FY 19 NHE Awards

Applicant Name: University of Hawaii
Project Narrative PR Award Number: S362A190035
Funding Amount: $693,086

(Place-based Alternative Learning Support) PALS project will coordinate with the Hawaii Department of Education (HIDOE) Nanakuli/Wai`anae Complex multi-tiered system for student behavior and social emotional development. The project will focus on serving 60 students annually, grades 7-12, identified as most at-risk of dropping out of school (Tier III – intense needs); the project will focus on students who have been pulled out of the regular classroom setting at the three intermediate and high schools) and placed in a restrictive setting. The overarching goal of PALS is to improve the future outlook of the most vulnerable students. There are five primary objectives: 1) to improve students’ self-efficacy by connecting them to mentors and community adults with whom they can identify and who can guide them; and 2) to improve students’ academic achievement by using community resources as a springboard for learning and for nurturing students’ developmental assets; 3) to increase student engagement by exposing them to rigorous curriculum that is connected to their communities; 4) to enhance teacher pedagogy through teaching Place-based Cultural Projects (PBCP) curricular approach that integrates community as a central piece of curriculum; and 5) to nurture community participation in school.