2011-04: Support the Creation and Adoption of a Presidential Executive Order for American Indian/Alaska Native Education

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1970 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of American Indian, Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiian educators, administrators, parents and students in the United States, provides a forum to discuss and act upon issues affecting the education of Indian and Native people; and

WHEREAS, through its’ unique relationship with Indian nations and tribes, the federal government has established programs and resources to meet the educational needs of American Indians, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiians, residing on and off their reserved or non-reserved homelands; and

WHEREAS, the US Department of Education (USDOE) must develop a ‘cradle to career’ strategy for American Indian (AI) and Alaska Native (AN) students that build upon the researchproven results that highlight the positive impacts these methods produce; and

WHEREAS, the USDOE must create a position within the department that is focused on the coordination of all federal AI/AN education programs in a way that honors and respects the federal trust responsibility, and which reports directly to the Secretary of Education within the USDOE; and

WHEREAS, education programs for AI/AN should be holistic in nature and aligned with the Native language, culture, values, and traditions of the students being educated; and

WHEREAS, tribal colleges and universities are important institutions for AI/AN students that require the adoption of well-designed policies and the development of effective funding strategies; and

WHEREAS, better coordination is needed of assessment and evaluation strategies to inform federal policy making and program administration in collecting relevant data and measuring the effectiveness of cultural and Native language based pedagogy; now

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that NIEA supports the creation and adoption of an Executive Order signed by the President of the United States that:

  1.  Emphasizes a ‘cradle to career’ strategy for education programs affecting AI/AN students

  2. Creates a position within the USDOE that reports directly to the Secretary of Education and helps to coordinate all federal programs that impact AI/AN communities

  3. Supports holistic education programs that respect and align to the language, culture, history, and values of AI/AN people

  4. Supports tribal colleges and universities in their efforts to develop strong education policies and increase revenue streams

  5. Supports collecting data to measure the effectiveness of language and culture based education programs, as well as tracking these programs using assessments aligned to the intention of the program and the people it’s meant to serve, in order to inform federal policymakers.

Steven Peters