Indian Education MOA Update

November 23rd, 2010

The Memorandum of Agreement Four years ago, the Board of Education signed

an historic Memorandum of Agreement with Metropolitan Urban Indian Directors, representing the American Indian community.

This agreement delineated shared responsibility for improving educational outcomes for American Indian students

The Memorandum of Agreement Strategies identified in the MOA include:

Professional Development

Family Engagement

Establishment of Best Practices Sites at Anishinabe Academy, Sullivan Communication center and South High School All Nations Program.

We are in the final year of that five year MOA.

Selected Accomplishments

Highlights of successes made possible by the MOA

Professional Development

Indian Education partnered with Phillips Indian Educators to develop and deliver Best Practices for Teaching Native American Students to over 60 Minneapolis teachers in August 2010.

Evaluations of the training have been overwhelmingly positive, with many participants actually asking that we add a third day to the training.

15 teachers attended an advanced session in June 2010, following up from what they learned the previous August.

Urban Indian Education Partnership Indian Education entered into a partnership with

the University of Minnesota in 2009 with the recognition from the MOA that only through a joint commitment to work together with a focus on Indian student success will we overcome this legacy of educational failure.

The goals of the partnership are as follows: 1. Identify, establish, and sustain best practices in

Indian Education 2. Improve outcomes for urban American Indian

students in MPS 3. Develop a model, replicable training site for

educational professionals

Parent & Family Engagement Developed a Native specific version of CPEO

(connecting Parents to Educational Opportunities) the district’s parent engagement curriculum.

Delivered Native specific CPEO to parents at Anishinabe Academy/Sullivan and South High School. Planning sessions for Sanford, Andersen and a community based session at Little Earth.

Twice monthly meetings of Intertribal Parent Council at Anishinabe/Sullivan

Beginning of Kindergarten Assessments Investments in quality early childhood

programs, including the all day High-5 program at Anishinabe Academy, have resulted in a net 15 percent increase in American Indian students’ meeting the benchmark in Beginning of Kindergarten Total Literacy. This has increased district wide from 47 to 62% in four years.

At Anishinabe the scores are even more dramatic, with 70% of students meeting the benchmark.

Beginning of Kindergarten Assessments Anishinabe’s High-5 program is funded through a

partnership of Indian Education and Early Childhood Education.

Partnerships with the community, including the Alliance for Early Childhood Professionals’ Wicoie Nandagikendan Project, have enabled the program to offer Ojibwe and Dakota language immersion for half the day.

The community has identified the continuation of this program as a priority, and the district has committed to continue the full day High-5 next year.

College PREP (Personalized Resources and Education Pathways) Program Indian Education recently received a four year

$1.2 Million grant from the federal Department of Education Office of Indian Education to develop a community based academic mentoring program for the class of 2014.

Every Native student in MPS will be assigned to one of four mentoring agencies. Agencies will provide intensive support to both student and their family with the aim of increasing their academic success and preparing them for graduation and post-secondary.

College PREP (Personalized Resources and Education Pathways) Program Partner agencies are:

Division of Indian Work

Little Earth of United Tribes

MIGIZI Communications, Inc.

Minneapolis American Indian Center

Other MOA benefits Increased communication

Monthly meetings with the Superintendent Semi-annual meetings with the School board Bi-weekly meetings with PIE

Shared understanding and commitment Ability to work with the community on shared

goals Increased levels of trust and partnership

What is next?

Moving forward with a new MOA

What’s Next? The time is right to begin work on a new MOA,

that will take our partnerships with the American Indian community into the next five years.

We are asking for the Board's authorization, support and participation in order to develop a new MOA with the American Indian community.