2019-02: In Support of Data Sharing Partnerships and Cooperative Agreements

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 Native organization of American Indian, Alaska Native, 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 Native people; and

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

WHEREAS, in public schools, student data is typically kept by state education agencies (SEAs), local educational agencies (LEAs), or institutions of higher education, even when students are citizens of or affiliated with an American Indian or Alaska Native tribe; and

WHEREAS, Tribes, Native communities, and tribal education departments (TEDs/TEAs) often face challenges when acquiring data held by SEAs, LEAs, or institutions of higher education related to Native students; and

WHEREAS, over 93 percent of Native students across the nation attend public schools, which submit data to state and federal governments; and

WHEREAS, SEAs and LEAs often fail to disaggregate data based upon tribal citizenship or affiliation, introducing additional challenges for tribes seeking to support their students; and

WHEREAS, tribes contribute millions of dollars to the education of Native students and schools across the country each year – decisions that require high-quality data related to tribal students; and

WHEREAS, high-quality data is critical for tribes to make informed programmatic and policy-related decisions that impact Native students and education; and

WHEREAS, both the lack of access to and the incompleteness of Native student data are hindering the efforts of tribes, Native communities, TEDs, and TEAs to assist SEAs, LEAs, and institutions of higher education in their efforts to improve education and educational opportunities for Native students; and

WHEREAS, data access and completeness challenges can and should be remedied by cooperative agreements between SEAs and LEAs and tribes, and also by tribal education codes and laws, that require SEAs and LEAs to share Native student data with tribes, Native communities, TEDs and TEAs, and require SEAs and LEAs to identify the tribal citizenship or Native affiliation of Native students;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Indian Education Association (NIEA), in partnership with the Tribal Education Departments National Assembly (TEDNA), urges states to work with tribes and Native communities to develop and enact cooperative agreements with SEAs, LEAs, and institutions of higher education; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NIEA, in partnership with TEDNA, urges SEAs, LEAs, and institutions of higher education to collect data that identifies Native students’ tribal citizenship or affiliation and share data related to Native students through such cooperative agreements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that SEAs, LEAs, and institutions of higher education provide technical assistance and guidance related to the implementation of the data-sharing agreements; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that NIEA will work in partnership with TEDNA and other partners to support and encourage Native nations to establish laws and codes that allow access to Native student data; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, NIEA, in partnership with TEDNA, encourages national, state and regional Native organizations to pass similar resolutions in support of our Native students; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that this resolution shall be the policy of NIEA until it is withdrawn or modified by subsequent resolution.