A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

• Restructuring curricula to incorporate local cultures and values
  
• Collaborating across sites through on-site training, on-line tutoring, and cooperative teaming
  
• Creating networked "virtual communities" with Internet presence
  
• Encouraging life-long learning by extending technology support to communities surrounding project schools
  
• Maintaining a network database of teaching, assessment, professional development, and student-created resources
  
• Creating a research-based evaluation model

As the core of this project, each school develops an advisory team consisting of students, parents, teachers, paraprofessionals and community members. It is the responsibility of each team to develop authentic learning tasks that are relevant to students and that are drawn from the unique cultural context of each tribe. These tasks are then developed into "thematic cycles," central components of core curricula that allow the presentation of subject matter within a cultural context, and allow the cultural theme to be integrated into other subjects. As members of the team, parents and community members, including elders, are involved in the development of curricula and are involved in the evaluation of the project and its relevance to the traditions of the tribe. Targeted curriculum areas include art, mathematics, science, social studies, economics, geography, language arts and fine arts.

An integral part of this program are communications services provided through the Educational Native American Network (ENAN), an Internet communications service for all BIA schools. Each school is utilizing ENAN to produce World Wide Web (WWW) home pages that describe the school, its history and current activities. Technical support for the WWW effort is provided by the University of Kansas through the Unified Network InformaTics for Education (UNITE) system. The WWW pages also contain information about each American Indian group participating in the project. This information is shared with other schools and with non-Native American schools via the Internet. The WWW pages offer a look at the unique aspects of each American Indian group from the perspective of its own people. This provides students with a focal point for problem solving and for sharing the important cultural contributions made by each of the tribes. The project uses the WWW to disseminate project tasks, curriculum ideas, school information, tribal histories, and project results. Project technologies are used by students to perform research on thematic issues, develop learning activities on the themes, explore other disciplines that are part of the theme cycles, and provide access to their results for authentic assessment. Information and programs developed through Four Directions are available to a wide audience through the Internet. Access to project technologies is available after school hours to students and their families, in a program to extend learning opportunities to the entire community.

This project contains a strong professional development component. Teams from each of the schools attend a 10 day training session held at the Southwest Indian Polytechnical Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This training covers the development of thematic units based on authentic tasks, the integration of these units into the curriculum, and the use of technology. In addition, the project sponsors two technology training workshops annually at each of the schools.

Best practices reports, as determined by ongoing evaluation of the project, are made available through national conferences, the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education (NCBE), the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse, and the World Wide Web.

The Four Directions project is a unique program that uses modern technologies to create enriched, integrated learning environments designed around Indian children's real life experiences.

Consortium Partners

PROJECT DIRECTOR:

Gilbert Sanchez
Superintendent
Pueblo of Laguna
Department of Education
P.O. Box 207
Laguna, NM 87206

Telephone:

(505) 552-6008

Fax:

(505) 552-6398

[Manchester School District]

[Summit County Educational Service Center]