Home environment characteristics of successful Navajo readers.

Abstract

This retrospective ethnographic study, conducted in a small community on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona, investigates the sociocultural environments of fifth grade Navajo children who have become successful readers. The purpose of this research study is to begin the process of identifying and describing in detail the characteristics of the home environments leading to this success. The study also investigates social and cultural factors beyond the homes and families, and includes a brief look at the role of the schools and the community in reading development for these identified students. Successful readers were identified by classroom teachers and each was given an individual reading evaluation based upon miscue analysis, to verify their reading proficiency. Data on the sociocultural environment was gathered through open-ended interviews with fifteen selected students, their parents, their teachers, and the school principal, as well as through searches of the students' school records. Data from this study suggests a much higher success rate for Navajo children than is commonly reported with standardized achievement tests. This study exposes some of the myths of Navajo and other minority failure by identifying instances of Navajo success. Social conditions, such as single parent families, low income, alcoholism, and unemployment did not prevent the development of literacy for these children nor did linguistic differences and limited amounts of written material in the homes. Teachers, parents, the principal, and the students themselves identified the home, rather than the school, as the most important factor in these children becoming successful readers. Within the home, the development of literacy was assisted through child initiated activities and questioning, and supportive adults' responses, rather than through direct instruction. Literacy, for each child in the study, was achieved in different ways. In addition to general findings, four case studies are presented, providing a detailed view of some of the multiple ways of becoming literate in this Navajo community.