Office of Indian Education Moving to New Location
The Office of Indian Education will be moving to a new location within the Department of Education the week of August 11. All staff will have new room numbers but will retain their phone numbers and email addresses. Once the move is finalized the new contact information will be posted here.
(August 7, 2008)

Office of Indian Education Announces 2008 Discretionary Awards
The Office of Indian Education recently announced the 2008 Discretionary Awards for Demonstration Grants for Indian Children and Professional Development. Below is a listing of the awards. Links to the project abstracts may be accessed by clicking on the category before each listing.

Turtle Mountain Community College (North Dakota)
Skokomish Indian Tribe (Washington)
Cumberland County Schools (North Carolina)
Rocky Boy School District (Montana)
Lower Kuskokwim School District (Alaska)
Tahlequah Public Schools (Oklahoma)
Hannahville Indian Community (Michigan)
Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis (Washington)
Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma (Oklahoma)
Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (Alaska)
Lapwai School District (Idaho)
San Juan School District (Utah)

Salish Kootenai College (Montana)
Stone Child College (Montana)
Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota)
University of Alaska-Fairbanks (Alaska)
Pennsylvania State University (Pennsylvania)

National Indian Education Study 2007 Part II Released
National Indian Education Study 2007 Part II: Performance of American Indian and Alaska Native Students at Grades 4 and 8 on NAEP 2007 Reading and Mathematics Assessments is now available at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard. Part II of the NIEA is a survey that provides information on the educational experiences of the fourth- and eighth-grade American Indian and Alaska Native students who participated in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessments. The survey is reported separately from Part I and includes information on the integration of native language and culture into school and classroom activities. The report may be downloaded at this link: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nies

National Indian Education Study 2007 Part I Released
National Indian Education Study 2007 Part I: Performance of American Indian and Alaska Native Students at Grades 4 and 8 on NAEP 2007 Reading and Mathematics Assessments is now available at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard The report presents the results of Part I of the National Indian Education Study (NIES) focusing on the performance of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) fourth- and eighth-graders on the 2007 National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading and mathematics. A national sample of approximately 10,100 AI/AN students at grades 4 and 8 participated in the reading assessment and 10,300 in the mathematics assessment. Results from this study are compared to those from the first NIES conducted in 2005. The results for 11 states with relatively large populations of AI/AN students are presented in addition to the national results.

Overall, the average reading scores for AI/AN fourth- and eighth-graders showed no significant change since 2005 and were lower than the scores for non-AI/AN students in 2007.

There was, however, an increase in the percentage of AI/AN fourth-graders performing at or above the Proficient level from 21 percent in 2005 to 25 percent in 2007.

In 2007 at both grades, AI/AN students attending schools in which less than 25 percent of the students were AI/AN scored higher than their peers attending schools with higher concentrations of AI/AN students, and those attending public schools scored higher than their peers in Bureau of Indian Education schools.

Partnerships for Indian Education: 2008 Conference
The Department of Education Office of Indian Education is sponsoring a conference titled The Partnerships For Indian Education Conference to be held in Rapid City, South Dakota, July 8-10, 2008. The event is called for by Executive Order 13336 and provides an opportunity for Indian education partners to participate and engage in an effective dialogue on furthering the academic success of Native American students. In an effort to foster communication, collaboration, and cooperative strategies, the 3 day conference will allow federal, state and tribal agencies and national organizations to share promising practices and effective programs in the areas of students, schools, family, and community. For more information, including registration, hotel and presenter information, please check the OIE companion site at: http://www.indianeducation.org for more information.
(April 18, 2008)

State Points of Contact
For Formula grant applicants applying for 2008 funding, we are posting the State Points of Contact listing for your information. For states that comply with Executive Order 12372 and receive copies of Formula grant applications we are providing a list of the locations by state. Please check our Indian Formula Resources page for more information. http://www.ed.gov/programs/indianformula/resources.html
(April 18, 2008)

Digital Teacher Workshop - Teachers of Native American Students
The Office of Indian Education, in collaboration with the Department of Education's Teacher to Teacher Initiative, has developed a series of online digital teaching tools for educators. Teaching experts have created this unique digital portal for incorporating learning activities in a cultural context for teachers nationwide. For access to the website please log onto: www.t2tweb.us/NativeAmerican.
(November 1, 2007)

Update on OIE Contacts
OIE's work in processing all applications and awards is performed by teams instead of specific state assignments of grantees to program specialists. For more information and a listing of teams, see Contacts for OIE.
(April 6, 2007)

New ED506 Form Available
A new Title VII Student eligibility form is now available from the Office of Indian Education. The 506 Form is used by Indian education formula programs to document Indian heritage of participating students. To download this file follow this link to our Indian formula resource page: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indianformula/resources.html
(October 23, 2006)