Evaluating Success: Mother Earth's Children's Charter School Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Mother Earth's Children's Charter School (MECCS) was established in response tothe need for a culturally compatible and positive educational experience forIndigenous children in north central Alberta. Before the school's opening in 2003,researchers from the University of Alberta were invited by the MECCSadministration, parents, and the Vice-Chief of the Assembly of First Nations toconduct a longitudinal evaluation of change in measures of behavior, academicachievement, self-perception, and health in children who attend the school. Data werecollected and analyzed from 86 research participants who attended the school duringits first three years of operation. All measures significantly declined or showed nosignificant change during the study period. Possible explanations for the observeddeclines include transfer of higher-performing students out of the school after theirinitial enrollment, an unexpected and high enrollment of special-needs students, anda lack of adjustment time for the school to begin operations before testing began.