Research

Culture-based Education Research Resources

Culture-based education (CBE), and more specifically Hawaiian culture-based education (HCBE), is a key lever to achieving Kamehameha School’s (KS) Vision 2040 of a thriving lāhui. We believe that HCBE instills confidence and resiliency in Native Hawaiian learners to improve the well-being of the lāhui. An HCBE system engages Native Hawaiian learners to reach positive socio-emotional and academic outcomes. For that reason, KS is committed to creating and promoting an HCBE system where all students, Native Hawaiian learners in particular, will thrive and reach their full potential.

What is Culture-Based Education?

CBE is grounded in the foundational values, norms, knowledge, beliefs, practices, experiences, and language of a(n indigenous) culture. It “places significance on Native language; place-based, and experiential learning, cultural identity; holistic well-being; and personal connections and belonging to family, community, and ancestors” (Alcantara, Keahiolalo, and Peirce, 2016). The literature base for CBE describes five basic elements that comprise this approach: Language, Family & Community, Context, Content, and Data & Accountability.

What is Hawaiian Culture-Based Education?

In HCBE, the five elements of CBE are applied specifically from a Native Hawaiian perspective. For example, HCBE practitioners strive to incorporate ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language) in the classroom and involve family and community in the development of Hawaiian-centered curricula relevant to learners. By sustaining the values, traditions, and language of Hawaiʻi through HCBE, we hope to see Native Hawaiians grow in success and contribute to their communities both locally and globally.

Culture-Based Education Resource Collection

This HCBE collection includes exclusively research-focused resources that explore CBE and HCBE in varying contexts. Users should make their own assessments of the quality of the data from these sources. It is our hope that these resources will support your journey to ʻimi naʻauao, or seek wisdom, that would strengthen the lāhui.

If you would like a research study to be included in this collection, please email us at strategy.innovation@ksbe.edu.

Our goal is to disseminate the results of our work as broadly as possible to benefit our communities and lāhui.

Search our collection using the filters below to narrow results. You may select multiple filters.

Other criteria:
Age band(s): [X] Adulthood [X] K-12 [X] General
Type(s): [X] Brief [X] Executive Summary [X] Map [X] Report [X] Website

Title	Author(s)	Year	Age band	Type	Topics
Native Hawaiians in Public Schools: Implications of AYP Status in Predominantly Native Hawaiian Schools	Wendy Kekahio	2007	K-12	Brief
Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment Update 2009: A Supplement to Ka Huakaʻi 2005	Kamehameha Schools	2009	General	Report
Left Behind? The Status of Hawaiian Students in Hawaiʻi Public School	Shawn M. Kanaʻiaupuni and Koren Ishibashi	2003	K-12	Report
Kikī Nā Wai: Swiftly Flowing Streams, Examples of ʻOhana and Community Integration in Culture-Based Education	Brandon Ledward, Brennan Takayama, and Walter Kahumoku, III	2008	General	Brief
Ka Huaka‘i: 2005 Native Hawaiian Educational Assessment	Shawn M. Kanaʻiaupuni, Nolan Malone, and Koren Ishibashi	2005	General	Report
Improving academic performance among Native American students: A review of research literature.	William Demmert Jr.	2003	General	Report
Hoʻomau i nā ʻŌpio Field-Test Findings from the 2008 Pilot-Test of the Nā ʻŌpio Youth Development and Assests Survey	Katherine Tibbets and Shawna Medeiros	2008	K-12	Report
Ho‘opilina Kumu: Culture-Based Education among Hawai‘i Teachers	Brandon Ledward, Brennan Takayama, and Kristin Elia	2009	General	Report
Ho‘omau i nā ōpio: Field-test findings of the nā ‘ōpio: Youth development and assessment survey	Katherine Tibbets, Shawna Medeiros, and Jacqueline Ng-Osorio	2009	K-12	Report
Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE): School Engagement among Hawaiian Students	Brennan Takayama and Brandon Ledward	2009	K-12	Report
Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE): Culture-Based Education among Hawai‘i Teachers	Brandon Ledward, Brennan Takayama, and Kristin Elia	2009	General	Report
Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE): Cultural Knowledge and Practice among Hawaiian Students	Brandon Ledward and Brennan Takayama	2009	K-12	Report	Education (general)
Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE): Community Attachment and Giveback among Hawaiian Students	Brandon Ledward and Brennan Takayama	2009	K-12	Report
Hawaiian Cultural Influences in Education (HCIE): 'Ohana and Community Integration in Culture-Based Education	Brandon Ledward, Brennan Takayama, and Walter Kahumoku, III	2008	General	Report
Hawaiʻi Charter Schools: Initial Trends and Select Outcomes for Native Hawaiian Students	Shawn M. Kanaʻiaupuni and Koren Ishibashi	2005	K-12	Report
Aloha Counts: Census 2000 special tabulations for Native Hawaiians	Kamehameha Schools	2003	General	Report
A Review of the Research Literature on the Influences of Culturally Based Education on the Academic Performance of Native American Students	William Demmert Jr. and John C. Towner	2003	General	Report
A Native Hawaiian Focus on the Hawaiʻi Public School System, SY2015	Office of Hawaiian Affairs	2017	K-12	Report