It is Time for Tribes to Assert Sovereignty over Education

Dr. Bob Roessel

I have been involved in Indian education since 1951 when I came to the Navajo reservation as a teacher. I’ve been a school administrator in public schools, Navajo Community College (now Diné College), Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools, university, and contract/grant schools.

All of us are familiar with the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA) and other accreditation associations and with the fact that each state has its own special requirements for certification for school administrators. This system works fairly well, but sometimes it fails. I would like to address specifically the certification for school administrators working in schools on or near Indian reservations.

The obvious purpose of certifying a school administrator is to indicate completion of specific, required coursework. The piece of paper, the certificate, implies: “This person will be a successful school administrator.”

Yet, anyone in education for a time knows there are individuals who are properly certified by the state or North Central but who are not successful school administrators. They do not possess the abilities and skills necessary to be an effective school administrator, such as knowledge of laws about education, ability to develop innovative education program, and skills working with people.

Most of us in education also know of individuals who, although they lack proper administrator certification, are very effective. They work well not only with school boards, teachers, and staff but even more importantly with students and community residents. They respect students and recognize their importance.

Anyone familiar with American education today recognizes that some major school systems in the country have deliberately not hired some individuals who have proper credentials. Instead, they have hired people outside the field of education. Why? Because these school boards are looking for individuals who can approach education in a different way. They do not want a conventional school administrator.

I have a Doctorate in Educational Leadership/School Administration, but it is inappropriate to say that having a degree like that is adequate. When school administrators arrive at Navajo schools, for example, they find a situation totally different than what they learned about in the classrooms. The courses they have taken to earn a certificate have not taught them about instruction and assessment in Navajo schools, school finance in Navajo schools, history of Navajo education, or school law in Navajo schools. But through Arizona State University, we are developing a Navajo School Administrator Program in cooperation with the Navajo Nation that covers these subjects, and it could be a national model.

Based upon my experiences over the past 50 years, I have come to two conclusions. First and most importantly, Indian tribes must exercise their sovereignty and develop their own certification requirements for school administrators and teachers.

The Navajo Nation, for instance, has approximately 247 schools located in three states with an estimated total of 1,500 school administrators serving those schools. The Navajo Nation should develop its own particular certification requirements, which may or may not include those of Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, or North Central.

My second conviction is that there must be flexibility to recognize individuals who do not have all the specific course and certification requirements but do have the ability and demonstrated capacity to be successful school administrators.

I believe there must be flexibility to cover an individual who has demonstrated success by every measure — whether it be by the local school board, by outside evaluators, by achievement of students, or otherwise.

Of course, these individuals must be the exception rather than the rule. A tribal education department cannot simply reject other criteria without developing its own. There must be rigorous standards. This road should be narrow and limited, but there certainly needs to be such a road!

I have seen many schools that have been guided excellently by individuals who do not possess the standard requirements for school administrator’s certification. In my book at least, one must remember a piece of paper is an indication, not proof, that an individual can be a successful school administrator.

Dr. Bob Roessel is the coordinator for the Arizona State University (ASU) Navajo School Administrator Program. He received his Doctorate in Educational Leadership/School Administration from ASU.

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