The majority of America's K-12 students are students of color. Only 60% finish high school and only half of Indigenous learners finish high school. Because of the correlation between educational attainment and financial prosperity, IF we had perfect equity today, our educational system alone would engineer racially predictable financial disparities. And we don't even start at equity. But in spite of this sobering reality, there are schools and places showing remarkable success. Dr. Anton Treuer will show us how an Ojibwe language immersion school in Wisconsin, an Indigenous language revitalization initiative in Hawaii, and grassroots efforts in Minnesota have delivered the goods for Indigenous learners and everyone else. There is through-line in that they all foster the positive identity development of Native learners. We have a lot to learn from them; and they can help pollinate the garden all of us are trying to grow and harvest from.

Anton Treuer joins the University of Minnesota LEAD Conference.