“America’s Underdogs”—Mini documentary exposes the crisis faced by Native American kids who are the lowest achieving students in the nation

America’s Underdogs: Students in Crisis, released today by the American Federation for Children, takes a hard look at why Native American students are failing across the U.S.The 10-minute documentary spotlights children living on tribal lands who as a whole, are the last in the nation in reading and math proficiency and have some of the worst graduation rates in the country. America’s Underdogs takes you onto reservation lands in Arizona to dissect the issues that affect most tribal communities when it comes to educating their children.

There are more than 640,000 Native American students in the United States. A lack of quality educational options, feelings of hopelessness and diminishing culture have contributed to Indian young adults having one of the highest rates of suicide in the country.