Education has been a controversial topic for many years now and will continue to be so for years to come. Modern American society is best defined by its education. A good portion of the average person's life is spent in school, going to school, and paying for school. However, while education is obviously very important, there are many groups in America that are short-circuited. Native Americans are a key group that has struggled the most. The biggest obstacle they face is the lack of proper education. Standard educational practices used to educate Native American peoples are not effective. There are many elements to this obstacle and many solutions. This can be solved by having more culturally aware teachers and parents and teaching the general population more about Native American cultures. The main solution here is to understand both precious cultures and modern society. Many Native Americans do not graduate from high school. “15.5% of Native Americans between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four have dropped out of high school, behind only Hispanic young adults at 22.8%” (Doak 31). There are many reasons for this, many risk factors. One risk factor is poverty. Poverty rates on Native American reservations are much higher than they should be. These adolescents are the ones who drop out of school the most. It is this lack of a comprehensive education that causes this poverty, and which in turn is causing more Native American children to also grow up in poverty. “Severely economically and socially disadvantaged children often fall behind their peers. Statistically, they start pre-school education later or miss it altogether and are therefore less ready to start school. T... middle of the paper... bullying too. Works Cited Doak, Melissa J. “Minorities: Race and Ethnicity in America.” Series Information Plus Reference. 2009.Farmington Hills, MI.Erdoes, Richard. "Myths and Legends of the American Indians." Library of fairy tales and folklore of the Pantheon. Books of the Pantheon. 1984. New York City. Giuliano, Gina. “Education: does it reflect our society?” The series of information on current topics.Thompson Gale. 2004. Farmington Hills, MI. Nerburn, Kent. "The Wisdom of Native Americans." Classical Wisdom: New World Library. 1991. San Rafael, CA. Reyhner, Jon. “American Indians Out of School: A Review of School Causes and Solutions.” Journal of American Indian Education. Nettrekker. 1992. http://jaie.asu.edu/v31/v3153ind.htmThompson, William N. "Native American Problems." A reference manual. Problems of the Contemporary World.ABC-CLEO, 1996. Santa Barbara, CA.