2007-16: Support for Tribal State Education Agency (SEAs), Tribal—-centered adequate yearly progress (AYP) measures, and Tribal language and culture in No Child Left Behind Act Reauthorization

WHEREAS, the National Indian Education Association (NIEA) was established in 1969 for the purpose of advocating, planning, and promoting the unique and special education needs of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians; and

WHEREAS, NIEA as the largest national Indian organization of American Indians, 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 the unique relationship with Indian 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, the Navajo Nation, in exercising its sovereign and self—-determination rights, seeks to establish U.S. Department of Education—-sanctioned “State Education Agency” (SEA) status to develop its own educational system and to fully control its educational destiny, and

WHEREAS, the Sovereignty in Navajo Education Act, adopted by the Navajo Nation Council of 2005, seeks to create assessment tools in the Navajo language, including educational standards and curricula regarding culture, history, government, and ke’e (chapter development) for children, families, and communities, and

WHEREAS, there is a need for public school jurisdictions of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah and the Navajo Nation to enter in cooperative agreements to participate in the Navajo Nation’s accountability system, and

WHEREAS, the Navajo Nation prefers genuine bilingual programs to include comprehensive language arts skills and competencies for students who are not fully proficient in English and/or students who are not fully proficient in the Navajo language, and

WHEREAS, schooling must include tribal educational philosophy, identity, history, civics and government, and social studies using a local community control approach.

NOW THEREFORE LET IT BE RESOLVED that the National Indian Education Association will support efforts of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiians, to seek State Education Agency (SEA) functions, to research and develop tribal—-centered Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measures, and to infuse Native language and culture, where appropriate, into all aspects of schooling for Native students as part of No Child Left Behind Act reauthorization.