Untitled Document

TRIBAL SCHOOL COLLABORATION

One of the most serious problems in Indian country today is that too many Indian children drop out of school prematurely. They do not recognize and obtain the value of completing high school and going on to college. This is occurring in an economy that is generating jobs that increasingly require sophisticated skills and understanding—training that one can only get by continuing ones education.

How can we motivate Indian children to stay in school and continue their formal education? What can be done? Who can, and what will, make a difference? What resources need to be mobilized, and from where? Where and when do we start? These are questions that only tribal leaders and parents working together with local public school officials who have the responsibility for educating Indian children can answer.

Unfortunately, there are very few tribes that have a cooperative working relationship with their local public school districts. They therefore have no forum or established process within which to raise these questions and collaborate in finding answers to them. The absence of this tribal/public school partnership is a source of frustration to both Indian tribes and the public school districts. Unfortunately, very few people have figured out how to systematically bridge the “cultural divide” and begin to talk and solve these urgent problems.

* The Tribal/Public School Collaboration Project

IDRS has designed and implemented one strategy, the Tribal/Public School Collaboration Project, that works. IDRS prepares tribal leaders and parents, and public school teachers and administrators, to sit down together and successfully negotiate reforms that will better meet the educational needs of Indian school children.

This Collaboration Project consists of the following components:

 

  1. IDRS secures the explicit commitment from the elected Tribal Council and the school district Superintendent to participate in formal “government to government” negotiations. They agree on how to share the cost for the Project.
  2. IDRS trains both sides in needed cross-cultural communication and negotiation skills and processes to ensure that the talks are constructive and produce explicit and practical agreements.
  3. Once trained in how to design and conduct a successful negotiation, each side selects representatives who have participated in the training and sends them to the “table” to engage in a facilitated dialogue
  4. IDRS mediators facilitate a series of negotiation sessions that surface, address and resolve agenda items that the group has identified as critical. These sessions can extend over a period of 8-12 months.
  5. IDRS helps to produce a Report that incorporates the recommendations agreed to by the two negotiation teams, along with their suggested budget and time frame for implementation.
  6. The Report and recommendations are submitted for review and approval to the school district’s Board of Trustees and the elected Tribal Council.

* Prior Experience Implementing The Model

IDRS has implemented the model described above in Alpine County in Eastern California, bringing together the Alpine Unified School District and the Washoe Indian Tribe, in Humboldt County with the Klamath/Trinity Joint Unified School District and the Hoopa Valley Tribe, in Mendocino County with the Ukiah Unified School District and five tribes (Redwood Valley, Hopland, Coyote Valley, Guideville and Pinoleville Bands of Pomo Indians) that send their children to district schools, and in Inyo County with the Big Pine Tribe and the Big Pine Unified School District.

The results in each county were better than expected. In the course of the negotiations, age-old fears and prejudices along with other unresolved issues were surfaced, addressed and successfully resolved. Substantial programmatic and policy reforms were agreed upon in each community as well.

But perhaps the most encouraging outcome was the establishment of a partnership between the school districts and the tribes that can serve as the foundation for long-term collaboration. In each case, the parties discovered they had mutual concerns and responsibilities and they could respect and trust one another. Because of this increased openness and understanding parents have become more involved in the schools and in their children’s education. The Alpine School District, for example, reported a year after the IDRS Project that parent participation in parent-teacher conferences increased from 15% to over 85%.

* Alternative Strategies For Funding The Project

 The Tribal/School Collaboration Project has been funded in various ways. In some cases the School District and the Tribe(s) agreed to split the cost 50/50. In other instances, an independent source of funds was identified and came up with all the funds needed. And still in other situations, an outside source of funds came up with part of the costs and the tribe and school district came up with the balance needed. IDRS is willing to discuss with your tribe or school district the various options that may be available in your community.

* How Do You Initiate The Tribal/Public School Collaboration Project In Your Community?

We follow a four-step process in initiating this Project:

For more information about how to bring the Tribal Public School Collaboration Project into your community, contact Steven Haberfeld Ph.D., Executive Director. Phone (916) 482-5800. Fax (916) 482-5808. E-mail: steven@indiandispute.com.