• 2007 Grant Awards

• 2006 Grant Awards

• 2005 Grant Awards

University of Alaska Southeast (Alaska)
S299B110002

The University of Alaska Southeast Village Teacher (VT) project is a project to train a cohort of Alaska Native participants to graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education or a Master’s Degree in Educational Administration. Graduates will serve as teachers and or administrators in tribal communities in Alaska. The training will be provided at the University of Alaska Southeast located in Juneau, AK, or by distance education.
Number of participants: 25
First year funding $395,177
Contact: Deborah Lo
Phone: 907-796-6551

The Hopi Tribe (Arizona)
S299B110049

This project addresses the chronic shortage of certified Hopi Elementary School Educators with a Bilingual Endorsement for the six elementary schools on the Hopi reservation. The project will provide a three-year innovative, coherent, and sustained teacher education coursework, a concentration area in Hopi history, language and culture, and a four-year induction program to prepare 15 exemplary Hopi elementary school educators with a Bilingual Endorsement. Founded upon a strong partnership between the Hopi Tribe and Northern Arizona University (NAU), this program will be housed at the Hopi Department of Education, and the Hopi Department of Education will serve as the fiscal agent. The project will be guided by an Advisory Committee comprised of Hopi teachers and administrators, Hopi university students, representatives from the Hopi Cultural Preservation Office, Cultural Resources Advisory Task Team, and the NAU university faculty and administrators. Culturally-responsive, research-based, multi-disciplinary, curriculum and pedagogy will be implemented by NAU faculty members in the College of Education and the Hopi Institute.
Number of participants: 15
First year funding at $380,833
Contact: Dr.Noreen Sakiestewa
Phone: 928-734-3501

Montana State University - Bozeman (Montana)

The Montana State University – Bozeman Early Childhood Education Distance Partnership (ECEDP) project will assist and train tribal early childhood educators on six Montana reservations to meet national Head Start requirements and obtain a Bachelors Degree in Early Childhood Education from Montana State University. Additionally the training provided will prepare the participants to meet Montana state early childhood teacher certification requirements. Training will be provided through distance delivered courses and on-site student teaching and internship projects. The ECEDP project will train 25 tribal head start teachers.
Number of participants: 25
First year funding $399,731
Contact: Laura Massey
Phone: 406-994-3300

University of Nebraska (Nebraska)
S299B110041

The project’s primary goal is to certify American Indian students as elementary education and ESL, and special education teachers and to ensure their employment in school districts that serve American Indian students. Program objectives are to: Recruit and train 10 American Indian undergraduate and graduate students to earn teacher certification in elementary education and ESL (provisional); Expand service to recruit and train an additional 8 American Indian practicing teachers, to earn additional certification(s) or masters degrees in high need areas (special education and/or K-12 ESL); Graduate, certify, and place program graduates in school districts serving student populations at least 5% American Indian; and provide induction services for project participants.
Number of participants: 18
First Year Funding: $364,380
Contact: Dr. Nancy Engen-Wedin
Phone: 402-472-3856

University of North Carolina – Pembroke (North Carolina)
S299B110058

This project will support students in: the completion of a bachelor’s degree in education; the acquisition of state teacher licensure; and the successful completion of the first year of teaching by project graduates via induction services. Project participants will be those students who have have been admitted or are eligible for admission into the Teacher Education Program. The project design includes support for tuition, fees, dependent allowance, instructional supplies, textbooks, laptops, stipends for room/board/personal living expenses, PRAXIS I and II examination fees, mentoring services, classroom resource support, and continued professional development.
Number of participants: 30
First Year Funding: $298,393
Contact: Dr. Zoe Locklear
Phone: 910-775-4041

Arizona State College (Arizona)

The Project will prepare, certify, and provide a one-year induction period for 16 American Indian elementary educators currently working in Navajo Nation schools, who are serving as paraprofessionals. The project that is designed to prepare teachers with a specialized knowledge base to meet the academic and cultural needs of American Indian students. The project is also a strategic capacity-building alliance between the Department of Diné Education and Arizona State University’s Center for Indian Education, in cooperation with Navajo Nation schools. The participants will obtain licensure while completing bachelor’s degrees in Indian Education, and will be part of a culturally relevant program that trains teachers to be learners and leaders in education.
Number of participants: 16
Year one funding: $359,668
Project Director: Bryan Brayboy
Phone: 480-965-5327

Fond du Lac Tribal College (Minnesota)

The proposed project is a partnership between Fond du Lac Tribal College and The College of St. Scholastica’s Ojibwe Culture and Language Education Program. Fond du Lac Tribal College will serve as the fiscal agent of the project and the College of St Scholastica will serve as the degree granting institution. The project will serve northeastern Minnesota, a rurally isolated area with five major Indian reservations as well as an urban American Indian population in Duluth. The project will prepare American Indian teachers in elementary education with the goal of increasing American Indian educational success. The new teachers that graduate from the project will be able to implement Best Practices in American Indian Education and support other teachers-both Native and non-Native to enhance American Indian education.
Number of participants: 10
Year one funding: $399,656
Project Director: Amy Bergstrom
Phone: 218-878-7504

Chief Dull Knife College (Montana)

In consortium with Montana State University Billings this project will provide teacher training for twelve Indian students to attain state certification as highly qualified teachers and who will work in schools with Indian student populations. Research-based, retention activities will lead to the graduation of these students. They will be trained not only in traditional philosophy and methodology of mainstream education, but also in best practices research in Indian education. Theory meets classroom reality in a triangulated mentoring partnership comprised of teacher training faculty, and local school districts including a model mentor school. The goal is to infuse authentic Montana tribal culture into teacher training curriculum and therefore ultimately also in the state’s K-12 schools. Goal achievement will promote systems improvement to respond to the achievement gap experienced by Montana’s Indian students.
Number of participants: 18
Year one funding: $341,842
Project Director: Michele Curlee
Phone: 406-477-6215

Salish Kootenai College (Montana)

The project is a partnership between the University of Montana and Salish Kootenai College and supports Native American teachers who are pursuing advanced degrees in Special Education and Educational Leadership. It supports a Graduate Project Director, Educational Technician, and financial support for 25 graduate students – 20 seeking Special Education endorsements and 5 pursuing master’s degrees in administration.
Number of participants: 25
Year one funding: $156,498
Project Director: Cindy O’Dell
Phone: 406-275-4753

Sitting Bull College (North Dakota)

This is a proposal submitted by Sitting Bull College, a Tribal College located in Fort Yates, North Dakota. The goal of the Project is to create three significant improvements in the training and teaching ability of new Native American teachers in the field of Lakota Language Teaching and Learning (LLTL): (1) increase the quality of training for new Lakota Language teachers; (2) increase the quantity of highly-qualified Lakota Language teachers; (3) serve as a model for similar programs through the region. The Project’s purpose is to provide an adequate supply of new Native American teachers professionally trained to meet the needs of 12 high-need Leading Education Agency (LEA) schools serving approximately 2,066 Lakota students (about 95% of the total student population) located on the Standing Rock Reservation.
Number of participants: 14
Year one funding: $339,114
Project Director: TBD
Phone: 701-854-8000

Portland State University (0regon)

The American Indian Urban Teacher Program will prepare 18 new, fully licensed teachers and have a significant impact on moving toward parity in the percentage of Native teachers in the Portland metropolitan area and across the state of Oregon. Portland State University is strategically located at the center of a large urban Native population, which has historically served Native students through academic programs and the Native American Student Community Center. The project will: Recruit 18 qualified Native students; Establish an indigenized professional development program; Develop the capacity of faculty, mentors, and others to meet the unique needs of Native students; Place the pre-service teachers in schools serving high numbers of Indian students in K-12 classrooms; Provide multidimensional induction to graduates during their first year of teaching.
Number of participants: 18
Year one funding: $387,199
Project Director: Dr. Cornel Pewewardy
Phone: 503-725-9689

University of South Dakota (South Dakota)

The goal of the Project is to create three significant improvements in the training and teaching ability of new Native American teachers in the field of Lakota Language Teaching and Learning:) increase the quality of training for new Lakota Language teachers; increase the quantity of highly-qualified Lakota Language teachers; serve as a model for similar programs through the region. The Project’s purpose is to provide an adequate supply of new Native American teachers professionally trained to meet the needs of schools located on the 9 Lakota Indian Reservations in South Dakota, which currently serve approximately 18,262 Lakota students (about 95% of the total student population).
Number of participants: 16
Year one funding: $343,399
Project Director: TBD
Phone: 605-677-6497

Wind River Tribal College (Wyoming)

The program will enable 15 Native American students from the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, to enter a post-secondary program leading to a bachelor’s degree in education within three years, with a follow-up fourth year of induction services. This will be accomplished in consortium with the University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY. The Northern Arapaho Business Council has designated the Wind River Tribal College to be the fiscal agent for the proposed project.
Number of participants: 15
Year one funding: $302,976
Project Director: Marlin Spoonhunter
Phone: 307-335-8243
(September 30, 2010)

Northern Arizona University (Arizona)
S299B090017

This cohort project proposes to increase the number of well-trained Indian educators to serve as principals in schools serving Indian students. A key assumption of this project is that participants will be committed to serving in a reservation-based school upon completion of a master’s degree in education leadership and obtain, a principal’s certificate. The four reservations to be served by this project are Navajo, Hopi, San Carlos, and White Mountain. This project will directly address the lack of qualified Indian principals by grounding them in the real world of reservation schools and classroom through daily exchanges and study. The objective is to credential a cohort of 25 K-12 principal candidates from these four reservation communities. The project will use a combination of a reservation based cohort, culturally responsive curriculum, and an induction and mentorship component in partnership with the four tribal groups and Navajo Technical College. We will utilize faculty knowledgeable about reservation-school leadership issues with courses taught on-site, and over the university’s distance learning facilities.
Number of participants: 25

Arizona State University, West Campus (Arizona)
S299B090031

The College of Teacher Education and Leadership, Arizona State University; the Navajo Nation, with Chinle Unified School District; and the Tohono O’odham Nation, with Indian Oasis-Baboquivari Unified School District, have formed a consortium. This partnership is established to provide recruitment, support, pre-service preparation, and induction of American Indian teachers in the Chinle and Sells communities. Features of the project include advising and academic support to ensure success, district-based immersion style initial teacher certification program in Elementary Education, and induction services during the first year of teaching. Participants are recruited from the communities where they live and will teach. Courses are delivered to them on-site in locations within the school districts, and remotely through interactive videoconferencing facilities. Upon completion of the coursework that leads to a Bachelor’s Degree, participants are authorized for licensure in Arizona.
Number of participants: 40

Arizona State University (Arizona)
S299B090041

The project will prepare two overlapping cohorts of ten Native participants each in the Early Childhood Education teacher certification program. Candidates will complete a specialized bachelor’s degree curriculum focusing on the unique needs of Native children, with a particular emphasis on language development and transition of children from Head Start and tribal pre-schools to K-3. The focus on language acquisition/development issues of Native children will prepare the teachers to engage a range of techniques to reinforce tribal languages and cultural patterns of communication while employing specific strategies to children’s acquisition of Standard English use, which is needed for academic achievement. The professional development curriculum and program format are based upon research linking high quality early childhood experiences provided by highly qualified teachers to greater child academic development.
Number of participants: 20

College of St.Scholastica (Minnesota)
S299B090022

The College of St. Scholastica grant will recruit, retain, and graduate 12 licensed American Indian teachers in Ojibwe Language and Culture Education. This will help address the shortage of licensed Minnesota teachers who have expertise working with American Indian youth. The project activities include: classes focusing on American Indian and multicultural education; a teacher education program infused with American Indian/LEP Best Practices; teaching resources supporting the integration of American Indian culture, history, and language into the K-12 curriculum; and field placements and student-teaching in schools with high native enrollments. The Program seeks to maintain and increase its retention rate through offering extensive support to promote student success, including: the Family Education Model, financial support, tutoring, mentoring, and networking.
Number of participants: 12

Fort Belknap College (Montana)
S299B09B0046

The overall goal of this project is to address the critical shortage of qualified American Indian teachers in schools serving the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Indian reservations. To achieve this goal, project partners will collaborate to provide an American Indian teacher training program that will: recruit, train and graduate 30 American Indian pre-service teachers who will earn their bachelor’s degrees and state teaching licensure; place 100 percent of program graduates in teaching positions at local educational agencies with significant populations of Indian students; and provide induction services to all program graduates during their first year of teaching in local schools with large numbers of Indian students. Number of participants: 30

Salish Kootenai College (Montana)
S299B090050

Salish Kootenai College and the University of Montana are partnering to increase the professional development opportunities for Native Americans. The overarching goal of this partnership project is to graduate and refer for Montana certification 20 Native Americans for a Special Education Endorsement and 5 Native Americans for a Principal Administration Endorsement. The partnership project addresses three major concerns in Indian education: the shortage of qualified Native American teachers particularly in schools that serve significant numbers of Indian students; the relationship between the lack of Indian teachers and the low academic achievement and high dropout rates of K-12 Native American students as compared to their non-Indian peers; and the need for culturally responsive curriculum and research-based instructional and assessment practices. The project will offer financial and technological support, a local campus advisor, and a combination of face to face and technologically delivered courses. Number of participants: 25

Nebraska Indian Community College (Nebraska)
S299B090044

The project will provide resources and professional development to 10 Native American pre-service students to complete BA degrees in the Early Childhood Unified BA Degree. The University of Nebraska at Kearney will work with Nebraska Indian Community College to create an infrastructure for the BA degree to be taught on each of the three NICC campuses. In the program, students will receive professional development and supports to: learn the skills needed to be effective teachers of young children with diverse needs; strategies to infuse Native American language, culture, and teaching strategies into Western curriculum programs to effectively teach Native American students; and become certified to teach grades K-3 in elementary schools or children 0-5 in early childhood programs that predominantly serve Native Americans. The program will also ensure graduates are employed in these settings and that they receive sufficient support services in their fist year of employment to ensure high teaching skill levels and encourage retention.
Number of participants: 10

Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Oklahoma)
S299B090003

This project is a consortium between The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Southeastern Oklahoma State University to increase the number and quality of certified Native American teachers in southeastern Oklahoma. The project is designed to provide comprehensive and financial support to twelve qualified future Native American educators. Research has shown that Native American teachers impact Native American student success, persistence, provide connectivity to the community and are more likely to be aware of Native American learning styles and utilize this in the classroom. Through the consortium between Southeastern Oklahoma State University and the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma with collaborative agreements from local school districts, this project is designed to enhance the educational experience of future Native American teachers, support their transition into local school districts, and improve the educational experiences of every student they will be teaching.
Number of participants: 12

University of Oregon (Oregon)
S299B090033

The University of Oregon College of Education and the nine federally recognized tribes of Oregon have formed a consortium. The project will use a comprehensive approach for the recruitment, support, pre-service preparation, and induction mentorship of American Indian teachers serving American Indian communities. Project participants will enroll in a seamless teacher preparation project that focuses on teacher development within an indigenous community of practice while earning a master’s degree in education and Oregon teacher licensure. This project integrates research-based practices drawing on teacher effectiveness and teacher development findings, employing a multicultural education framework and the emerging research related to communities of practice and lesson study. Together this body of research provides an empirical foundation for designing the project services.
Number of participants: 12

Lakota College (South Dakota)
S299B090019

The goals are to increase the pool of Native American principals with full state licensure and fill positions in schools, with Native American students on or near reservations in North and South Dakota. The project will develop a sustainable, quality educational administrator Masters program. The project will prepare principals to administer schools with Indian Students by maintaining accreditation in 2 states, and increasing distance learning.
Number of participants: 21

Sinte Gleska University (South Dakota)
S299B090037

The program will provide support and training for 20 Native American individuals: five will complete a master's degree in education administration at Sinte Gleska and receive state certification as a principal in the state of South Dakota; 15 will complete a bachelor’s degree in education and receive state certification as a teacher in the state of South Dakota. It will also provide one year of induction services while the new teachers and administrators are completing their first year of work. The programs will recruit participants from four public school districts, and from four schools located on the Rosebud, Lower Brule, Crow Creek, and Yankton Sioux Reservations. The project leads to a degree and certification that guides students through a culturally relevant, academically vigorous and personally sustaining program that will increase the number of Native American teachers and administrators in Native American-serving schools in South Dakota.
Number of participants: 20
(July 6, 2009)