The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Native Americans and Strengthening Tribal Colleges and Universities (WHI TCU), along with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor, is hosting a virtual, four-part, dialogue series that addresses multiple topics that impact employment for American Indians and Alaska Natives.
This virtual dialogue, the second in the series, provides perspectives from Native individuals (including youth) on the values of community-driven solutions in supporting Native students with disabilities. According to the 2019 National Indian Education Study (NIES), 17% of Native American fourth and eighth graders identified as students with disabilities. In less than a decade, most of these students will matriculate into secondary and post-secondary educational and career environments. We’re all invested in the effort to support Native students with disabilities and to ensure they have access to gainful employment opportunities across all levels of the tribal, federal, state, and local workforce. Speakers from various tribal nations will explore culturally informed strategies that help address the lack of community-driven approaches that often fall short in addressing the needs of Native youth.
Event Objectives:
- To gain contextual awareness of national educational statistics of fourth and eighth graders who identify as Native American students with disabilities.
- To learn about the value of community-driven solutions, particularly those that center around and empower the role of Native American families caring for students with disabilities.
- To cultivate a deeper understanding of community practices in order to help participants mitigate their own bias towards believing “best practices” fit all Native communities.
- To increase the visibility of Native American students who have disabilities.
|
|
