Co-constructing School Improvement with Site-based Native Teacher Professional Development at Tuba City Unified School District
This is a partnership among Tuba City Unified School District, Dine College and the Center for Indian Education at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University. The Program is recruiting and training two mixed cohorts compromising a total of 20 elementary and secondary level Native teachers as an essential element of NCLB District school improvement.
The training program is field-based, focusing on school improvement within a middle school that is undergoing the process of restructuring. The training and improvement model is constructed around research-based school improvement models embedded in the CREDE Five Standards of Effective Pedagogy and Stanford University's Ten Features of Redesigning Schools. Focusing preparation in a middle school will link and "cross-train" secondary and elementary cohorts. District master teachers teach methods and Indian Education courses.
The program also utilizes distance technology and some campus-based programming for subject area preparation at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at Arizona State University.
Renewing Our Sacred Trust: Native Teachers for Arizona's Heartland III
The Native Teacher Professional Development Program (NTPDP) is a manifestation of a vital and necessary direction for longevity and permanence of the program mission in Native education at the Center for Indian Education at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education. Since 2000, the program has trained more than 40 Native teachers (all are currently working to meet the needs of Native children in HIE schools.)
The Center for Indian Education, in cooperative partnership with the Pasqua Yaqui Tribe, the Gila River Indian Community, the Ft. McDowell Yavapai Nation, the Salt River Indian Community, and the San Carlos Apache Tribe recently welcomed the participation of the Colorado River Indian Tribe and the Ft. Mojave Tribe to renew a collaborative that will train 20 more new Indian teachers to work in HIE schools serving partner Nations.
The NTPDP was originally created upon initial funding from OIE. Key features of the NTPDP model include: a foundation of Indian Education coursework; on-site learning through a contrast of reservation and urban Native community educational settings with five-week classroom internship rotations; a full-time immersion style learning format; an all Native, Inter-Tribal cohort as a professional peer group; and a developing induction support network of peers, experienced classroom teachers, community partners, program staff and faculty. The program has consistently exceeded its numeric goals. Currently, there has been over 40 graduates. This graduation rate has been accomplished largely due to mentoring, tutoring and creating new university and community roles and relationships that include full institutionalization of the ITP program at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education.
