Western Exposure

Arizona pilots program to train Native-American teachers

By September 22, 2009March 19th, 2015One Comment

 

Arizona State University has just launched a three-year program to train more American Indian teachers. Teachers at reservation schools have been primarily non-Native American, an issue that has contributed to a cultural disconnect, reports Rhonda Bodfield of the Arizona Daily Star.

Educators hope the  new program, funded with a $1.2 million grant from the U. S. Department of Education’s Office of Indian Education, will improve recruitment and retention of teachers. Reservation schools have had a hard time keeping teachers in part because of their remote locations, and also because they historically have not paid as well. School districts have struggled as a result. Indian Oasis Elementary Principal Jonathan Eddy told the paper, “It takes a lot of different elements to turn things around, but turnover definitely has an effect.”

Carol Smith

Carol Smith

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