Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 32, Number 3, 1 March 2015 — U.S. Department of Education grants waiver to administer Hawaiian assessments to immersion students [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

U.S. Department of Education grants waiver to administer Hawaiian assessments to immersion students

By Moniea Morris The Office of Hawaiian Affairs commends the U.S. Department of Education for granting a one-year waiver to the Hawai'i State Department of Education, allowing students

in grades 3 and 4 of the State's Ka Papahana Kaiapuni (Hawai- A

ian Language Immersion Program) to take assessments developed originally in the Hawaiian language.Previously, these students were only offered

assessments in the English language, or English-to-Hawaiian translated assessments.

The waiver was granted in response to Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi's request for a waiver fromthe federal law that requires states to use "one test" for all students to measure academic achievement. In a letter dated Jan. 28, 2015, OHA CEO Kamana'opono Crabbe expressed strong support for the Superintendent's request, stating that the "requested waiver is critieal to the perpetuation of the Hawaiian language, whieh is one of the few Native American languages expected to survive to the middle of the century." "We thank the USDOE and the state DOE for their efforts to ensure justice and equity for our Kaiapuni students and schools, as well as for the Hawaiian community at large," Crabbe said. "This waiver marks a historic and significant step forward, not only for the Hawaiian language, but for all indigenous lan-

guages in the United States." OHA has been a longtime advocate for a waiver from the "one test" requirement under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act for immersion students. This is because, like scores of other federal laws, the Elementary

and Secondary Education

\ct recogmzes that Native Hawaiians

stand shoulder-to-shoulder with American Indi''i ans and Alaska

Natives as an indigenous people of the United States

wj who face y unique ehallenges and have rights under federal law to exercise

self-determination in response to those challenaes.

Moreover, the Native American Languages Act of 1990 (NALA), landmark legislation passed to address generations of federally imposed suppression of Native American languages, provides that it is the policy of the United States to preserve, protect and promote the rights of Native peoples to use, practice and develop Native languages, including the Hawaiian language, specifically in education, tribal affairs and puhlie proceedings. As Native American communities around the country also work to perpetuate their heritage while ensuring that their children are college and career ready, they look to the groundbreaking Ka Papahana Kaiapuni Hawai'i, as well as the internationally accredited 'Aha Pūnana Leo program, as language revitalization and culture perpetuation models. ■

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