Modern American society is best defined by its education. The “American Dream” is about going to school, getting a good job, and being successful. Paradoxically, the native populations of this country are the least likely to realize this dream. 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. Many Native Americans do not graduate from high school. This makes it quite difficult to find an ideal and secure job. There are many things that cause this. One is simply the families of the students. On reservations, where alcohol and gambling addictions are problems faced by many families, the severity of finishing high school is sometimes not adequately communicated to either students or their parents. Because of this lack of communication, many Native American adolescents do not understand the consequences of dropping out of school. Another point is that many face family problems. “Native American families were less likely than other American families to have two-parent families: 64% versus 79%” (Thompson 21). Studies have shown that a problematic home environment is very detrimental to academic success. The student may be under a lot of stress, and school is stressful enough without the added stress of a host of family issues. Unfortunately, on top of these already daunting difficulties, there is also a serious cultural gap to consider. Many of the Euro-American values......middle of paper......and “noble savages”. There is very little difference between the two at the heart of the problem, as they are human and don't all fit into the same mold. This stereotype is prevalent even in younger children's books. Native American peoples are often depicted as figures wearing animal skin clothing, carrying a drum, and wearing a headdress. This is not representative of the culture as a whole, and especially not of modern Native American culture. A misconception that still exists today is that all Native Americans live in teepees, wear feather headdresses, and are generally warlike, when much of this is not true. This time, it's the teacher who needs to step up and learn more about their students. Works Cited Thompson, William N. “Native American Issues.” A reference manual. Problems of the contemporary world. ABC-CLIO, 1996. Santa Barbara, California.