Thousands of Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian educators are gathered in town this weekend to discuss problems facing indigenous students and possible ways to raise the bar of achievement.

Some 2,300 teachers and school officials from the Mainland, and 1,000 local educators, are participating in the 38th annual convention of the National Indian Education Association being held at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

Among the issues being addressed are high dropout rates of native students, indigenous language in the classroom, literacy rates, the federal No Child Left Behind law and college enrollment rates.

Speaking to the group as keynote speaker yesterday was Reg Weaver, president of the National Education Association, the nation's largest teachers union. He acknowledged the struggles of indigenous students and highlighted the need to tackle the "disturbing" dropout rates of Native American and other indigenous students.

"It is absolutely a shame, the number of our young people who are dropping out of our schools," Weaver said.

He noted that the Harvard Civil Rights Project found that only 51 percent of Native American students graduate on time with their peers.

That statistic parallels similar findings about Native Hawaiian students. According to a 2003 report published by Kamehameha Schools, Hawaiian students have the lowest test scores and lowest graduation rates of all students in the public school system. They also have the highest rates for students held back a grade each year, the study found.

"Too many native children are caught in a cycle of despair. It's a cycle of unemployment, poverty, falling behind in school and dropping out," he said. "This leads to more unemployment and the cycle repeats. We must break this unnatural cycle."

Weaver also spoke about the need to preserve indigenous languages in the classroom, the need to reform No Child Left Behind and development of early intervention programs to address the high dropout rates.

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs donated $200,000 to support this year's convention in Honolulu. Similarly, Kamehameha Schools donated a sum of $150,000 to NIEA in support of its annual gathering.

The convention runs through Sunday.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.