反射圈 Toolkit: Improving 教育 for Native Students

几十年来,, Native students have faced significant opportunity gaps that impede their academic achievement and trajectories. To close these gaps, the Native 教育 Collaborative, supported by the 国家综合中心(NCC)，由韦斯特导演，美国资助.S. 教育部，开发 反思的圈子:SEA的工具包—由3部分组成的系列丰富, constructive discussions between state education agencies (SEAs), 部落教育部门, 和地方教育机构(LEAs).

反射圈, 或圆, is designed to help participants reflect on the needs of Native students and strategize the systemic transformation of their education. So far, 5 SEAs have engaged in these talks and created 90-day action plans. But what impact will it have and can it be used to improve the education of other underserved students? 艾米Bitterman, a 趣赢平台 Senior Research Associate and co-leader of the project, 回答这些问题和更多.

Q. Tell us about the 反射圈 toolkit and what prompted its development?

A. 反射圈工具包是一个交互式的, adaptable resource enabling education leaders to independently facilitate the Circle gatherings. 当我们第一次开发圈子的时候, 这是一份50页的资料, 以PDF格式发布在NCC网站上. 当我们用几个sea完成循环时, 我们决定创建一个更加用户友好的, 易于访问的在线工具包.

Q. 工具箱里有什么?

A. The toolkit contains customizable worksheets and step-by-step instructions on how to complete each Circle. 它还包括演示幻灯片, 便利化指南, and modifiable Reflection Questions focused on key areas of Native education: Native Culture and Language, 部落协商与主权, 有效的教师和领导者, 大学和职业准备, 身体和行为健康, and Identification and Support of Promising Programs and Practices.

Q. 为什么Circle聚会和工具包很重要?

A. 反射圈 gives Tribes a voice in the education of their youth while ensuring transparency and accountability of state- and district-level efforts to improve Native students’ education. We chose the concept of talking circles because that method of communicating, 这是一些部落的做法, allows participants to share differing voices and perspectives and supports consensus building.

Q. 该工具包的预期影响是什么?

A. Circles is an effective resource for education departments at all levels that want to build relationships with Tribes in districts with high proportions of Native students. It is one of the only resources around that provides states with the steps needed to include tribal education leaders in creating unbiased, 为本土学生提供优质教育.

Q. How does 反射圈 improve outcomes for Native students?

A. Tribes enhance their students’ overall educational progress by fostering bonds and support that connect and strengthen their communities and citizenry. The collaboration through 反射圈 supports Tribal engagement and strengthens relationships between educational agencies, 从而为本土学生提供更好的支持.

Q. Can the toolkit help SEAs enhance education for other underserved students?

A. 是的,肯定. The toolkit offers an important mechanism to enable these students’ advocates to be heard and brought into the decisionmaking process. 应印度教育办公室的要求, we also created a version to help Tribal 教育 Departments work with their districts and help those operating their own schools enhance their students’ educational experiences in collaboration with districts and the SEA; see the STEP补助金的反思圈. This model could potentially be adapted to work with other groups of educational stakeholders.