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

Evaluation of Educational Personnel Development Projects in Indian Education

Analysis and Highlights

Background

The Indian Education Act, through Public Law 93-380 (1974), authorized the creation of Educational Personnel Development (EPD) projects to provide training for educational personnel to serve American Indian and Alaska Native students. The Indian Education Act of 1988, Subpart 2, Sections 5321 and 5322, provided reauthorization. The U.S. Department of Education awards grants directly to the institutions operating the projects.

The study examined EPD projects in operation between FY 1987 and FY 1991. During this 5-year period, total EPD funding averaged $2.25 million annually. EPD grants were awarded directly to 9 universities, 4 tribal colleges, 4 Indian community organizations, 3 Indian resource centers, and one tribe. The evaluation examined the nature of the projects, services provided, student participants, outcomes, funding, and program management by the U.S. Department of Education. The report provides information for program management and reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

Findings

Purpose and curriculum

• EPD projects varied considerably. Most often, the purpose of EPD projects operated by tribal colleges, Indian tribes, and community organizations was to prepare undergraduate students for positions as teachers of students in elementary and secondary schools. Although universities and Indian resource centers also provided training primarily for K-12 teaching, they prepared students for positions as K-12 teacher aides, college teachers, educational administrators, and educational researchers too.
• Most projects supplemented the teacher training program offered to non-EPD students with additional fieldwork, internships, emphasis on Indian education, and/or emphasis on Indian culture and language to prepare participants to work with American Indian students.
• At most projects run by universities and Indian resource centers, students followed basically the same curriculum as their non-EPD peers in schools of education. Students in some projects run by tribal colleges followed the same curriculum as non-EPD education majors, while other tribal colleges brought in faculty from universities to offer more advanced educational programs for EPD students.

Services

• All projects provided some financial support to EPD students through stipends, tuition, allowances for dependents, money for books, travel funds, and/or research funds. The size of stipends and amount of other financial support provided varied by project. Most projects also provided academic counseling to EPD students.

Participants

• Although project directors identified 767 students who participated in projects during the 5-year period examined, the study focused on those 366 students whose projects had ended before 1991, to allow follow-up on whether the participants subsequently worked in positions serving Indian students. The study achieved a survey response rate of 77 percent among these participants. Ninety-six percent were American Indian or Alaska Native. Half (53%) the participants grew up on Indian reservations, and another 27 percent reported that their primary residence up to age 18 was in non-reservation rural areas.

Outcomes

• Of the participants whose projects ended before 1991, a large majority (72%) attained their degrees. Most of these participants earned bachelor's (45%) or master's degrees (39%); the rest earned associate's degrees (6%), teaching credentials (6%), or doctorates (4%). A large majority (80%) of those who completed their degrees reported that they had subsequently worked in educational jobs where at least half the students served were American Indian, in K-12 schools, colleges, tribes, or other educational organizations.

Funding

• Grants to institutions ranged from $50,000 annually, for small projects, to $280,000. Funding per student averaged $6,166, although figures varied tremendously among projects. This figure compares to expenditures averaging $6,080 per student for the Department's Training Personnel for the Education of Individuals with Disabilities Program and $4,974 for the Bilingual Educational Personnel Training Program. All three programs spent similar proportions of funds (54-62%) on tuition, stipends, and other student aid, with the rest going to program and administration costs.

• Student stipends accounted for 35 percent and tuition 7 percent of EPD costs. Expenditures for project staff and faculty amounted to 30 percent and 9 percent of costs, respectively. The rest of the EPD funds were allocated for equipment and facilities (7%), dependent stipends (6%), funds for students' books and other supplies (3%), and student travel (2%).

Program management

• The evaluation reported a lack of systematic procedures in the Department to track and review final reports from the projects to ensure project accountability. In addition, the content of final reports varied from project to project, making it more difficult to use them as a tool for accountability. The report suggests the need for the following information from each project: the number of applicants, the number accepted and enrolled, the number who are American Indian and their tribes, the number who complete the program, and the degree or certification they receive. The report also suggests that the Department consider requiring all grantees to conduct follow-up work to determine whether their participants go on to positions in education serving American Indian students after completing the program.

• The report suggests reconsideration of the 3-year funding cycle for EPD grants, noting that many EPD grants fund 4-year academic programs. The evaluation reported that some students lost financial support and were unable to complete their studies.

• The report also suggests reconsideration of the cap on stipends. According to the report, federal regulations limit the amount of student stipends to $600 per month and dependent allowances to $90 per month per dependent and have not changed for more than 15 years despite increases in the cost of living. The report notes that 23 percent of those participants surveyed who left EPD projects without completing their degree said they had dropped out because of personal financial pressures.

Copies of the report can be obtained from the Planning and Evaluation Service, Office of the Under Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Room 3127, Washington, DC 20202-8240.

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Last update December 27, 2002 (jer).