Post by blackcrowheart on Apr 4, 2007 13:16:33 GMT -5
Idaho to create position to oversee American Indian education
MOSCOW, Idaho - The state Department of Education is creating a
new position to oversee the education of nearly 4,200 American Indian
students in Idaho.
The state's first Indian education coordinator will be a point of
contact for tribal education officials, primary school and secondary
school teachers, and local, state and federal administrators.
The pool of candidates is being developed with the assistance of Idaho's
five recognized tribes: the Coeur d Alene, Kootenai, Nez Perce,
Shoshone-Bannock, and Shoshone-Paiute.
"If we find the right person to fill this position, it will be a great
advantage for Native American students and the communities they live
in," said Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna.
Last year, then-Superintendent Marilyn Howard and then-Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne supported a similar effort to create the job, but the
position was struck down by lawmakers who said there was no money for
it.
Luna said the Education Department will not need permission from the
Legislature to open the position this year, because the agency has not
requested money for it.
"We will create the position using the resources and the positions we
have currently in the department," he said. "Its a green light. We are
moving forward."
The state Indian Education Committee has talked about adding an Indian
education coordinator since the 1990s, said Bryan Samuels, committee
chair.
"What we were saying is that there needs to be a look at why those
students aren't achieving," he told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News for a
story Tuesday. "If we continued on the same road, they'd be dropping out
or not graduating."
Indian students in Idaho have always scored the lowest on state
standardized tests. Now, the federally mandated Idaho Standard
Achievement Tests means the state can no longer overlook students who
are not performing, he said.
"We have so many pieces out there in education, and so many questions
and unanswered questions, and so many things that aren't being pulled
together," he said. "We have people making decisions that they think are
in the best interest of Indian students when in fact they might not be
relevant at all."
University of Idaho graduate student Julian Matthews, a Nez Perce tribal
member and leader of the university's Native American Graduate Student
Association, doesn't want to see the position become overly
bureaucratic.
"It has to be practical," he said. "You don't want to have someone just
meeting with the tribes."
Rather, Matthews said, the new coordinator should work with teachers to
make sure they understand how to create a culturally relevant
curriculum, and work to reduce the high school dropout rates and improve
resources, instructional methods and adult education.
MOSCOW, Idaho - The state Department of Education is creating a
new position to oversee the education of nearly 4,200 American Indian
students in Idaho.
The state's first Indian education coordinator will be a point of
contact for tribal education officials, primary school and secondary
school teachers, and local, state and federal administrators.
The pool of candidates is being developed with the assistance of Idaho's
five recognized tribes: the Coeur d Alene, Kootenai, Nez Perce,
Shoshone-Bannock, and Shoshone-Paiute.
"If we find the right person to fill this position, it will be a great
advantage for Native American students and the communities they live
in," said Idaho Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna.
Last year, then-Superintendent Marilyn Howard and then-Gov. Dirk
Kempthorne supported a similar effort to create the job, but the
position was struck down by lawmakers who said there was no money for
it.
Luna said the Education Department will not need permission from the
Legislature to open the position this year, because the agency has not
requested money for it.
"We will create the position using the resources and the positions we
have currently in the department," he said. "Its a green light. We are
moving forward."
The state Indian Education Committee has talked about adding an Indian
education coordinator since the 1990s, said Bryan Samuels, committee
chair.
"What we were saying is that there needs to be a look at why those
students aren't achieving," he told the Moscow-Pullman Daily News for a
story Tuesday. "If we continued on the same road, they'd be dropping out
or not graduating."
Indian students in Idaho have always scored the lowest on state
standardized tests. Now, the federally mandated Idaho Standard
Achievement Tests means the state can no longer overlook students who
are not performing, he said.
"We have so many pieces out there in education, and so many questions
and unanswered questions, and so many things that aren't being pulled
together," he said. "We have people making decisions that they think are
in the best interest of Indian students when in fact they might not be
relevant at all."
University of Idaho graduate student Julian Matthews, a Nez Perce tribal
member and leader of the university's Native American Graduate Student
Association, doesn't want to see the position become overly
bureaucratic.
"It has to be practical," he said. "You don't want to have someone just
meeting with the tribes."
Rather, Matthews said, the new coordinator should work with teachers to
make sure they understand how to create a culturally relevant
curriculum, and work to reduce the high school dropout rates and improve
resources, instructional methods and adult education.