In 1970, an educator, linguist, researcher, and Jesuit priest by the name of Dr. John Bryde documented an educational phenomenon among the Oglala Sioux on the the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He noted that the Sioux children entered school primed to learn. They exhibited an aggressive curiosity about the world and strong confidence in their own abilities. During the first four years of school, the Oglala Sioux children tested out equal to or above their non-Indian counterparts. Then, something began to happen. It started in the fifth grade and accelerated in the upper elementary grades. By the time the children reached high school, the average Oglala Sioux child was two years behind grade level. Teachers of Native American students had long observed that their students' academic achievement dropped off dramatically after the first few years of school, but Dr. Bryde was the first to formally research the phenomenon. Bryde called this decline in educational achievement among Native American students the "Cross-over Effect."
In 1971 I had the opportunity to attend a lecture Dr. Bryde gave to a group of new BIA teachers. He discussed his research and speculated on the reasons for this widespread educational phenomenon. According to Bryde, the conventions, assumptions, and practices of Western education conflicted with the world view of the Sioux. The education system, instead of reinforcing the cultural identity and self-confidence of the children, systematically destroyed their world view. Dr. Bryde maintained that Western education was having a toxic effect on many Sioux children.
Over the years, I have found Bryde's observations to be accurate. There is a statistically observable drop-off of educational achievement among Native American students in the middle school grades. Another insight that he shared has also held up to the test of time. He speculate that the "cross-over effect" would be much less descernable or even disappear when the educational process reinforced and supported the child's Native American cultural identity.
Alaska Native Student Wisdom Enrichment Retreat is now in its 11th year, having served over 1400 Alaska Native students. This intensive, culturally based, enrichment experience uses western science and math to reinforce Native cutural identity. Working with certified teachers and Native Elders, 7th and 8th grade students explore the "science" of traditional food preparation and preservation. The fusion of western science with traditional knowledge and the celebration of heritage has been a transforming experience for many ANSWER Camp students. ANSWER Camp, and other education approaches which reinforce Native culture, are successful in reversing the impact of the "cross-over effect." I believe that as Alaskan education changes to serve, rather than supplant, Native cultural identity, the "cross-over effect" will be remembered as a footnote in educational history, a product of educational colonialism, and an artifact of the past.