Giving Compass' Take:

• Liz Willen covers a new book on 'rez ball' and how Native American students do not have the same opportunities available to them to reach college.

• How donors put more emphasis on Native American equity, especially concerning students?

• Learn about expanding opportunities for Native American youth through philanthropy.

In a new book, "Canyon Dreams," columnist Michael Powell explores the lives of Navajo high schoolers on and off the court.

Powell’s intimate portrayal of students, teachers and an inspirational coach at Chinle High School is an important contribution to the literature on an education crisis that’s affecting native youth. Native Americans are routinely left out of the national education conversation, and yet they face some of the longest odds in getting through high school and college. In 2017, barely a fifth of American Indian and Alaska Native adults ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college.

Powell writes with intense empathy about the limited choices and chances players face after their glory days at Chinle High. Less than half of Chinle graduates attend college, and of those who do, half drop out within a year or two.

High poverty rates and inadequate schools have contributed to dismal achievement levels for native students, routinely among the lowest in the country. American Indian and Alaska Native students are the least likely of any demographic group to graduate from high school, and their college graduation rate is just 39 percent.

The book gives equal attention to players as they consider their futures off the court. Powell, a former colleague of mine at the now-defunct New York Newsday, cares deeply about education, and his writing sheds light on why many native students – even some who are high academic achievers – don’t head off to college.

U.S. universities have a complicated relationship with native people, often having been built on land taken from American Indians. These institutions remain predominantly white, and many colleges are just beginning to recognize the need to recruit and support indigenous young people.

Read the full article about Native American students difficult path to college by Liz Willen at The Hechinger Report.