TEDNA

From Indianz.com, here. An excerpt:

SUPPORTING THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ALL NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS

Promoting Educational Self-Determination for Tribal Nations through Sovereignty in Indian Education Enhancements. In October 2014, DOI took a critical step towards furthering tribal control over BIE-funded schools when it issued $1.2M to six tribes to research, assess and develop implementation plans to establish tribally managed school systems.

Building tribal capacity through State Tribal Education Partnership (STEP) grants. The STEP grant program is designed to strengthen Tribal Education Agencies (TEAs), and improve partnerships between tribes, states, and school districts so they can work together more effectively to meet the academic, cultural, and social needs of Native students. EDs Office of Indian Education (OIE) published a Notice of Proposed Priorities (NPP) for the STEP program on October 31, 2014.

Expanding Access to STEM Programs. In September 2014, ED entered into an agreement with the National Park Service at DOI, and the Hands on the Land program at the National Environmental Education Foundation, to develop a project around STEM skills at 17 Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) funded schools and one state funded school near 21st Century Community Learning Center programs. The project will introduce students to STEM activities focused on natural and cultural resources to improve the retention of students in STEM activities during their middle and high school years.

Convening Native Languages Summit. Following the first Native Languages Summit in June 2014 which brought together 300 participants, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums have joined ED and the Departments of the Interior (DOI) and Health and Human Services, (HHS) to convene a second Native Languages Summit in the Fall of 2015. The Summit will discuss best practices in preserving and revitalizing Native languages.

Improvements in ED’s Special Programs for Indian Children. On December 3, ED will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking that proposes changes to the Demonstration grants program to add the Native Youth Community Projects mentioned above. It also makes substantial improvements to the Professional Development program, which funds the training of new American Indian/Alaska Native teachers and administrators.