San Diego County Office of Education Awarded $3 Million Grant

Funds will be used to improve college and career readiness and educational achievement of K-12 Native American students

The San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) recently received a $3 million, five-year Indian Education Discretionary Grant through the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE), U.S. Department of Education, Native American Youth Community Project, to support its Native Scholars Pathway program. 

The Native Scholars Pathway is a community-driven, comprehensive project to help K-12 American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) students in San Diego County become college- and career-ready. Services will be designed from the feedback of San Diego County tribal communities, including families, and students to meet the unique challenges presented to the education systems to heal from impacts of COVID-19; improve college and career pathways; and expand quality, culturally responsive place-based teaching. 

The grant will provide AI/AN high school students access to early college courses; career exploration and internship opportunities; hands-on experience designing and teaching indigenized STEAM MakerSpaces; college credit toward a future degree; and resources to know where and how to pursue a degree in education. By increasing exploration of the teaching profession among Native youth, the collaborative hopes to recruit future AI/AN educators in San Diego county. 

“In our effort for equity across the county, it is important that we make a concerted effort to reach and support our most underserved students,” said San Diego County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Paul Gothold. “Our Native American and indigenous students have been left behind but this collaborative effort will help put them on a meaningful and self-sustaining path to college and career.” 

The goals of the grant are three-fold:

1. Build school districts’ capacity to create coherent, culturally responsive, place-based teaching and community-responsive systems for college- and career-readiness of AI/AN students.
2. Improve the college- and career-readiness and academic outcomes of AI/AN students.
3. Increase tribal community partnerships and AI/AN family participation to design community-responsive systems to improve the educational opportunities and achievement of AI/AN students. 

Specifically, the consortium hopes to impact approximately 700 AI/AN students annually. The impacts would be positive trends in academic achievement on state assessments, increased graduation rates, and increased University of California and California State Graduation eligibility rates for AI/AN students. The project will develop the capacity of the district leadership and educators in the integration of tribal community-responsive practices, best instructional practices, and assessment for educating Native American youth. Ultimately, the project will produce a framework, Creating Community Responsive Schools for the Achievement of Native American Youth, which documents the scope of the work for replication and sustainability for transforming educational systems through tribal community responsive design for improved educational outcomes and college and career opportunities for Native American youth. 

The Native Scholars Pathway program is a collaborative effort and SDCOE has engaged partner organizations from throughout the county, including:

• California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center 
• California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
• California Indian Education for All
• California State University at San Marcos 
• Barona Band of Mission Indians
• La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians
• Pala Band of Mission Indians
• Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians
• Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians
• San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians
• Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation
• Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians
• Alpine Union School District
• Bonsall Unified School District
• Dehesa School District
• Grossmont Union High School District 
• Lakeside Union School District
• San Marcos Unified School District
• Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District
• San Diego County Office of Education (Lead)
   

For more information about the grant, contact Staci Block, executive leadership coach, SDCOE.