FY 2020 Awards

The Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) proposes to implement the Tiamuna Project, designed primarily in partnership with the Alaska Native Cultural Charter School (ANCCS) — a parent-initiated Title I public charter school whose K-8 student body is over 85% Alaska Native/American Indian (AN/AI) — and Alaska Pacific University (APU), an Alaska Native-serving, Tribally controlled college providing a dual credit Early Honors program. The main goals of this project are for: AN/AI students and their families to know the educational options available to them in Anchorage, and specifically those that reflect Alaska Native cultures; AN/AI students and their families to have meaningful access to the culturally reflective educational options they believe are best for their individual needs; and AN/AI students to achieve education outcomes that express their full potential and feel satisfied and culturally affirmed by their educational experiences. ANHC, ANCCS, APU and other community partners will collaborate to identify and develop a full spectrum of education options that meet the needs AN/AI students and families share for (1) targeted outcome improvement interventions in K-8; (2) advanced learning in high school; and (3) cultural curricula and activities for K-12 in-school, home school and after-school settings that promote Alaska Native students’ educational achievement. This project will serve a minimum of 800-900 students each year.

The American Indian Center of Arkansas (AICA) in partnership with School Districts of Pulaski, Benton, Sebastian, Saline, Crawford, and Washington Counties will implement a project titled American Indian Center of Arkansas Education Program. The project will meet the needs of up to 160 K –12 Tribal students and their parents by providing access to a variety of educational services. To ensure the success of the program, AICA will achieve the following goals during project planning and implementation: Goal 1. (Tribal Students). Improve Tribal student academic performance by increasing the educational choices by 50% for tribal students by providing a comprehensive pool of culturally appropriate educational and education support services and service providers. Goal 2. (Tribal Parents). Increase the educational choices for parents by providing a comprehensive pool of culturally appropriate education service providers. Goal 3. Target Tribal youth with disabilities (including mental, physical and substance abuse) in overcoming barriers to educational attainment to improve academic performance metrics for this subgroup. To accomplish the goals, the program will focus on (1) Tutoring Services, online and in-person (social distancing measures followed); (2) Case Management; (3) Community Mentorship; (4) Online Learning Options; (5) ACT/SAT Test Prep; (6) Supplemental Learning Centers; (7) Internships and Work Experience; (8) Virtual Development and Interaction; (9) Cultural Development Workshops; and (10) Special Education Resources.

The goal of this project is to develop, test and demonstrate the effectiveness of programming that improves access of educational services by enabling parental choice for student achievement for Indian children in Adair County, Oklahoma. It is estimated that a total of 725 students will be served by the project annually. The leading strategy is working with parents/students in providing their choices in services for both social/emotional growth and academic achievement. The project will focus on parent and student choices keying in on social and emotional growth and academic achievement through understanding and integrating the local culture colloquialism. The service programs will commence with a community needs assessment, an online portal will be developed for selection of services by parents and/or students, and a provider service database will be developed with policies for student selection. Partners in this project will include the Cherokee Nation, Cherokee Nation Foundation, Cherokee Nation Education Services Department and Caves Springs (K-12) School District.

Chatham School District in Southeast Alaska will work with Angoon Community Association, a federally recognized Tribe, to expand educational opportunities for students. The overall goal of the Tlingit Native Language and Culture Initiative is to enhance student social and academic outcomes through expanded service choices aligned to local Tlingit culture, histories and expectations. The Tlingit Native Language and Culture Initiative will offer additional educational services to 93 students annually, reaching all students attending two isolated schools accessible only by boat or seaplane. The project will include Tlingit Native Language courses; a Native Connections curriculum that addresses reading, writing, math, the sciences and the arts; cultural programming , including Native Connection Crafts activities; physical wellness/fitness opportunities that will reflect cultural connections during the summer when youth take part in adult-supervised kayaking, fishing, hiking and camping (for middle and high school students) at the Glacier Bay National Park, in Gustavus, Alaska, and Admiralty National Monument in Angoon, Alaska. Further, outdoor education programming in the summer months will focus on the local community. Outcomes will include increased access to culturally relevant services for school children, increased access to education-related services for school children, improved daily school attendance and improved English language arts (ELA) performance.

The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw Nation) plans to implement Renew Indigenous Strength with Empowerment (Project RISE), a five-year, parent/student determined program that allows for choice in education services, college and career exploration, and Native enrichment programs. The goals of Project RISE are to increase graduation rates at the three schools and put students on a path to further educational and career-based success in the future. Project RISE will serve 400 Native American students in disadvantaged areas of the Choctaw Nation and southeastern Oklahoma. This project will help to improve the lives of the Native American students it serves and act as an encouraging model of success and achievement in the Native American communities of the Choctaw Nation. Project RISE anticipates serving approximately 400 underserved Native American students over the course of five years, stemming from the Hartshorne, Talihina and Wright City school districts. Project RISE will comply with the requests of parents and students by implementing programs to address chosen educational services from a list of 10 options, including college advisement, career training, STEM awareness and concurrent enrollment assistance, among others. Project RISE will collaborate with area service providers and local professionals to ensure that each student is aided in the transition from high school to higher education.

Chugachmiut Inc., a Tribal consortium made up of seven South Central Alaska Tribes (Nanwalek, Port Graham, Qutekcak Native Tribe (Seward), Tatitlek, Chenega, Native Village of Eyak (Cordova), and Valdez Native Tribe), in partnership with four school districts (Chugach, Cordova City Schools, Kenai Peninsula Bor, Valdez City) will implement We Work Together for Educational Choices to enhance the educational opportunities and achievement of Alaska Native /American Indian students. Major goals of this project are these: (1) Develop a comprehensive web-based system of support for parents and students to make choices for supplemental education services. Project staff will complete a comprehensive survey of 300 parents/caregivers and 300 students who are members of the seven tribes and 12 school staffs in the project service area. Parents and students will provide semiannual feedback on satisfaction with enrollment and participation in supplemental services using an online portal and interviews with local parent liaisons. (2) Offer and support up to seven supplemental education services during project years two through five.

Kali.it’ch’i Kutxayanahá Yaanáx Yee Kawdigán, You All Shine Brighter than The Shining Stars: A Student-Centered Approach to Education, is a project to be led by the Douglas Indian Association (DIA), a federally recognized Tribe; in partnership with Goldbelt Heritage Foundation, an Indian organization; and the Juneau School District. The plan’s main goals are to provide rigor and relevance in content and instructional methodology for Alaska Native/Native American (AN/NA) students, and to support the advancement of educational sovereignty via the following objectives: (1) Culturally sustaining place-based courses in Language, History and Culture; (2) Elective course offerings — advanced and/or remedial — offered online; (3) Pathways to early careers, in high school via dual enrollment and professional certifications for 200 students over the grant period; (4) Culturally responsive curriculum options for K-12 AN/NA youth throughout the community; (6) Tools and materials for equitable access to education services for 1,298 students over the grant period; (7) Academic coaches for tutoring and instructional assistance support and to help parents and students navigate education services inclusive of students with special needs; (8) Summer academies/immersive learning to serve 300 AN/NA youth; (9) Test preparation and application fees for every AN/NA high school student; (10) AN/NA counseling support for 70 youth; and (11) a Service Learning/youth educational symposium facilitated by all service providers, serving 300 AN/NA youth annually.

Educational Service Unit 2 (ESU 2), a regional service center in Northeast Nebraska, will implement the Educational Service Unit 2 Cultural Connections (ESU2CC) project. This project will prioritize parent and family engagement to identify needs and services to serve up to 200 Native students attending six local districts each year. ESU 2 has formal partnerships with the Winnebago and Omaha Tribes of Nebraska and Nebraska Indian Community College. All six districts involved in the project are rural and low-income school (RLIS) program districts. The project will increase appropriate intervention and support, and ongoing feedback and project review procedures are integrated into ESU2CC from the leadership to school level. The purpose and expected outcomes for the project are to (1) Develop a service plan of culturally relevant student opportunities, supports and educational choice through the implementation of a Native American parent advisory group; (2) Improve cultural awareness and culturally appropriate supports for Native American students in project districts; (3) Improve access to culturally relevant and appropriate teaching, learning and reading materials in all project districts; (4) Decrease double-digit deficits in reading and math between Native American students and their same-grade peers to reflect the district average by the end of the five years; and (5) Develop a sustainable program that serves the needs of our Native American students. This project addresses the continued lack of supports for Native students attending schools near reservation lands. The plan considers the interests and needs of the families, including the infusion of Native American customs and values.

The Gila River Indian Community (GRIC), Tribal Education Office project includes a 12-month planning period that will support the implementation of two goals to ensure parents/student are active in the choice of service providers that will expand educational choice based on the community needs and parent/student requests. Goal 1: Build a sustainable, web-based content hub portal and dashboard that supports parent and student choice while increasing the capacity of the Tribal Education Department to deliver high-quality educational services based on parent feedback and their children’s needs. The hub portal will include a user-friendly dashboard that links students/parents to the infrastructure components that include Goal 2: Address the significant high school dropout rate of Gila River Indian Community youth, which is four times the state rate of 9%, by increasing the graduation and promotion rates of GRIC students. Four distinct service areas have been identified for the development of RFPs: Culture/Language, Dropout Recovery, Enrichment and Literacy. Multiple providers will be identified for parent/student choice for education options and student achievement.

The Ho-Chunk Nation, a sovereign Native American Nation indigenous to Wisconsin, and its Education Department, will implement a project titled Preparing Oneself for a Good Life. The Ho-Chunk Nation will use several external and internal, culturally relevant service providers to accomplish programmatic outcomes. This grant will serve 1,000 enrolled Ho-Chunk youth and their families in order to promote career exploration and college readiness through the lens of a holistic Ho-Chunk cultural approach that incorporates spirituality, customs, social mores and sacred language. The goals of this project are as follows: Goal 1. Develop and implement a series of in-person and virtual events for enrolled Ho-Chunk K- 12 students and their families to promote career exploration and college readiness that incorporate Ho-Chunk history, culture, and language. Goal 2. Create engaging learning opportunities for students to develop life skills, promote academic success, and build positive self-image through a combination of rigorous curriculum and involvement in Ho-Chunk cultural practices. This combination will address the existing achievement disparity between Ho-Chunk and non-Native American students in the public schools. Goal 3. Develop and recruit work-based learning experiences for Ho-Chunk students to explore their career and learning interests. Students will have the opportunity to work both within the Ho- Chunk Nation in high-demand fields and/or with outside entities.

The Alaska Native Engineering Education Development (ANEED) project will address underperforming schools in the Bering Straits region, where nearly 90% of students at Bering Strait School District (BSSD) and Nome Public Schools (NPS) are below or far below proficient in math and science. Kawerak, Inc., an Indian organization as grantee, will establish a project focused on preK-12 engineering education services, infused with STEM. A total of 2,680 Alaska Native students are anticipated to be served in the four years of this college and career ready project. The ANEED project is guided by two goals. Goal 1: Develop and implement engineering design challenge/STEM pathway for Northwestern Alaska preK-8 students. Goal 2: Improve Alaska Native students’ math and science proficiency, with deeper conceptual understanding, through engineering-related activities and career exploratory programs in grades 8-12.

Knik Tribe, a federally recognized Tribal Education Agency (KTEA), in partnership with Alaska State Department of Education and Early Development, proposes to implement the CHOICES project to increase opportunities for differentiated education for AN/AI students of the Matsu Borough. AN/AI students are under-represented in the charter schools, career tech schools and after-school activities. CHOICES will bridge this gap to the future. The CHOICES program proposes the following two threads as guiding principles: (1) Parent involvement in choices (both development in implementation), and (2) Increased variety of choices (multi-intelligence, industry, cultural). This project will be guided by the implementation of these goals: Goal 1. Easy access and user-friendly application and portfolio will be available to all students and parents by implementation phase. Goal 2: Matching MI with AN/AI youth many learning opportunities will be on the schedule by implementation phase. Goal 3: Parents/youth will have an exhaustive list of scheduling opportunities to meet the interests of their children by implementation phase. Goal 4: Culture activities, as well as culture integrated into all other learning activities, will be choices for youth scheduled by integration phase. Goal 5: Support of youth in need and have barriers that make other programs not an option, by implementation phase, and these youth accounted for and enrolled in a Tribe for support, as well as recognized by school district for federal funding. Goal 6: Every participant will track their progress for the duration of the program.

The Lapwai School District and the Nez Perce Tribe applied as a partnership for the Demonstration for Indian Children grant. The Lapwai School District is a small, rural, public school located in the center of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation and is the second-largest district geographically in Idaho. Approximately, 240 Native students and their families located within the school district boundaries are anticipated to be served. The purpose of the grant is to increase choice for students based on community assessments and needs. The grantee has determined that it has underserved students such as those who are gifted but are not identified by the traditional tests and will provide options for them. The goals of the grant are to provide services that keep students in the classroom with supplemental school guidance services using effective restorative justice strategies that resolve disciplinary problems and provide social/emotional support, and to identify and offer culturally responsive academic support services to students with a focus on underserved or at-risk students that meet academic needs and provide college and career readiness. Anticipated outcomes include increased satisfaction with the district offerings, reduced disciplinary incidents to keep students in school, expansion of advanced coursework available to students, increased career and college readiness by students, and program expansion that addresses Native American studies opportunities.

The purpose of the CHOICE project is to provide options to 340 rural Alaska Native (AN) students in grades 7-12 in small, remote villages to participate in week-long to semester-long residential career development phases, academies, and camps offered in Anchorage at three locations: (1) Lower Yukon School District’s Kusilvak Career Academy, (2) University of Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Middle College School, and (3) Chugach School District’s Voyage School. Programming will include academic instruction in personally relevant fields of interest; intensive career exploration and planning with industry certifications and occupational endorsements; personal, urban living, employability and life skill development; and a foundation of Alaska Native cultural identity through Alaska Native cultural learning opportunities, interactions and on-the-job training opportunities with Alaska Native industry professionals. The expected outcomes of the project include (1) increased AN graduation rates; (2) increased percentage of AN students who display the personal, life, urban living, and leadership skills necessary to be successful in life; (3) increased number, variety, quality and satisfaction of options offered to AN students to improve their knowledge and capacity to meet long-term expectations for college and career readiness; and (4) increased completion of industry certifications, occupational endorsements and dual credit. The project also expands educational choice by providing a process for project parents and students to select from a variety of services and providers not offered in local villages to better meet student needs. Robust preproject surveys of career exploration opportunities and service providers will align with student and parent priorities and phase/academy topics.

The proposed Milwaukee Public Schools First Nations Holistic Urban Education Program (HUE Program) will build on the district’s prior experience and expertise in reaching out to and serving First Nation students and their families. The HUE Program is a partnership between Milwaukee Public Schools and Southeastern Oneida Tribal Services. Services focus on supplemental counseling services, Native language and history class, and college access programming. The different service options will help approximately 400 First Nation students and families. The HUE Program is designed to achieve the following objectives: provide talking circles to connect Native youth to culturally specific teachings for positive coping; to increase requests for help for mental health concerns, substance use and risks for involvement in the criminal justice system; to decrease reported distress, anxiety, depression, suicidality, maladaptive behaviors and substance use; improve students’ college and career preparation; improve on-time graduation rate of First Nations students; and increase enrollment of First Nations students in Milwaukee Public Schools. The key activities include weekly talking circles; culturally-appropriate curriculum; pre- and postprogram qualitative and quantitative questionnaire; needs assessment; mental health screenings; using the Expanding the Circle transition curriculum; individual student monitoring conferences; after-school and summer programming; pre-college supports, campus visits and scholarship support; language and culture class; podcasts; and allow for feedback.

Muckleshoot Indian Tribe (MIT) will implement the Building Intelligences for Strong Individual Decision-making and Goals (BISID) project. The purpose of the MIT BISID project is to use a “social workers in the schools model” to enable the Muckleshoot Tribal School to develop and provide opportunities that promote strong, positive and healthy educational experiences for students. MIT service area will include Muckleshoot Tribal School, Enumclaw School and Auburn School students, and service will be open to all of the Tribal community’s high school students. The goal of this project will be to provide “Connections” for up to 100 students in grades 9-12 and parents/caregivers to identify, choose and/or connect with local resources to support a positive educational experience.

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation, the Department of Education and Training (TED or TEA) will support community efforts to provide a total of 2,000 Native American students in grades K- 12 with access to service choices within the system each year. The project seeks to enhance student and family educational choice by developing and supporting the use of a Service Provider System (SPS) that includes evidence-based, culturally responsive service options to improve Native American student academic outcomes. Project goals are to (1) Develop an SPS that is based on community needs and that enhances Native American student and family access to evidence-based, culturally responsive educational choices; (2) Expand and strengthen students’ use of culturally responsive, evidence-based educational support services that contribute to their academic success; and (3) Strengthen and increase family engagement to support student learning through the parent involvement and feedback process. The SPS will include high-quality provider choices for students/families and an accountability infrastructure that promotes continuous improvement to ensure that the TEA can effectively monitor and provide oversight for the system, and that the system can be sustained beyond grant funding.

The NACA Inspired Schools Network (NISN) is a multistate network of charter and Tribally controlled K-12 grant schools in New Mexico, Colorado and South Dakota. NISN will implement the Listening Circle: Empowering Student and Parental Choice in Native American Education project to facilitate family choice of supplementary educational services in up to eight NISN school communities. This project will leverage, resource and expand on NISN’s established parent engagement model in order to improve access to the quality and variety of educational opportunities for Native youth throughout its network of schools. Major collaborators include up to eight of its K-12 network schools. The goal of the project is to increase self-determination and educational choice for Native American students and parents in up to eight NISN communities. Objectives and outcomes are focused on deepening family satisfaction through accessing and choosing the high-quality and culturally relevant supplementary educational services that (1) best meet their needs and (2) ensure that all NISN school students are academically prepared for graduation and college, secure in their cultural identities, and holistically healthy.

The National Indian Education Association (NIEA) in partnership with the Navajo Nation will implement a project entitled Supporting Student Success in Navajo Nation (SSS-NN). SSS-NN project seeks to provide a community-based system of supports, grounded in Native values and beliefs, to improve outcomes of Native students by engaging tribal educators, project partners, service providers and families to ensure that Native students in the Navajo Nation can effectively self-actualize into well-rounded, productive Tribal citizens. The goal of the SSS-NN project is to improve outcomes for Native students by implementing a broad set of parent- and student-directed services that provide academic, social-emotional, cultural and career supports. Through its work, the SSS-NN seeks to create significant change within education systems serving Native children. The first step in creating that change is the acknowledgement of a shared responsibility and commitment to improving the lives and outcomes —academic and lifelong — of Native youth. As an education organization, NIEA will support student success through an integrated, holistic approach that meets the varied needs of Native students, enabling them and their parents to have access to high-quality services that can support their success.

Diné Soaring – Choice in Learning will expand opportunities and achievement at Navajo Preparatory School by creating a culture of choice for parents and students to augment the school’s rigorous educational program. Today, Navajo Preparatory School is the only Navajo-sanctioned, college- preparatory high school for Native Americans in the entire country. It is a grades 9-12, college preparatory school with 281 students (SY 2020-21) and all students will be served by the grant. Diné Soaring – Choice in Learning changes the student educational experience by introducing a new menu of learning opportunities accessed through student choice. The range of these new options is broad — from rigorous academic degree programs to college and career readiness, to Navajo culture and language, to healthy living. Program objectives include increasing the number of high-quality service providers, the number of options from which students can choose, the number of culturally relevant options from which students can choose; educational outcomes for all students at Navajo Prep, annually increasing the number of students who choose options; and increasing parent involvement and support for program. Navajo Preparatory School supports student-selected learning pathways. Activities include (1) establishing service agreements; (2) linking each service provider with teachers at Navajo Prep to assure cultural competency and integration into the school’s curricula; (3) developing and distributing student and parent informational materials; (4) establishing registration processes; (5) establishing benchmarks for math and ELA proficiency testing, graduation rate and college enrollment; (6) expanding school’s Parent Advisory Group and designating Parent Liaison to support parents in the program; and (7) providing parents with guidelines for requesting additional services.

Nenana Native Council, a federally recognized Tribe, proposes to implement the Athabascan Native Connections (ANC) project in partnership with the Nenana City School District, which serves a total of 184 students, most of whom are Alaska Natives. ANC will expand local service options and improve youth outcomes by igniting, exciting and preparing students for majors and careers in the high-demand fields of science, technology, engineering and math. The goals of ANC project are to (1) enhance the educational and Alaska Native cultural services provided to Alaska Native students attending Nenana City School, (2) improve the academic performance of Alaska Native students attending Nenana City School, and (3) increase the 21st century college and career readiness of Nenana City School students.

The Nisqually Indian Tribe, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, is presently involved in a multiyear effort to improve educational outcomes for Tribal youth within the Tribal service area of the Nisqually Reservation in Thurston County, Washington. The Nisqually Youth Educational Choice Option Initiative (NYECOI) takes a comprehensive approach to addressing challenges facing tribal youth as they move through the school system. The following are involved in creating a multisystem collaboration: the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s Education Department, The Lut Indian School (a BIE-funded school), the Yelm School District and the North Thurston School District, Northwest Indian College, the Nisqually Tribal Youth Program, and the newly formed Nisqually Parents of Remote Learning Students (PRLS), as well as other available community programs. The overall purpose of the NYECOI is to implement an intensive outreach, public education, and intervention program, and culturally relevant styles of learning for 193 Indian students within the Tribal service area who are at risk for academic failure.

The San Juan School County School District, in partnership with the Navajo Nation and Ute Mountain Ute tribes, will implement San Juan Native American Youth Choosing a Brighter Future. The project will serve 1,831 American Indian/Alaskan Native (AI/AN) students located in Utah’s San Juan School District. Schools located within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation are Montezuma Creek Elementary School, Whitehorse High School, Tse’biinidizgai Elementary School, Monument Valley High School and Navajo Mountain High School. Bluff Elementary School borders both the Navajo Nation and White Mesa (Ute Mountain Ute Tribe). Blanding Elementary School, Albert R. Lyman Middle School and San Juan High School are all in close proximity to the Navajo Nation and White Mesa. The goals and objectives of the project are to Improve college and career readiness of SJSD Native American K-12 students by addressing barriers through a community collaboration to offer student and parent choice in existing local and distance programs, practices, and service providers; increase the number of SJSD Native American students in grades 11 and 12 who show college readiness; increase student attendance and reduce the chronic absenteeism; decrease the number of school suspensions/expulsions of SJSD Native American students in all grades; increase the rate of on-time student graduation in four years; and increase the resilience of SJSD Native American students within their reservation communities against suicide, measured by the assessment of health-risk behaviors delineated in the Navajo Nation Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (NNYRBS) and the State of Utah Student Health and Risk Prevention (SHARP) Survey.

Sokaogon Chippewa Community (SCC) Mole Lake Band of Lake Superior Chippewa offers a suite of education services, internal and through external direct service providers, with the objective to enhance educational outcomes and improve culturally relevant educational choice for the community’s preK-12 children. SCC will use the planning year to build the necessary capacity to deliver the programming and develop the processes for provider selection and student and parent/caregiver feedback. Based on the community’s assessed needs, SCC will provide children with the following educational services: Higher Education Assistance, Workforce Development for Teens, Cultural Preservation, Sports Enrichment and Academic Tutoring. Students will be able to select any program from this menu of services in which they are interested in participating. Additionally, students and parents may request services outside of these options and SCC will work to provide students with desired services, either internally or via an external service provider. The total amount of students served by the grant funds is 1,760. SCC will improve and enhance educational choice by enabling the Tribe to meet the needs of the community’s students and by enabling the students themselves and their parents to choose education services by selecting the specific service and provider desired.

Stone Child College (SCC) will demonstrate the effectiveness of services designed to improve the educational opportunities and achievement of Indian elementary and secondary students on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation. Expected outcomes include increased graduation rates, decreased school disciplinary actions and increased school attendance. The project proposes to add educational services focused on decreasing risky behaviors and increasing a connection to the Chippewa Cree culture. Major partners include Chippewa Cree Tribe, Box Elder School and Rocky Boy School. Potential service providers include Chippewa Cree Cultural Resources Preservation Department, Mahchiminahtik Chippewa and Cree Language Revitalization (MCCLR) nonprofit organization, Rocky Boy Health Center/White Sky Hope Center, and other local consultants.

The California/Oregon Indian Student Services Program (COISSP) developed by the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation (TDN) is designed to expand the options of services available to Indian students, and to increase parent and student choice in the services that students receive. COISSP is designed to service approximately 1,000 Native students in Del Norte and Curry Counties. The focus of the COISSP program is to expand educational choice by enabling the TDN Education Department, in partnership with schools in Del Norte and Curry County, to develop student options that meet the needs of the students and enable parents of Indian students to choose education services by selecting the specific service and provider. COISSP will partner with the Yurok Tribe, Resighini Rancheria, Elk Valley Rancheria, Two Feathers Native American Family Services, North Coast Indian Development Council, College of the Redwoods, and Southwest Oregon Community College. Expanded services to students may include apprenticeships or training programs that lead to industry certifications; concurrent and dual enrollment; Native language, history or culture; advanced, remedial or elective courses (potentially online); Supplemental Special Education services; books, materials, or education technology, including learning software or hardware that are accessible to all children; tutoring; summer or afterschool education programs, and student transportation needed for those specific programs. Additionally, programs could include instruction in the arts, music or sports; to the extent that the services are culturally related or are supported by evidence that suggests the services may have a positive effect on relevant education outcomes.

The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana will implement the project titled Improve Academic Success and Career Readiness 2020 Indian Children and Youth Program: Accessing Choices in Education (ACE). Tribal students will have access to several key services: (1) In-Person Tutoring (COVID-19 social distancing and other preventive measures observed), (2) Online Tutoring Services (for Tribal students with transportation barriers and home study due to COVID-19 school closures), (3) Home School Support Resources, (4) Education Counseling/Mentorship, (5) ACT/SAT Test Prep, (6) Supplemental Learning Centers (after-school programming and summer academic enrichment), (7) Tunica-Biloxi Language Classes, (8) Tunica-Biloxi Cultural Workshops, and (9) Special Education Services and Supports for Tribal students with disabilities. The target population for the ACE program is Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana Tribal students in primary or secondary school and their parents/guardians. The program will serve an average of 150 Tribal students annually. To ensure the success of the ACE program, the Tunica-Biloxi plans to achieve the following goals during the planning and implementation of this project: Goal 1 (Tribal Students): Improve Tunica-Biloxi Tribal student academic performance by increasing the educational choices by 50% by providing a comprehensive pool of culturally appropriate educational and education support services and service providers. Goal 2 (Tribal Parents): Increase the educational choices for parents by providing a comprehensive pool of culturally appropriate education service providers. Goal 3: Target Tribal youth with disabilities (including mental, physical, and substance abuse) in overcoming barriers to educational attainment to improve academic performance metrics for this subgroup.

Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) will serve as the applicant to implement the Turtle Mountain ACE (Accessing Choices in Education) project to directly improve student service opportunities for Indian student/parents. The College will partner with the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, a Bureau of Indian Education-funded school (Turtle Mountain Community High School), and two remote rural education agencies (Dunseith and St. John High Schools) to implement this project. Regularly scheduled activities, grounded in research and evidence-based strategies, will take place during the school day, after school, and the summer to support students’ success and college and career readiness, including school-day instruction/workshops, outside of school tutoring/learning sessions, career academies, hands-on learning with a focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) during summer camps, and involve Tribal Elders and Native role models to engage students in career and cultural activities. The goal of Turtle Mountain ACE is to inform and engage parents/students in a range of evidence-based, culturally relevant services that effectively support each student to pursue a personalized plan of success that meets each individual’s needs, goals and readiness to pursue college and/or career development.

Tzicatl Community Development Corporation (Tzicatl) is funded to support “American Indian Resurgence (AIR) Initiative: Native Youth to College through Community Pathways.” The project will serve approximately 1,000 Native American students in grades six through 12, widely dispersed throughout Los Angeles County to represent a diversity of Tribal affiliations, racial identities, economic status, language, districts and schools. Tribal affiliations of students and families to be served may include Cherokee, Apache, Navajo, Ventureño Chumash, Gabrieleño Tongva, Fernandeño Tataviam and others that are eligible for services under the definitions of the grant. The purpose of the proposed project is to empower the self-determination of Los Angeles area Native American middle and high school students and their families with access to high-quality and culturally relevant educational choices and services that will cultivate a living Indigenous education ecosystem; support their Native identities within our unique geographical, historical and cultural context; and create pathways to high school achievement and college enrollment. Individual outcomes include (1) Increase the power of individual family choice while deepening community cohesion through a sustainable ecosystem of services for Native students and families who are often isolated and underserved within their schools and school systems. (2) Increase high school graduation and college enrollment rates for Native students. (3) Support Indigenous cultural identity and wellness for students through land-based and culturally relevant programming, including counseling and mentoring support.

Umo’n Hon Nation Public Schools will implement the Umo’n Hon Nation Improving Tomorrow for Everyone (UNITE) project. This project prioritizes parent and family engagement to identify needs and services to best serve approximately 540 Native students attending the Umo’n Hon Nation School district located on the Omaha Indian Reservation in Macy, NE. The main goals of this project are to develop a service plan of multiple student opportunities, supports, and educational choice through the implementation of a parent advisory board that will offer career awareness and employability skills for all participating students. It will also provide programming to support work-based experiences and industry certifications for students to increase graduation rates and will develop a sustainable program that serves the needs of Native American students.

The Monarch Project is named for the monarch butterfly, often associated in Tribal legends with symbolism of change and transformation. The lead applicant is United Tribes Technical College (UTTC), in partnership with Sitting Bull College. Goal 1 is to increase parents’ sense of self- efficacy for engagement in and access to educational services designed to support the academic goals of their children. Goal 2 is to expand the number and variety of high-quality, culturally responsive educational service options for American Indian students. Goal 3 is to create “on-ramps” to education for American Indian students who have disengaged with, or who are struggling in, a traditional high school environment. The anticipated performance outcomes of the Monarch Project include these: positive parent perspectives on the quality and variety of educational services offered; increased participation of American Indian high school students in dual and concurrent enrollment in academic and career technical education (CTE) courses; increased access to various online coursework for American Indian high school students; expanded credit recovery options for students; and, by the end of the project, a 10% increase in course credit attainment and a 5% increase in high school graduation rates for American Indian students. Major activities will include the participatory engagement of parents in all aspects of the project, from planning to evaluation. Overall, the Monarch Project features a collaborative pathway for disconnected youth to earn a high school diploma and concurrent college credit, based on an evidence-based model. Participating schools include all four high schools in the Bismarck Public School District, as well as Fort Yates and Solen High Schools, which are located on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The project expects to serve approximately 1,832 American Indian students, over a period of five years.

The Pisichu Enrichment Academy for Knowledge (Project PEAK) serves the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe to improve educational opportunities and achievement of Indian children and youth; it is modeled on the research-based 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. Project PEAK will serve the areas of Towaoc and White Mesa to provide opportunities for academic enrichment, including tutorial services to help students meet challenging state academic standards, and a broad array of additional services, programs, and activities that are designed to reinforce and complement the regular academic program of participating students. With the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, major partners in the project include Center for Rural Outreach and Public Services (CROPS), PSA Training Consultant of FilmWorks Pacific, Summer Film Workshop Trainers of Barcid Foundation and LA SKINS FEST, Blue Earth Network, Boomerang Coach, ConverSketch, and Innovative Educator Consulting. Based on current collaborations, other local and national project partners, such as Southwest Open School, Fort Lewis College, San Juan College, University of North Dakota and Utah State University, are expected to participate to support credit recovery programming and dual credit activities.

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska (WTN), along with community project partners, will implement the Education Pathways to Student Success (EPSS) initiative to provide education choices for Native children and their families in the Winnebago community. EPSS will engage 80 elementary and secondary students per year (400 over the five-year project period) and their families in evidence-based curriculum focused on increasing their academic success and college and career readiness. Community partners include Winnebago Public Schools, Little Priest Tribal College, Boys and Girls of Nisoc Haci, Ho-Chunk Incorporated, and Ho-Chunk Community Development Corporation. The EPSS initiative will serve the village of Winnebago on the Winnebago Reservation in rural Thurston County, in northeastern Nebraska. The goals of the project are to improve academic success of participants, provide career and college readiness activities, create a community-based apprenticeship program, and increase parent and family participation in their child’s education.

The Yerington Paiute Tribe ACE (YBT ACE) project identified a project focus and specific services based on the needs of the local community through evaluations, focus groups and surveys. The program seeks to serve 150 students within the service area to include American Indian students that attend school at the Yerington Intermediate School and the Yerington High School in Yerington, NV, within the Yerington Paiute Tribal Reservation. Potential service providers have been identified and will be finalized during the planning year. A Parent Advisory Council and Youth Advisory Council will be developed during the planning year to oversee the final selection of services and providers. An online portal will be developed to assist parents and students easily access and select their choices. As a result of this ACE project, a decrease in student suspension rates and student tardiness, improvement in student graduation rates, a decrease in student absentee rates, and the improvement of student academic achievement are expected. The overall expected outcome of the YPT ACE program will be options available for student and parent choice to address educational needs and provide student educational opportunities through increased educational choices.

The Tribal Leaders of Tomorrow Indian Children and Youth project was developed by lead applicant Yukon Flats School District and partner Gwichyaa Zhee Gwich’in Tribal government to serve 275 Athabascan Native Alaskan students, located in six remote villages. The project is designed to improve education in this geographically huge school district through the provision of educational choice to better serve Native Alaskan students. The main goals of the project are to raise student achievement and college and career readiness through expanded choice of culturally sensitive educational options, increasing students’ ability to become productive members of the tribe. The goal will be measured by increasing the district graduation rate from 68% in 2019 to 74% by 2024 and improving districtwide student proficiency on state standardized tests from 14.5% in 2019 to 21% by 2024.

Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD), in partnership with Tribal Council of Hughes Village Council, Minto Tribal Council, Brightways Learning, and other local tribal councils, will implement the ESTEEM (Emotional Skills Training for Educational Excellence & Motivation) project to offer high-quality choices of services — including culturally responsive services — and providers from which parents and students can select. The purpose of the project is to improve student and parent satisfaction with students’ overall educational experience by motivating and engaging Alaska’s most at-risk students. To that end, ESTEEM is comprised of three major goals: (1) Motivate and engage Alaska’s most at-risk students into developing resilience and strong social-emotional skills (SES); (2) Provide students with the opportunity to acquire Alaska Native language skills and cultural knowledge; and (3) Enable students to participate in career and technical education (CTE). Expected outcomes are these: increased total number of students served and increased percentage of culturally relevant and other service options for students based on feedback; increased percentage of parents who believe the variety and quality of service options meet their children’s needs; improved response rate to service requests by parents; improved student resilience and SES, and deeper connections to adult anchors; improved suspension, graduation and attendance rates; increased opportunities for students to improve knowledge of Native language/culture; and opportunities for students to participate in CTE services to improve school and life outcomes.

Yukon-Koyukuk School District (YKSD) will implement the YKSD Interior Choices Project (Career, Hope, and Options for Indigenous Communities through Educational Structure) to significantly expand educational choices for 2,300 students in 26 schools across 148,000 square miles. The main goals of this project are as follows: Provide culturally relevant educational choices/sessions for Alaska Native 7th-12th graders to choose from; increase high school graduation rates; design a framework for sustained community collaboration to plan, promote, implement and evaluate the culturally relevant educational options for students living in the Interior; parents will report that the number, variety and quality of options offered meet their children’s needs; Inform parents and students of educational options and sessions; maintain a reasonable average time in responding to parent’s requests for specific services; and meet a reasonable percent of parent requests for additional services that result in adding new services to the offering. For the YKSD Interior Choices Project, the following partners have been identified: Tribes: Allakaket Tribal Council, Hughes Village Council, Huslia Tribal Council, Nulato Tribal Council, Kaltag Tribal Council, Koyukuk Tribal Council, Minto Village Council, Ruby Tribal Council and Rampart Tribal Council. LEA Partners: Iditarod Area School District, Alaska Gateway School District and Tanana City School District. Postsecondary Partners: Alaska Pacific University – Designated as an Alaska Native-Serving Institution (2019), Northern Industrial Training and Alaska Vocational Technical Education Center. Service Provider: Alaska EXCEL (Excellence, Communication skills, Employability skills, Leadership development).

The Yurok Tribe’s Native Educational Choices and Empowerment Project (NECEP) will expand the services available to Indian students and increase parent and student choice in the services that students receive. NECEP will serve approximately 2,000 Indian students living on and off Yurok and Hoopa Valley Tribal lands in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, California. The focus of NECEP is to expand educational choice by enabling the Yurok Tribe Education Department, in partnership with other Tribal organizations, and schools serving these students in Del Norte and Humboldt Counties, to develop student options that meet the needs of their students and enable parents of Indian students, or the students themselves, to choose education services by selecting the specific service and provider. NECEP will partner with the Hoopa Education Association, Two Feathers Native American Family Services, North Coast Indian Development Council, College of the Redwoods, and the Del Norte, Eureka City, Klamath Trinity and Northern Humboldt High School Districts. NECEP goals, objectives and performance measures include increasing parent/caregiver engagement and involvement in student success through choice, increasing American Indian student attendance, student school success, and increasing family leadership.