Tlingit Elder to argue culture keeps Baby Raven Reads gains from fading

Tlingit Elder Daaḵw ḵuwdéin Patrick M. Anderson will argue in Juneau on Thursday, Nov. 12, that cultural continuity is why gains from Sealaska Heritage Institute's Baby Raven Reads program last. The early literacy program serves Alaska Native families with children up to age 5.

His talk, "Why Baby Raven Reads Endures," is part of SHI's Native American Heritage Month lecture series. It runs noon to 1 pm in Shuka Hít, the clan house at SHI in downtown Juneau, and will stream on SHI's YouTube channel.

Anderson will speak about the "fade-out" effect, in which children's reading skills often deteriorate after they leave most early literacy programs. He does not believe more robust curricula will solve it, according to SHI's announcement, and says that pattern doesn't apply to Baby Raven Reads.

According to Anderson's research, the program restores the conditions a child's developing brain is designed to learn in. A trusted adult who reads and responds to the child fosters a sense of belonging while encouraging continuity of Alaska Native languages and traditional stories.

"Regulation and relationship come first; durable literacy is what consolidates on top of them," he said in the announcement. Culture, he said, "is the ground the learning stands on and the reason the gains hold."

A McKinley Research Group report found the share of Juneau's Alaska Native students consistently demonstrating phonetic knowledge at kindergarten entry rose from 25% to 45% between 2014-15 and 2019-20, while the program operated. The report measured readiness when children entered kindergarten, not in later grades.

Anderson, of the Shangukeidí clan from Xéitl Hít in Dry Bay, is a former attorney and independent scholar with four decades of executive leadership in Alaska Native health, education and governance.