Western Educational Equity Assistance Center

Services to Meet the Needs of Special Populations

Impact Story: Launching a Tiered System of Support for Leaders in the Bureau of Indian Education Schools

Recognizing the need to better support its school leaders in using evidence-based instructional and leadership practices to effectively develop talent, build school community, and transform instruction, the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) requested assistance from the Region 13 Comprehensive Center (R13CC). In partnership, the BIE and R13CC developed and implemented a system of support for the BIE’s school leaders focused on BIE policies, processes, and procedures; evidence-based leadership practice; and transformational leadership strategies.

This resource describes the creation and implementation of the system of support and the results of the program. The resource also provides information on what ways the school leaders benefitted from the support provided.

Native Voices Highlight Five Major Opportunities to  Support Indigenous Communities, Educators, and Schools 

Native leaders and practitioners serving Native students identified key opportunities for education organizations at all levels to open critically important pathways for Indigenous teachers and schools to serve as Native Nation builders. Five actionable thematic takeaways emerged.

1. Institutions of higher education and teacher preparation programs have an opportunity to partner with Tribes to design professional learning.
2. Districts and schools can adapt educational systems to integrate Native lifeways and practices that sustain tribal communities.
3. States, districts, schools, and teacher preparation organizations can support Indigenous educators through growing networks with other Indigenous teachers and leaders.
4. Policymakers, states, districts, and schools can open up critically important Indigenous educator pathways.
5. States and advocates can leverage ESSER, ARP, and CARES Act funds to support Indigenous educators.

 

 

Cross-State Community of Practice Aims to  Advance Education for Native Students 

Each month, state-level American Indian education leaders gather in a virtual, cross-state community of practice to share insights about what’s working to support Native students. This learning network serves as a valuable connection to peers.

Five Promising Practices for Enabling Change
Sandoval identifies five community constructs as key to enabling change:

– Focus on priority issues articulated by Native Nations. Content is centered on what participants identify as a need or something they want to learn. “We strive to listen deeply and respond accordingly,” she reports.
– Organize as a freethinking learning opportunity. “We are not giving our colleagues another job to do. We are here to support them.”
– Balance learning opportunities with time for peers to connect. Evidence-based content is presented each month by scholars, researchers, practitioners, or participants themselves, followed by time for members to circle up and have frank conversations about approaches that can transform outcomes for students.
– Invite participants to share what is working well. Members share opportunities such as implementation highlights and successes of design in large groups or small groups or via pair-share discussions.
– Consistently convene. The community comes together on the last Wednesday of every month, and participants receive the schedule of topics in advance so that they can plan.

Increasing American Indian and Alaska Native High School Graduation Rates: Strategies and Recommendations for Local Education Agency Leaders in the Western States

Native peoples of the Americas have rich histories and cultural heritages, which include valuing education. School district leaders and policymakers across the country are working to increase graduation rates and reduce dropout rates (Anderson & Nieves, 2020; Rumberger et al., 2017). Approximately one third of all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in the Western United States do not graduate from high school. In this brief, authors Sharon Nelson-Barber and Jon Boxerman consider recent graduation rates, dropout statistics, and recommendations that respond to school completion rates among AI/AN students.

Tribal Advocacy for Educational Change 

Session III in a three-part series, Making a Difference for American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Innovations and Wise Practices

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Tribal leaders are advocating for systemic change to improve educational outcomes for American Indian and Alaska Native students. In this session, panelists share ways that tribal governments and Native-serving organizations are designing and funding the nurturing of students for school, college, career, and community life.

Indigenous Educator Pathways II

Session II in a three-part series, Making a Difference for American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Innovations and Wise Practices

February 14, 2023

American Indian and Alaska Native Educators comprise 0.5 percent of the teacher workforce in the United States. Recruiting and sustaining this educator population in both urban and rural settings is a persistent challenge throughout the country. This session focuses on systemic efforts and innovations that prepare, place, and sustain American Indian and Alaska Native educators, including alternative licensure pathways.

Video recording:
https://vimeo.com/833376212?share=copy

Indigenous Educator Pathways

Session I in a three-part series, Making a Difference for American Indian and Alaska Native Students: Innovations and Wise Practices

December 14, 2022

American Indian and Alaska Native Educators comprise 0.5 percent of the teacher workforce in the United States. Recruiting and sustaining this educator population in both urban and rural settings is a persistent challenge throughout the country. In this session, participants explore systemic efforts and innovations that prepare, recruit, and sustain American Indian and Alaska Native educators.

Video recording:

https://vimeo.com/826980509?share=copy

District Guide for Creating Indicators for Early Warning Systems

This guide, prepared by American Institutes for Research for REL West, provides concrete advice to help school districts review student data or records, identify student characteristics and behaviors that are related to education outcomes, and make sound decisions in developing or refining accurate early warning indicators.

The guide focuses on the foundation for an early warning system for dropout prevention: understanding which locally informed indicators best predict students at risk of not achieving desired graduation outcomes, then building those indicators to match the local need.

Organized into seven sections, the guide:

  • Reviews commonly used early warning indicators and summarizes the research behind these indicators
  • Explains the process to select a student sample, explore the local data sources, and prepare a dataset for analysis
  • Discusses simple descriptive ways to understand the distributions of potential predictor and outcome variables with the local context
  • Provides examples of descriptive ways to understand the relationships between potential indicators and graduation outcomes
  • Outlines the steps needed to establish appropriate cut points for early warning indicators
  • Examines the rationale and steps for comparing early warning indicators
  • Discusses how to examine the reliability and validity of indicators or a combination of indicators
  • The sections guide users through the steps involved in developing or refining early warning indicators that reflect their own local context. Tables, graphs, and templates are included as practical examples.

Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI) Evaluation: 2018–19 Final Programmatic Report

In 2011, Massachusetts funded 11 cities to identify and engage youth at “proven risk” for serious violence through the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative (SSYI). The program has expanded over the years to now serve 14 cities across the state and is run through the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS).

SSYI uses a multi-faceted community-based strategy that links nearly 2,000 proven risk youth, ages 17-24, each year with community partners to provide supports for employment, housing, mental health, education, and family services. The AIR and WestEd have served as the external evaluators for SSYI since 2013.

2018 SSYI Evaluation: Key Findings
The most recent SSYI evaluation, commissioned by EOHHS, has demonstrated the continued impact of SSYI on community-level crime and client-level behaviors that ultimately save SSYI cities $5.10 in victimization costs for every dollar invested in SSYI. Other highlights from the 2018 evaluation include:

  • SSYI cities have experienced greater rates of decline for violent offenses and victimization since 2012 relative to non-SSYI cities.
  • Overall, more than 800 fewer violent crime victims in SSYI cities each year through 2018.
  • Since SSYI inception, SSYI clients were involved in 36 percent fewer for violent offenses and 20 percent fewer non-violent offenses relative to youth identified for the program and never enrolled.
  • SSYI client surveys and stories highlight the importance of SSYI for providing support, access to resources, and improved beliefs of self-worth and likelihood to change.