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

Biennial Evaluation Report - FY 93-94

Chapter 402

Vocational Education--Indian and Hawaiian Natives Programs

(CFDA No. 84.101)

I. Program Profile

Legislation: The Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act (P.L. 95-524), Title I, Part A, Section 103 (20 U.S.C. 2313), (expires September 30, 1995).

Purpose: To provide financial assistance to eligible Indian tribes and to organizations serving Native Hawaiians to plan, conduct, and administer vocational education programs authorized by, and consistent with, the Perkins Act.

Funding History

Fiscal Year Appropriation American Indians Hawaiian Natives
1977 $ 5,281,476 0
1980 6,929,755 0
1981 6,182,654 0
1982 6,186,230 0
1983 5,936,734 0
1984 6,645,484 0
1985 9,895,639 $1,979,128
1986 9,564,367 1,912,873
1987 10,414,352 2,082,870
1988 10,462,777 2,092,555
1989 10,808,990 2,220,793
1990 11,099,592 2,201,990
1991 11,104,009 2,220,793
1992 12,352,107 2,518,833
1993 12,643,631 2,528,672
1994 12,635,000 2,527,000

II. Program Information and Analysis

Performance Indicators

Program files show that job placement rates for program participants range between 67 to 100 percent.

Population Targeting

This program targets 1) tribal organizations of any Indian tribe that is eligible to contract with the Secretary of the Interior under the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act, or under the Act of April 16, 1934; 2) Bureau of Indian Affairs funded schools offering a secondary program. Any tribal organization or Bureau-funded school may apply individually or jointly as part of a consortium with one or more other eligible applicant.

Services

This program trains students in technical areas (e.g., engineering technology, industrial or practical art or trade, etc.) as well as academic competencies (e.g., mathematics, science, etc.) which will result in an associate degree or two-year certificate or placement in employment.

Program Administration

The program office is in the process of restructuring the Indian Vocational Education Program (IVEP) so that beginning with the 1996 grant competition, it can invite applications for this program every three years rather than every year. The Department expects that this restructuring effort will allow for more constructive use of limited personnel while continuing to meet effectively the needs of project grantees. This program is administered under the Division of National Programs.

Outcomes

Placement rates for American Indian projects range from 67 to 100 percent. Among the grantees with the highest placement rates are the NANA Regional Corporation in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Management Improvement Strategies

American Indians

The Department of Education has worked with grantees to improve job placement by giving special consideration to grant recipients that link their programs with a tribal economic development plan as required by law.

The Department provides training materials and technical assistance to all Indian tribes in an effort to develop high-quality vocational education programs.

Hawaiian Natives

The program for Hawaiian Natives Vocational Education under the Perkins Act stipulates that grants can only be made to organizations that primarily serve and represent Hawaiian Natives and are recognized by the Governor of the State of Hawaii. Thus far, only one organization, Alu Like Inc., has received this recognition and has thus received all the available funds. Alu Like is a nonprofit organization with the primary mission of assisting Hawaiian Natives to achieve social and economic excellence (III.2).

The mission of the Hawaiian Natives Vocational Education program administered by Alu Like is to foster changes in the Hawaiian vocational education delivery system to ensure that Native Hawaiian students participate in, and benefit from, vocational education to the same degree as other ethnic groups in the State. Goals of projects funded by the program include increasing the number of Native Hawaiian vocational education high school students who pursue vocational education at the community college level, adoption of methods culturally appropriate for teaching basic academic skills to Native Hawaiians at the intermediate level, improving the retention and completion rates of Native Hawaiians enrolled in community college vocational education programs, and establishing community-based vocational education facilities to assist Hawaiian Native adults to reenter the public vocational system.

The University of Hawaii Community College Student Retention Model, which is supported in part by the program, includes a data collection system that is being updated to track the progress of Native Hawaiian students in community colleges. An outreach effort is continuing to recruit Native Hawaiian high school students for enrollment in community college programs and to assist students in continuing in higher level programs.

The grantee is working with the private sector to develop training alternatives in occupations such as home health care and small business management. Cooperative learning is being used in schools as a culturally appropriate and effective means of educating Hawaiian Native students.

III. Sources of Information

  1. Program files.

  2. Pelavin, Diane C., Levine, Andrea B., and Sherman, Joel D., Descriptive Review of Set-Aside Programs for Hawaiian Natives (Washington, DC: Pelavin Associates, April 1989).

IV. Planned Studies

None.

V. Contacts for Further Information

Program Operations:
Indian Vocational Education:
Roberta Lewis, (202) 205-5680

Program Operations:
Native Hawaiian Vocational Education:
Kate Holmberg, (202) 205-5563

Program Studies:
Manny Smith, (202) 401-1958

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