabulary, and similar findings are reported by Branchard (77), Rist (524), Uhlman (633), and Deissler (147). While the data are somewhat conflicting and inconclusive, it does appear that Indian pupils do best in those areas which are learned in the school situation and by the rote method, such as spelling and computational skill in

arithmetic, and they do less well in those areas involving quantitative thinking, vocabulary, reading comprehension, language usage, etc. Their restricted background is obviously responsible for their shortcomings in these latter areas. Regrettably, they do poorly in those skills which are most important for scholastic success.

2. Followup studies

Achievement tests are far and away the most widely used criteria. for determining the effectiveness of a school's program, but there are other possible criteria. Schools commonly point to the success of their graduates as evidence of the quality of the education they provide.

Among the first institutions of higher learning to provide education for sizable numbers of Indians was Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, founded by General S. C. Armstrong for freedmen in 1868. Through the efforts of General R. H. Pratt Indian youths began to be sent to Hampton in 1878, and in the 12 years following a total of 460 received training there. The institute used to keep records of their students when they returned to the reservations whence they had come. Those records indicated that the adjustments made were graded as follows: Excellent 98; Good 219; Fair 91; Poor 35; Bad 17 (351:372).

This survey of the more recent literature has uncovered very few systematic followup studies, although occasionally someone does manifest an awareness of the problem. New (450) describes the Institute of American Indian Arts, established at Santa Fe in 1962, and notes the large number of the first two graduating classes who have gone on for higher education. Bonner (71: 20), writing in 1950 on the North Carolina Cherokees, reports that of the 130 graduates of the Federal high school between 1939 and 1949, only one was unemployed, 43 were housewives, and the others had moved into occupations reflecting a fairly good adjustment to American society.

Most of the followup studies, however, are less encouraging. Adams (7) mailed a questionnaire to the 1952-64 Indian graduates of Union High School, Roosevelt, Utah, and learned, among other things, that 74 percent had received some formal education beyond high school, 26 percent were working full time, and an equal number were housewives; barely 20 percent were following the vocation for which they had prepared themselves in high school, and the majority of them felt that their high school education had been inadequate. Smith (580) mailed a questionnaire to the Mormon graduates of Intermountain Indian School, who had graduated between 1957 and 1961. He learned that approximately 50 percent had returned to their reservations, 21 percent had received further schooling, there was no unemployment among those who had settled off-reservation but the rate was 46.6 percent for males who had returned, and the marital status of the graduates was far from exemplary.

Two followup studies are concerned with the effectiveness of the training received in home economics. McGinty (413) interviewed 35 young, married Papago homemakers who had recently completed home economics courses in high school, and discovered that they made slight use of the information they had received. Schroeder (559) studied the child rearing practices of two groups of Jemez mothers. One group had attended secondary school outside the pueblo, and the other had attended only elementary schools within the pueblo. While there were

a few differences, the data indicated that the amount of formal education had no significant effect upon the manner in which they reared their children.

Among other followup studies are those of McCaskill (406), McClure (408), Lawson (360), Jewell (314), and Baker (29). The few followup studies which are available reflect little credit upon the effectiveness of the white man's formal education.

3. Urban migrants

Over the years many Indians have quietly left their reservations or their isolated, rural communities, and moved to the cities. This shift of population to the cities, of course, is characteristic of other peoples, too. The migration of Indians accelerated during and after World War II, when industry's demand for labor provided the inducements, and when military service broadened the horizons of young Indians. Also, under the Government's relocation policy of the 1950's, large numbers were assisted in migrating to the industrial centers. As a result of these forces, then, there are today sizable Indian communities in most of our major cities. It is estimated that there are 15,000 in Chicago, 6,000-8,000 in Minneapolis, and some 45,000 in the cities of California. About 5 percent of all Navahos live in Los Angeles alone, and Baltimore has attracted at least 4,000 Lumbees from their rural homes in North Carolina.

Newcomers to the city encounter formidable problems of adjustment, and the obstacles are well-nigh insurmountable when the migrant comes from a rural background, has a limited knowledge of English, is poorly educated, lacks marketable skills, and holds to a value system which conflicts with that of the urban society. Small wonder, then, that many Indians choose to return to the poverty of their reservations, despite the higher income, conveniences, and attractions of the city.

A few, but not many, studies have been made of the urban Indian. Ablon (1, 2) has reported on the Indians in the San Francisco Bay area, Graves (224) on the Navahos in Denver, Hurt (301) on the Sioux in Yankton, and Kelly and Cramer (330) on those in Flagstaff and Winslow. The Indians in Rapid City have been studied by Lovrich (377), Carter (104), and White (681); West (675) has described his fellow Indians in Detroit; and Smith (579) and Cowan (127) have written about the Cherokees in Tulsa. Similar studies have been done by Martin (398), Hanson (240), Lewis (371), Hodge (276), Ritzenthaler (525), and the Indians of Minneapolis have been surveyed by the League of Women Voters (303). Research on the urbanization of the Indian has barely scratched the surface, and many cities where. sizable Indian communities are springing up have thus far been entirely overlooked. Prof. William H. Hodge, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, is currently compiling a bibliography of urban Indian materials.

Apparently some cities are more hospitable than others. Hurt (301) states that in Yankton the Indian faces considerable job discrimination and "is generally excluded from the social and political activities of the community." In Rapid City too, there is considerable prejudice and discrimination manifested. On the other hand, Ablon (1) reports that "Indians in the bay area usually will be accepted wherever they

choose to go," and West (675) finds in Detroit "an absence of any strong racial prejudice against him." Between these two extremes are the Makah. Colson (115:164ff.) states that most of them have traveled, and some have settled in Seattle and other cities and towns in Washington. "They are neither rigidly excluded nor completely accepted. *** Many whites accept them on equal terms. Nevertheless, there seems to be a greater tendency for whites away from the reservation to regard the Makah in an unfavorable light." Kelly and Cramer (330), who studied Flagstaff and Winslow, Ariz., where there are colonies mostly of Navahos, but a few Hopi, Laguna, and others, believe that smaller cities such as these "are helpful intermediate steps in adjustment from rural to larger urban communities" and "are easier places for Indians to live in than larger urban areas." The social climate is more tolerant, they say, the reservations are not too far distant, and Indian-white contact has extended over a long period of time.

Some Indians succeed in making a satisfactory adjustment to city life. Colson (115) says of the Makah who migrate, "A few, but only a few, are able to secure a more assured position." Hurt (301) finds in Yankton some who come to "prefer the white man's culture" and grow "highly critical of Indians and Indian culture." Martin (398), who studied the Navahos, Choctaws, and Sioux in an unnamed "Southwest metropolitan area" placed his subjects in two categories, "High adjustment" and "Low adjustment." White (681) classified those in Rapid City as "Camp Indians," "Transition Indians," and "Middle class." This last group is described as "having reached the goal of their ambitions *** almost entirely committed to the city way of life *** dislike of the reservation and all it stood for."

For most Indians who have moved to the city, however, the situation is far from pleasant. Assimilation is normally a long and painful process, and there is no reason to doubt that in time Indians who have moved to the cities will adjust and assimilate just as Irish, Polish, Italian, and countless others have done. In the meantime, the research available to us on the urban Indian pictures him as alienated, insecure, lonesome, poorly housed, disorganized, highly mobile, frequently arrested, and victimized by alcohol. Despite the fact that they are financially better off, "most relocatees*** would return home to their reservations immediately if they could find employment there" (1:298).

None of the Indians reported in these urban studies is without schooling, but there appears to be no significant relationship between education and adjustment. If the schools had achieved any success at all in preparing Indians for effective citizenship, one would expect otherwise. Several of the writers maintain that military service and prolonged contact with non-Indians contribute to successful adjustment to the city, but none finds that years of schooling make a difference. Hanson (240) compared Indians who had remained in the city with those who had given up the struggle and returned to their reservations, and found no difference with respect to education. Martin (398) did find a "positive relationship between adjustment and years of schooling, but not by a comfortable margin." West (675) notes that for the Indians in Detroit "the factor that stands in his way most manifestly is his lack of education," and yet "most of the older, and