The Evolution of Bilingual Education in an American Indian Community : A Decade of Evaluation as Applied Anthropology

Authors

Janet Goldenstein Ahler, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. ND

Date of this Version

August 1994

Comments

Published in Great Plains Research 4:2 (August 1994). Copyright © 1994 The Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Used by permission. http://www.unl.edu/plains/publications/GPR/gpr.shtml

Abstract

Applied anthropology has much to offer the educational evaluator role. especially in cross-cultural settings concerning language and bilingual education programs. This study examines the evolution of an elementary school Indian language and bilingual education program in a small. northern plains American Indian reservation community, the use of anthropological research methods. and the role of the external evaluator. Findings suggest that evaluation and change recommendations are more likely to be accepted when they are derived from the participants in the program rather than from an external evaluator.