Review of Academic Achievement at the Miccosukee Indian School

We performed this inspection of Miccosukee Indian School, a grant operated day school located on the Tamiami Trail Reservation in Miami, FL, to evaluate programs the school had in place to help close the educational achievement gap and increase graduation rates. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in January 2002, requires schools to complete a comprehensive needs assessment with which to develop a strategy aimed at meeting students’ academic development needs. We used the assessment to help evaluate Miccosukee’s progress.

 

We found that the school’s comprehensive needs assessment addressed all required areas, enabling decision makers to effectively prioritize resources to ensure successful educational achievement. They had not addressed English language learner (ELL) assessment requirements, however.

 

School children often master conversational English without being able to express themselves effectively using academic English, the formal written, auditory, and visual language used in learning environments. All states require some type of ELL assessment, which helps identify students requiring additional academic support. 

 

We provided two recommendation to help Miccosukee Indian School improve its efforts to promote educational achievement among its students and close the achievement gap.