American Indian Education

2025-2026 California Indian Education for All Calendar of Events

The SDCOE and CIEFA invite PK-12 educators, administrators, Title VI committee members, Tribal Education staff, college/university faculty, school board members, and tribal community members to attend events on our 25-26 CIEFA calendar. Presenters and participants will share resources and programs related to American Indian Education, place-based learning, CA Native American Studies model curriculum, culturally responsive literacy, Native Youth Leadership, Native family and tribal community engagement, and improvement strategies to facilitate Native community leadership and agency in schools. We welcome those who share a commitment for improving belongingness, access, opportunities, and support to allow American Indian students to thrive in school.

Native Ways of Knowing Webinars and Book Club

The SDCOE and CIEFA are hosting a free, year-long Native Ways of Knowing Webinar Series on select Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. TK-12 educators and leaders are invited to learn from several renowned Native American professors, scholars, and change makers. Participants will access free culturally responsive resources to improve representations and classroom climates for teaching and learning about California's First Peoples.

Scheduled 2025-2026 Native Ways of Knowing webinars and book clubs:

• Sept. 25 - Celebrating New Releases in Native Children's Literature -  Debbie Reese, Ph.D. from American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)
• Oct. 2 - NWOK Book Club Heroes of the Water Monster with Brian Lee Young
• Oct. 16 - Rethinking Thanksgiving: How to Analyze Books about Thanksgiving -  Debbie Reese, Ph.D. from American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)
• Oct. 23 - NWOK Book Club Who Gets to be Indian? with Dina Gilio-Whitaker
• Nov. 13 - NWOK Book Club  Ka'm-t'em: A Journey Toward Healing with Kishan Lara-Cooper
• Dec. 4 - NWOK Book Club Chooch Helped, When We Gather, and Manmade Monsters with Andrea Rogers
• Dec. 11 - NWOK Book Club Firefly Season, Legendary Frybread Drive-In, Jingle Dancer, and Rain is Not My Indian Name with Cynthia Leitich Smith
• Dec. 18 - NWOK Book Club Moon Song, Berry Song, Remember, and We are Water Protectors with Michaela Goade

• Jan. 15 - NWOK Book Club Unsettling Settler-Colonial Education: The Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model, and Indigenous Educational Leadership Through Community-Based Knowledge and Research with Robin Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn

• Jan. 22 - NWOK Book Club Indigenous Children's Survivance in Public Schools, and Teaching Critically About Lewis and Clark with Leilani Sabzalian

• Feb. 12 - NWOK Book Club We Weave, Herizon, and Fall in Line, Holden!  with Daniel Vandever

• Feb. 19 - NWOK Book Club We Are the Land: A History of Native California with William Bauer, Ph.D

• Feb. 26 - NWOK Book Club New Release: Here Comes the Aunties! with Cynthia Leitich Smith

• Mar. 12 - NWOK Book Club You Are the Land, My Powerful Hair, and Fierce Aunties with Steph Littlebird

• Mar. 19 - NWOK Book Club Rez Ball with Byron Graves

• Mar. 26 - NWOK Book Club Riding the Trail: Cherokees Remember the Removal and Indigenous from A to Z with Traci Sorell

• April 23 - Selecting Culturally Responsive Non-Fiction about Native Americans, Debbie Reese, Ph.D. from American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL)

• May 7 - NWOK Book Club Stories are the Heart of the World and Too Much: My Great Big Native Family with Laurel Goodluck

• May 14 - NWOK Book Club Braiding Sweetgrass for Young Adults, I Hope, Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience, and Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation with Monique Gray Smith

• May 21 - NWOK Book Club Jo Jo Makoons Series, Apple in the Middle, and Red Bird Danced with Dawn Quigley

Native Ways of Knowing Book List

To help educators and parents choose high-quality Indigenous authored books, the SDCOE and CIEFA have designed this Native Ways of Knowing Book List: Decolonizing and Indigenizing Classrooms and Libraries. These books have been vetted by Native American scholars, CIEFA, and SDCOE staff. Please consider adding these insightful and vibrant Indigenous authored books to your school, classroom, or home library. Adding these books to your classroom will help teach young readers empathy, courage, resilience, sovereignty, and Native Ways of Knowing. These suggested Indigenous authors and illustrators utilize Indigenous storytelling and convey the breadth of Native cultures and sovereignty.

2025-26 American Indian Education Talking Circle

San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) and California Indian Education for All (CIEFA) are hosting quarterly American Indian Education Talking Circles.  SDCOE and CIEFA are committed to closing the opportunity gap that exists between American Indian students and their peers. As a community, we will gather quarterly to share our strengths and knowledge to improve the educational programs for Native youth. During quarterly Talking Circles district/school American Indian Education Directors, Title VI TOSAs , tribal education leaders, and Title VI leaders are invited to learn from Native American education and tribal education experts. Meetings will discuss how to ensure Indigenous cultural values and history are honored and truthfully represented in schools. This Community of Practice will share resources and programs in K-12 education related to American Indian education and improvement strategies that are culturally responsive approaches based on holistic connections to tribal knowledge and Indigenous identity. Sessions include new resources and opportunities to engage with Native American professionals in the field. We welcome those who share a commitment for improving access, opportunities, and supports to allow American Indian students to thrive in school.  

Quarterly meeting topics and trainings will include:

• Tribal Consultation Toolkit

• Title VI Programs

• AI/AN Student Success

• Understanding Sovereignty

• Innovative Tribal Education Programs

• Indigenous Language Preservation

• AI/AN Family and Community Engagement

• Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Learning

• UC Opportunity Plan

• AI/AN College and Career Support

• Native American Studies Model Curriculum

• Grant Funding Updates

Who Should Attend?

District AI/AN Education Directors, Title VI TOSAs, Tribal Education Directors, and Title VI Leaders 

Seeds of Native Knowledge: Culturally Sustaining Teaching Institute

Starting in December 2025, the San Diego County Office of Education and California Indian Museum and Cultural Center will be co-hosting free two-day Seeds of Native Knowledge: Culturally Sustaining Teaching Institutes. These in-person Teaching Institutes bring together teachers, school leaders, Tribal education staff, and Tribal community partners to strengthen culturally responsive teaching and honor the sovereignty of California Native Peoples. Participants will gain
knowledge on topics that include, but are not limited to:

• Essential Understandings of CA Indian History and Culture

• CA Native American Studies Model Curriculum (NASMC)

• NASMC Units such as Acorns to Oak Trees, CA Missions Through Native
  Perspectives, and Tribal Government and Civics

• Interwoven Mathematics Curriculum

• Native Ways of Knowing activities, place-based learning, and mock trials

• Literacy resources like We Are the Land (Akins & Bauer)

• Honoring Tribal Education Sovereignty Toolkit

Professional learning and resources are specifically designed to support educators’ confidence when teaching NASMC. These tools help create culturally responsive classrooms that honor Tribal sovereignty and reflect the diverse histories and cultures of California Native Peoples.

2025-2026 California Indian Educational Leader Pathway Cohort: American Indian Studies Certificate

K-12 educators, counselors, administrators, and tribal education staff will have access to the California Indian Education for All Leadership Program through our U.S. Department of Education's Office of Indian Education NYCP Grant. The San Diego County Office of Education and California Indian Education for All are collaborating with UC Berkeley's Joseph A. Myers Center for Research on Native American Issues, California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and CSU San Marcos, American Indian Studies faculty to offer this unique professional learning and certificate program. We welcome you to submit your interest to participate in a 9-month cohort to learn cultural competency leadership skills and design asset-based schools that will promote American Indian student achievement and success.

California Indian Education Community Updates

We invite PK-12 educators, administrators, librarians, Title VI committee members, Tribal Education staff, college/university faculty, parents, and tribal community members to access the SDCOE and CIEFA community updates and newsletters. Participants are able to learn about upcoming events, trainings, and resources available to the public. Almost all trainings, institutes, and webinars are free, because they are funded from our Native American Education grants.