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Ensuring No American Indian and Alaska Native Child Is Left Behind

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Office of Indian Education

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The mission of the Office of Indian Education is to support the efforts of local educational agencies, Indian tribes and organizations, postsecondary institutions, and other entities to meet the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indians and Alaska Natives so that these students can achieve to the same challenging state standards as all students.

The No Child Left Behind Act amends the Indian education programs as Title VII, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. This landmark in education reform embodies four key principles: stronger accountability for results; greater flexibility in the use of federal funds; more choices for parents of children from disadvantaged backgrounds; and an emphasis on research-based instruction that works.

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2009 Indian Professional Development Grant Competition Open
The 2009 Indian Professional Development Grant application opened Friday, January 23, 2009 and will close Tuesday, March 3, 2009. The Federal Register Notice announcing the opening of the application process was published on Friday, January 23, 2009. You may access the Federal Register Notice announcing the opening at the following link: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister
/announcements/2009-1/012309c.html
The Professional Development program is a competitive grant program that supports activities to increase the number of qualified Indian individuals in professions that serve Indian people. Individuals who receive training under the Professional Development program are required to perform work that is related to the training received and that benefits Indian people, or repay all or a prorated part of the assistance received.

One component of the Professional Development program supports training for qualified Indian individuals to (1) become teachers, administrators, teacher aides, social workers, and ancillary educational personnel; and (2) improve the skills of Indian individuals serving in these capacities. The second component of the program supports training of qualified Indian individuals in fields other than education that result in a degree at the graduate level. Eligible entities include:
- Institutions of higher education, including Indian institutions of higher education;
- A state or local educational agency in consortium with an institution of higher education; or
- An Indian tribe or organization, in consortium with an institution of higher education
For general information on the application process itself, please visit the Indian Professional Development Applicant page located here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indianprofdev/applicant.html. For more information on the Office of Indian Education Discretionary Grants Program for Indian Children and the grants process, please contact the Discretionary Team at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indianprofdev/contacts.html
(January 28, 2009)
2009 Indian Demonstration Grant Competition Open
The 2009 Indian Demonstration Grant application is scheduled to open Wednesday, January 21, 2009 through Friday, March 6, 2009. The Federal Register Notice announcing the opening of the application process was published on Wednesday, January 21, 2009. You may access the Federal Register Notice announcing the opening at the following link: http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister
/announcements/2009-1/012109b.html
Demonstration Grants for Indian Children is a competitive discretionary grant program that supports projects to develop, test and demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve educational opportunities and achievement of Indian children. Program activities may include services to students in preschool to high school in areas such as family-based preschool emphasizing school readiness and parental skills; partnerships between schools and universities to aid, assist and encourage students in transitioning from high school to college, enrichment programs to increase the achievement of Indian children in one or more of the core academic subjects, programs designed to increase the rate of secondary school graduation; and programs that preserve and teach the native language and culture. Eligible entities include:
- A state or local educational agency;
- Indian tribes, organizations or institutions (including Indian institutions of higher education);
- Elementary and secondary schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
- A consortium of any eligible entities, where priority is given to applications that include an Indian tribe, organization or institution.
For general information on the application process itself, please visit the Indian Demonstration Applicant page located here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indiandemo/applicant.html For more information on the Office of Indian Education Discretionary Grants Program for Indian Children and the grants process, please contact the Discretionary Team at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indiandemo/contacts.html
(January 28, 2009)
2009 Indian Formula Grant Application Deadline is January 30
Part I of the 2009 Indian Formula Grant EASIE application is scheduled to open Monday, December 15 through midnight (EST) Friday, January 30, 2009. The Federal Register Notice announcing the opening of the application process will be published on Monday, December 15, 2008. You may access the Federal Register Notice on and after December 15 on the Indian Formula Applicant page located here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/indianformula/applicant.html

Individuals that successfully registered will have access to the EASIE online application system for Parts I and II. Part I allows the applicant to submit Indian student count information while Part II permits the submission of the core portion of their application including assessment data, project objectives and budget information. Part II of the online EASIE Formula grant application is scheduled to open March 16 and close at midnight on April 22, 2009.
(January 28, 2009)
Partnerships for Indian Education: 2009 Conference
The Department of Education Office of Indian Education is again sponsoring a conference titled Partnerships For Indian Education Conference to be held in Norman, Oklahoma, April 17-19, 2009. The conference will provide 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.
(December 10, 2008)
Digital Teacher Workshops
In collaboration with the Teacher to Teacher initiative, we've recently added two more digital teacher workshops providing free online resources for incorporating culture into your classroom instruction on math. These workshops can be used by all teachers working with Native students and can be easily accessed through the Internet. In addition to the five sessions we now have, we're almost ready to release another workshop that focuses on science. You can check out all of our Digital Teacher Workshops from the link on our homepage or at: https://www.t2tweb.us/default.asp
(October 31,2008)
Student Art Competition
Don't forget this year's Student Artist Competition is open. The instructions and guidelines for the 2009 competition can be found on O'ai'ee's Activity Center. The entries must be postmarked by January 16, 2009, so don't delay in working with your students on preparing an entry in the art or essay competition, or both!
(October 31,2008)
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.
2008 Demonstration Grants
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)
2008 Professional Development Grants
Salish Kootenai College (Montana)
Stone Child College (Montana)
Oglala Lakota College (South Dakota)
University of Alaska-Fairbanks (Alaska)
Pennsylvania State University (Pennsylvania)

(July 7, 2008)
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
For each of the Findings, you can access related results in PDF format by clicking in the colored box. Read the executive summary, and print the report at http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/
2008458.asp The study is sponsored by the Office of Indian Education (OIE) and conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics for the U.S. Department of Education. NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences.
(June 30, 2008)
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.

See complete results at: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/nies
Read the executive summary of the report at: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/
2008457.asp
NIES was conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Indian Education. NAEP, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics within the Institute of Education Sciences.
(May 14, 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)
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)