Formula Grants | Demonstration Grants | Professional Development Grants

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Formula Grant Program

Purpose: Provides grants to support local educational agencies (LEAs) in their efforts to reform elementary and secondary school programs that serve Indian students. Programs are to be based on challenging state content and student performance standards used for all students, and are designed to assist Indian students to meet those standards.

Eligible applicants include:

• LEAs;
• Elementary and secondary schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
• Indian tribes if the LEA has not established a parent committee and the tribe represents at least one-half of the eligible Indian students served by the LEA.

For an LEA to be eligible, a minimum of 10 Indian children must be enrolled in the applicant’s schools or constitute at least 25 percent of the total enrollment, except for schools in Alaska, California and Oklahoma, or any school located on a reservation or in proximity to a reservation.

Types of Project Activities

• Integrated educational services in combination with other programs that meet the needs of Indian children and their families
• School-to-work transition services that enable Indian students to participate in programs such as programs supported by tech-prep, mentoring, and apprenticeship.
• Enrichmental programs that focus on problem-solving and cognitive skill development and directly support the attainment of challenging State content standards and State performance standards.
• Early childhood and family programs that emphasize school readiness.
• Activities to educate individuals concerning substance abuse and to prevent substance abuse.
• Culturally related activities that support the program described in the LEA's application.
• The acquisition of equipment, but only if the acquisition of the equipment is essential to meet the purpose of the program.

Student Eligibility Requirements

The legislation defines "Indian" to mean an individual who is.. "A member of an Indian tribe or band, as membership is defined by the tribe or band, including:

• Any tribe or band terminated since 1940; and
• Any tribe or band recognized by the State in which the tribe or band resides;
• A descendant, in the first or second degree, or an individual described above;
• Considered by the Secretary of Interior to be an Indian for any purpose;
• An Eskimo, Aleut, or other Alaska Native; or
• A member of an organized Indian group that received a grant under the Indian Education Act of 1988 as was in effect October 19, 1994".

Demonstration Grants for Indian Children

Demonstration Grants for Indian Children is a competitive discretionary grant program that supports projects to develop, test and demonstrate the effectiveness of services and programs to improve educational opportunities and achievement of Indian children.

Program activities may include services to students in preschool to high school in areas such as family-based preschool emphasizing school readiness and parental skills; partnerships between schools and universities to aid, assist and encourage students in transitioning from high school to college, enrichment programs to increase the achievement of Indian children in one or more of the core academic subjects, programs designed to increase the rate of secondary school graduation; and programs that preserve and teach the native language and culture.

Eligible applicants include:

• A state or local educational agency;
• Indian tribes, organizations or institutions (including Indian institutions of higher education);
• Elementary and secondary schools funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs;
• A consortium of any eligible entities.

Priority is given to applications that include an Indian tribe, organization or institution.

Native American Language

The purposes of the NAL@ED program are to support schools that use Native American and Alaska Native languages as the primary language of instruction; maintain, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans and Alaska Natives to use, practice, maintain, and revitalize their languages, as envisioned in the Native American Languages Act of 1990 (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and support the Nation’s First Peoples’ efforts to maintain and revitalize their languages and cultures, and to improve educational opportunities and student outcomes within Native American and Alaska Native communities.

Eligible entities include:

Professional Development Program

The Professional Development program is a competitive grant program that supports activities to increase the number of qualified Indian individuals in professions that serve Indian people. Individuals who receive training under the Professional Development program are required to perform work that is related to the training received and that benefits Indian people, or repay all or a prorated part of the assistance received.

One component of the Professional Development program supports training for qualified Indian individuals to (1) become teachers, administrators, teacher aides, social workers, and ancillary educational personnel; and (2) improve the skills of Indian individuals serving in these capacities. The second component of the program supports training of qualified Indian individuals in fields other than education that result in a degree at the graduate level.

Eligible entities include:

• Institutions of higher education, including Indian institutions of higher education;
• A state or local educational agency in consortium with an institution of higher education;
• An Indian tribe or organization, in consortium with an institution of higher education.