Dropout rates for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN) are higher than those of other racial/ethnic groups, but the overall or national AI/AN dropout rate is not known. In an attempt to generate a national rate, data were collected from 26 state departments of education, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), and tribally controlled schools; and extensive searches of existing literature and data were conducted in libraries, ERIC, and other federal databases. It quickly became clear that meta-analysis was impossible due to the lack of standardized definitions of dropouts and standardized methods of counting and calculating rates. Given that interstate dropout reporting does not exist for public school systems, attempts to incorporate non-standardized data from BIA, mission, and other private schools increased the difficulty of generating a national dropout estimate for AI/AN students. Also, mobility and transfer rates were quite high for AI/AN students in certain parts of the country. Longitudinal studies suggest a dropout rate between 24% and 48% for 1962-89 and 29-36% in the 1980s, but most of these studies were limited to a specific population or region. Though it is perplexing to determine the reason students leave school, it appears that academic reasons are less important than family and school environment factors. This report contains over 300 references, 31 data tables, and an extensive review of the various methods of defining, counting, calculating, and reporting dropout rates. (SV)