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Contact: Lori Hasselman, Office of Sovereign Partnerships and Indigenous Initiatives, [email protected]
KU awarded $1.5M teacher professional development grant from US Office of Indian Education
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas has been awarded a $1.5 million grant for The Southern Plains American Indian Teaching Pathways Project, which is a partnership program among the Indigenous Studies Program, Office of Sovereign Partnerships & Indigenous Initiatives and School of Education & Human Sciences, who are working with multiple Native Nations, as well as Haskell Indian Nations University (HINU).
This teacher training professional development program was selected for funding for a five-year term from the Office of Indian Education in the U.S. Department of Education. As director of the Indigenous Studies Program and associate vice chancellor for the Office of Sovereign Partnerships, Alex Red Corn (Osage) is the lead principal investigator on this project. He is joined two by co-PIs, Anna Yonas and Imogen Herrick, both assistant professors in the KU Department of Curriculum & Teaching.
To advance tribal sovereignty in education, this project partners with several Native Nations and school districts across Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma (see list below) to train 15 teachers in elementary and middle/secondary education.
This project will begin by recruiting individuals who have earned an associate’s degree (or are currently finishing an AA) and are seeking teaching certification through an additional two years to complete a bachelor’s degree leading to certification at HINU or KU. The grant will provide funds for tuition, fees and monthly living stipends, as well as funding for conference travel, laptops, tablets and books. Upon graduation, the newly certified teachers will be required to work in Native-serving schools, where they will also receive early career mentorship from experienced teachers and cultural leaders found in the project partner network.
“We’re very appreciative of this opportunity from the Office of Indian Education, which is such a critical resource for tribal nations looking to advance sovereignty in education,” Red Corn said. “Also, we were very excited that so many partners were eager to participate in this project from across the region. We look forward to getting started recruiting folks from Native communities and offer them a funded pathway to full teacher licensure through KU and Haskell and continuing to grow our longstanding partnership with Haskell in new and exciting ways.”
Project partners on the application include Haskell Indian Nations University, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, Royal Valley Schools, South Brown County Schools, Osage Nation, Daposka Ahnkodapi (Osage Nation School), Quapaw Nation, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, Darlington Public Schools, Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation Public School and Tribal Education Departments National Assembly.
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