PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT ON THE SPIRIT LAKE RESERVATION: A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THIS STUDY........ By Dr. Erich Longie, President, Spirit Lake Consulting, Inc. Let's address this last point; it is very important (that is why it was listed under important findings). Why  would would  absenteeism be related to low achievement only for Native American students ?

Two, non-exclusive hypotheses were offered by the author.

• First,  middle-class families may be able to compensate for their children's absences by providing tutoring at home, which many Indian parents, with a significantly lower level of education, are unable to provide. In this study, as indeed in American society, ethnicity and social class were confounded, with the non-Indian students coming predominantly from middle-class homes while the Indian students were overwhelmingly low-income.

• Second, for Indian students, high absenteeism may represent a rejection of the educational system, which, by its failure to consider Native American culture, appears to have rejected them. Education which is incongruent with the culture, values and experiences of Native American students causes a role conflict which can be resolved by either rejecting one's own culture, or, more often, rebellion against the educational system. This rebellion is seen in the early grades as frequent absenteeism and in secondary and  postsecondary education as school dropout.