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American Indian Education Knowledgbase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The American Indian Education KnowledgeBase is an online resource to aid education professionals in their efforts to improve the education of American Indian students and close the achievement gap American Indian students have faced in public, Bureau of Indian Education, and other schools.

Task 4: Understand State and Federal Funding Available to Educate American Indian Students in Public Schools

Guideline:  Educators will know about the Johnson O'Malley program, Impact Aid, and Indian Education funding (through Title VI of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) available to public schools serving American Indian students, who is eligible, and how to apply.

Checklists

 

 

American Indian Scholarships and Grants

This website offers information on requirements, amount of scholarship award, and how to apply for various Native American Indian Scholarships such as: Chickasaw Foundation Scholarships, AAAE Scholarship for Native Americans, Native American Education Grant, University of Colorado at Boulder White Antelope Memorial ScholarshipBureau of Indian Education Scholarships, Catching the Dream Native American Scholarship Fund, American Indian College Fund, Smithsonian Native American Awards Program, LITA/LSSI Minority Scholarship for Library and TechnologySpectrum ScholarshipYoung Native Writers, Holland & Knight Charitable Fund, Inc., Ford Motor Company Tribal ScholarshipAmerican Indian Science and Engineering Society Google Scholarships, and the Lockheed Martin Tribal Scholarship.

NITRO 60+ Scholarships for Native American Students

This NITRO website provides Native American scholarship information.  With education in particular, government agencies have been navigating just how much support to provide citizens whose family tree spans generations in North America, while still allowing them to uphold their own individual rights and traditions.  The Bureau of Indian Education offers this interactive guide below to sort through resources and over 60 Native American scholarships available for the 2018-2019 academic year. Scholarships references are: Wah-Tiah-Kah Scholarship, Tyonek Native Corporation Scholarship and Grant Fund, Native American Seminary, Zuni Tribal Scholarship, Science Systems & Application, Inc. (SSAI) Underrepresented Student Scholarship, Cherokee Nation Scholarship, and the American Indian Law School Scholarship.

Tools

 

ELL Family Toolkit

The English Learner Family Toolkit was created to help families choose education services that meet their child’s needs. U.S. educators, elementary and secondary school teachers, principals, and other school staff can also share the toolkit as a resource for English learners and their families.  The English Learner Family Toolkit consists of 6 chapters, and each chapter contains 5 sections - an overview, enrollment, family and student rights, questions to ask schoolstips, and resourcesDownload the complete toolkit by using the quick links for the information needed most.

FY 2016: The Indian Education Demonstration Grants Program

The purpose of the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children Program is to provide financial assistance to projects that develop, test and demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve the educational opportunities and achievement of preschool, elementary, and secondary Native American Indian students.  This competition contains one absolute priority and three competitive preference priorities. The absolute priority is to fund Native Youth Community Projects (NYCP). 

Legal

Policies

 

2015 The White House Launched the “Generation Indigenous Native Youth Challenge”

In this 2015 White House blog, the announcement and description of the Generation Indigenous Native Youth Challenge, which invites Native youth and organizations across the country to become a part of the Administration’s Generation Indigenous (Gen-I) initiative, by joining the National Native Youth Network — a White House effort in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Center for Native American Youth and the U.S. Department of the Interior was made. President Obama launched the Gen-I Initiative at the 2014 White House Tribal Nations Conference to focus on improving the lives of Native youth by removing the barriers that stand between Native youth and their opportunity to succeed. 

Grants to Native Americans and Alaska Natives for Career and Technical Education (NACTEP)

Native American Career and Technical Education Programs (NACTEP) provides grants to federally recognized Indian tribes, tribal organizations, Alaska Native entities and eligible BIE-funded schools to improve career and technical education programs that are consistent with the purposes of the Perkins Act and that benefit Native Americans and Alaskan Natives. NACTEP assists in the preparation of Native American students for the high-skill, high-wage, or high-demand occupations in emerging or established professions.

Wisconsin Education Act 31 & 2014 Survey Report

In the August 1989 biennial budget bill, a piece of legislation was included requiring all public school districts and teacher education programs in Wisconsin to include instruction on the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of the eleven federally recognized tribes and bands located in the State of Wisconsin. The legislation also requires the inclusion of instruction on the treaty rights of the six Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) bands in Wisconsin. Another requirement is that teachers must have this instruction in their education training program or they are not eligible for a license to teach in the State of Wisconsin. This legislation is commonly referred to as Act 31 (1989/1991).  This is the 2014 Administrator and Teacher Survey Report for the Wisconsin Education Act 31.

Practical Tips

 

Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation (BGCNCN)

The Boys and Girls club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation (BGCNCN), like the Harlem Children's Zone, is committed to doing "whatever it takes" to improve the odds of all Native American Indian children moving from cradle-to-college-through-career. With Promise Neighborhoods, The BGCNCN supports systemic, collaborative, strengths-based, and culturally appropriate approaches to helping all the young people of our Reservation, and surrounding counties reach their full potential.

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) - State Plans & Updates

This Department of Education website provides consolidated State Plan Templates, ESSA Technical Assistance resources, and the most recent updates to ESSA policies and regulations.

Financial Aid and College Preparation Resources for Native Americans

Research has found that American Indians and Alaska Natives have a much lower rate of college completion than the population as a whole.  This fact sheet recommends some places to find information about preparing for college and paying for college. This Federal Student Aid website offers Financial Aid and College Preparation Resources for Native American Indian students and their families.

References

 

2011 ED Programs American Indians and Alaska Natives

This Department of Education website provides a list of federal funding programs for American Indians and Alaskan Natives.

American Indian Science and Engineering Society

As noted at its website, "The American Indian Science and Engineering Society's (AISES) mission is to increase substantially the representation of American Indian and Alaskan Natives in engineering, science and other related technology disciplines."

Impact Aid Program

This document offers an overview of the Impact Aid Program.

Indian Education Act of 1972

This article from the Journal of Indian Education offers an overview of the Indian Education Act of 1972. The passage of this Act was a major milestone in the history of Indian education.

Indian Education Funding

The Indian Education Act of 1972 provided funding for special programs for Indian students attending public schools on and off reservations. The current version of the Indian Education Act is Title VI of the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. This document provides an overview of the Title VI program.

Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program

This link is to a U.S. Department of Education website providing information on the Native American and Alaska Native Children in School Program.

Office of Indian Education

This link is to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Indian Education website.

Special Education Grants for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Exceptional Students

This Northern Arizona University website showcases special education grants such as: Preparing Rural Inclusive Multicultural Exceptional-educators (PRIME) grant, Culturally Responsive ESL Special Education Training (CREST) grant for ELLs, Preparing Rural Inclusive Special Educators (PRISE) grant, Rural Inclusive Special Educators (RISE) grant, Bilingual Rural Inclusive Development for General and Exceptional-educators (BRIDGE) grant for Navajo, Hopi and Mexican-American students, Developing Rural Exceptional-educators to Address Multicultural Students (DREAM) grant, and the Limited-English-proficient-students Education for All Professionals (LEAP) grant.

Examples

 

Grant Opportunities for Oklahoma Higher Education

This Oklahoma Higher Education website focuses on the mission of the OSRHE coordinator for grants and external funding technical assistance which will be to enhance a robust grants culture in the Oklahoma higher education system, providing direct services to the agency, the regional universities and the two-year colleges. An invitation to subscribe to OKgrantsman is also featured.

Honoring Nations 2018 Awards

This September 24, 2018 Harvard University article announced, after a national search, the six tribal governments from across the country who were selected as finalists for the Honoring Nations 2018 Awards. Based at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and administered by the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, the Honoring Nations Award identifies, celebrates, and shares outstanding examples of tribal governance.  Honoring Nations also helps expand the capacities of Native nation builders by enabling them to learn from each others’ successes. These finalists are exercising their self-determination and implementing effective solutions to common governmental challenges in the areas of environmental research and management, health provider training, language revitalization, agriculture, child welfare, and restorative justice.  The 2018 Honoring Nations finalists were: Native Village of Kotzebue (Environmental Programs), Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (Health Aide Training Programs), Miami Tribe of Oklahoma (Myaamiaki Eemamwiciki Program)  Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma (Agricultural Programs), Sitka Tribe of Alaska (Sitka ICWA Partnership), and the Yurok Tribe (Wellness Programming).

Indian Education in New Mexico, 2025

In 2007, the New Mexico Indian Education Study, 2025, embarked on a statewide research.  This study indicates that Best Practices in Indian Education entail providing a culturally responsive education for Native students. Culturally responsive education requires systemic reform and transformation in educational ideologies.  Such a task is not easily accomplished in a rigid public school structure that is bound by state and federal laws.

Indicator 20: Financial Aid (2016)

This 2016 National Center for Educational Statistics report states that while the cost of a post-secondary education is a potential burden for some students in their completion of an undergraduate degree, financial aid can help ease this burden. Grants and loans are the major forms of federal financial aid for degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students.  Among full-time, full-year undergraduate students, 85% of Black and American Indian/Alaska Native students and 80% of Hispanic students received grants in 2011–12. These percentages were higher than the percentages of students of Two or more races (73 percent) and White (69 percent), Pacific Islander (67 percent), and Asian (63 percent) students who received grants.

Leading the Way, Our Future Warriors - My Brother's Keeper

This Department of Education Homeroom 2015 blog features the 2011-2012 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) that revealed troubling disparities that the data revealed should remind us of the importance of ensuring that all students have equal access to educational opportunities.  For instance, fewer than 50% of American Indian and Native-Alaskan high school students have access to the full range of math and science courses in their high school. American Indian/Alaska Native students represent 1% of student enrollment but account for 3% of the referrals to law enforcement and 2% of school related arrests.
American Indian/Alaska Native males represent 13% of out-of-school suspensions in the United States.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.