As California officially recognizes Indigenous Peoples’ Day — celebrated annually on the second Monday in October — Native American students continue to lag behind other racial and ethnic groups in test scores, absenteeism and graduation rates across the state’s public schools. Native American students make up a small percentage of California’s public school students – less than 0.5% in 2025 – but they are represented across the state’s school districts.
The number of Native American students enrolled in California public schools in 2025-26, down 30.5% from 34,704 in 2015-16.
Much of the decline is explained by falling enrollments statewide. But even as a share of all students, Native American enrollment has declined from 0.5% to 0.4%, a drop of nearly a quarter. California may undercount Native American students by as much as 90%. Students who identify as both Hispanic and Native American are counted only as Hispanic, while multiracial Native American students are categorized as “two or more races” instead of Native American.
The share of Native American students in California who met state standards in math on the 2025 Smarter Balanced tests, compared with 34.4% in English language arts.
The chronic absenteeism rate for Native American students in California public schools in 2024-25, the highest of any racial or ethnic group, down from 33% in 2023-24. The statewide rate among all students was 19%.
The percentage of public high school Native American students who graduate on time with a regular diploma within four years of starting ninth grade in California in 2024-25, the lowest of any racial or ethnic group. About 87% of students graduated across the state.
Data source: California Department of Education
This story was originally published by EdSource.