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Innovation, data fixes fuel Native American graduation gains at federally funded schools

By 2025, four-year graduation rates at the Bureau of Indian Education reached a record 79%, a 55% increase since the agency standardized reporting methods in 2018 across 183 schools serving over 40,000 students.
Agency officials credit standardized data collection for the accurate picture, while tribal-controlled schools like Chief Leschi Schools boosted performance by launching career and technical curriculums in 2020, linking hands-on training to student retention.
At Choctaw Central High School, flexible virtual learning raised graduation rates to 93%, while student Gerald Dillon found renewed purpose through career training, providing hands-on experience administrators say is a better match for learners.
During February consultations, tribal leaders opposed the Department of Education handing off program oversight to the BIE in November 2025, warning the transition could overwhelm the already understaffed agency.
Chronic understaffing and deferred maintenance continue affecting BIE-operated schools; Peter Lengkeek, chairman of the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe, stated the government must fulfill its treaty promise to remedy these persistent facility issues.

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Innovation, data fixes fuel Native American graduation gains at federally funded schools - Regional Media News

During his senior year of high school on the Puyallup Reservation, Gerald Dillon traded much of his academic coursework for career training. When he walked into the second grade classroom where he worked as a teaching assistant, students would rush from their seats for a fist bump or a hug. The 18-year-old, who once found classes boring and put in only enough effort to pass, found renewed purpose to come to school everyday. "It motivates me. I l…

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