STRATEGIC DIRECTION RELEASED
 As
highlighted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, a lack of consistent
leadership – as evidenced by the BIE’s and its predecessor, the Office of
Indian Education Programs, more than 37 directors since 1979 – as well as the
absence of regular and consistent strategic planning have limited the Bureau’s ability
to improve its core service delivery to Indian Country.
Over the
course of the last year, all levels of the BIE worked to draft a Strategic Direction
Proposal designed to address the academic needs of BIE school students and
improve the agency’s support for all BIE-funded schools. On October 17, 2017, the
BIE initiated tribal consultation regarding the Draft Strategic Direction Proposal.
Upon conclusion of five tribal consultation sessions and three listening
sessions, the BIE began a process of substantive review and analysis of all
submitted feedback. On August 23, BIE released the Direction with concrete
milestones and actions to shape its work over the next several years.
BIE has published the comprehensive consultation report and Strategic Direction based on feedback it received through the 2017 consultation
process. To ensure the Strategic Direction is implemented effectively, the BIE
and its technical assistance partners have held a number of collaborative
meetings with BIE and school-level employees throughout the past year to
support a management system for carrying it out. The BIE looks forward to
working with employees and Indian Country to improve its service delivery to
students and Indian tribes as the Strategic Direction is put
into action.
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HOME LIVING STAFF TRAINING
Home Living staff are receiving training this
summer. Staff currently perform childcare, juvenile or young adult related
duties in a dormitory environment, which assures the functioning of a
well-balanced home living program for students who reside in a BIE dormitory on
a 24 hour basis, 7 days a week. The duties of the Home Living Assistant combine
the functions of practical instruction and guidance of students during out of
school hours, e.g., personal hygiene, care of clothing, grooming, good manners,
handling of money, conduct, adjustments, respect of property and housekeeping.
Additionally, they are responsible for the security and safety of a dormitory
during night hours.
The sessions are designed to not only meet Code
of Federal Regulations (CFR) requirements for pre-service and annual training,
but to also provide professional development for home living staff at BIE boarding
schools. There are 14 different topic areas addressed that range from goal
setting for residential staff and programs to mental health training. As a result
of feedback from last year’s training, a new training project will be provided
to the residential staff this year, the Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA)
course which is coordinated by BIE Student Health Programs Specialist, Teresia
Paul. The YMHFA training will allow participants to earn a certificate in
the training, and be better prepared to help students who are dealing with
mental health issues.
This residential training is the second year it’s
being provided to Bureau Operated residential programs. Training has occurred
at Chemawa Indian School, Flandreau Indian School, Riverside Indian School and
Sherman Indian High School. This year, several tribally controlled schools
joined in at most locations which has allowed staff to interact, share best
practices, and learn from one another.
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NEW STAFF
Hankie Ortiz, ADD for Bureau Operated Schools
 The Bureau is pleased to announce the appointment of Hankie
Ortiz, Esq., a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Caddo and Comanche, as
the Associate Deputy Director - Bureau Operated Schools. She is based in Albuquerque, NM.
The Associate Deputy Director Bureau Operated Schools
oversees 21 BIE-operated schools and works with 16 tribal nations that have
BIE-operated schools on their reservations. She serves as a top level senior
executive responsible for providing oversight and guidance to BIE-operated
schools through building a responsive organization that provides resources,
direction and services to BIE schools; fosters parental, community and
organizational partnerships to provide the emotional and social support
students need; and provides a budget that focuses on providing resources and
services.
Hankie most recently served as the Deputy Bureau Director,
Indian Services for the Bureau of Indian Affairs where she was responsible for
guiding national policy and providing leadership for five BIA Divisions:
Transportation, Human Services, Self-Determination, Tribal Government Services
and Workforce Development. Among other responsibilities, she oversaw and
directed work in welfare assistance, child protection, family violence, Indian
child welfare, supervised Individual Indian Money accounts and the Housing
Improvement Program. She represented the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs
on national committees and interagency workgroups in the areas of suicide
prevention, homelessness, and alcohol and substance abuse prevention. She also
held several leadership roles at the Indian Health Service in Rockville, including
Director, Office of Self-Governance.
Hankie has a Juris Doctor from the University of Montana
Alexander Blewett III School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology
from the University of Oklahoma.
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 Mr. Jackie Ray Shamblin is the BIE’s new Human Resources
Officer based in Albuquerque, N.M.
Mr. Shamblin brings with him a wealth of knowledge and
experience and has served in many roles within the human resources arena. Previously,
he was in Charleston, South Carolina where he worked for the Department of the Navy
as their Command Human Resources Director. Prior to that he also worked for the
Department of the Navy as the Human Resources Director at Naval
Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Crane Division in Indiana. Other positions
he has held in his 27-year career include Agency Employee and Labor Relations
Officer for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia; a
Senior Employee Relations Specialist and the Director of Human Resources
Operations for the Food Safety Inspection Service in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In
the Director role, he had oversight of staffing, recruitment, benefits, payroll
and the Delegated Examining units.
Prior to those assignments, Mr. Shamblin was the
Human Resources Officer for the VA Medical Center located in Augusta, Georgia
for three years. In that position he managed all HR services including staffing
and recruitment, employee/labor relations, payroll, processing and records,
OWCP, benefits and position management. He also spent time overseas in South
Korea, where he worked for the Department of the Army as an Employee and Labor
Relations Specialist. Prior to this assignment he was a Supervisory Employee
and Labor Relations Officer and a Staff Development Training Specialist with the
Indian Health Service early in his federal career. He started his career in federal
law enforcement when he left the military.
The Bureau of
Indian Education has created a dynamic Education Talent Recruiting Team
comprised of Tony Scheler and Shannon Freeman. They are actively recruiting
highly qualified educators enthusiastic about investing in the academic success
of students throughout Indian Country.
Tony earned 10
years of classroom teaching experience at the Nay Ah Shing School in Minnesota
prior to his 10 years of service with the BIE at the Albuquerque Office. His
work in School Improvement has provided him the opportunity to develop a strong
network throughout BIE schools. This past year he began recruiting for Bureau
Operated Schools.
Shannon, a
citizen of the Caddo Nation, is new to BIE and brings an extensive background
in human resources and education. She completed 16 years at the University of
Oklahoma and an additional 13 years as the Human Resource Director of Staffing
and Recruitment with Oklahoma City Public Schools.
You
may reach Anthony Scheler, Education Talent Recruiter in the Human Resources
Office at (505) 563-5254 or Anthony.Scheler@bie.edu or
Shannon G. Freeman, Education Talent Recruiter at (505) 563-5021 or Shannon.Freeman@bie.edu.
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The BIE participated in the Tribal Education Departments
National Assembly (TEDNA) Regional Conference on August 3, 2018 at the Santa
Ana Pueblo in New Mexico. The theme of the conference was “Education
Sovereignty and Tribal Consultation.” BIE Director Mr. Tony Dearman provided
updates from the BIE that included BIE’s reform efforts, priorities and the
Strategic Direction. Mr. Dearman also highlighted the upcoming Negotiated
Rulemaking Committee meetings regarding the BIE’s Standards, Assessments, and
Accountability System.
Two other BIE staff members delivered updates during the
multi-session, multi-day conference. BIE’s new Program Specialist for Johnson
O’Malley (JOM), Angela Barnett, presented an overview of the JOM program.
Maureen Lesky, Program Manager for the Office of Sovereignty in Indian
Education reported on Tribal Education Department (TED) grant activities,
events and timelines.
TEDNA is a national non-profit
organization for the education departments of American Indian and Alaska Native
Tribes or TEDs. TEDNA strives to provide ongoing resources for
professional development to providing technical assistance to TEDs in crafting
more comprehensive educational systems.
 Attendees and BIE Director Tony Dearman (center) with Maureen Lesky at the TEDNA Conference.
On September 14, 2017, the BIE announced the establishment
of a Standards, Assessments, and Accountability System Negotiated Rulemaking
Committee. The Committee will be tasked with advising the Secretary of the
Interior and developing proposed regulations for defining standards,
assessments, and an accountability system under the Every Student Succeeds Act,
which amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. At the close
of the announcement on October 16, 2017, BIE received 30 nominations from across
Indian Country. After reviewing the nominations, 13 nominees were appointed. These
13 nominees were announced in an April 17, 2018 Federal Register Notice that
requested comments on the nominations and provided a deadline for comments and
further nominations by May 17, 2018. Following
the feedback, there were two additional nominees appointed to the
Committee. The BIE has scheduled
meetings intended to develop and implement the new system as quickly as
possible.
To support this work, the BIE has worked diligently in the
last year to improve data collection to better illustrate the needs and
successes of our students. The BIE is hiring key personnel focused exclusively
on data systems, data collection training, and the use of key data metrics
critical to supporting the needs of BIE students. BIE is also working locally
with schools to train and assist school leaders on how they input key data
sets, such as graduation rates. Too often, inadequate reporting by schools
regarding end statuses for individual students through improper logging of
transfer students has inaccurately reduced BIE’s overall graduation rate. But,
as BIE works with school personnel to increase their capacity regarding student
data, accuracy is expected to improve bureau-wide.
Preparation is underway for the first meeting of
the BIE Negotiated Rulemaking Committee on Standards, Assessments, and
Accountability System. The first meeting is on September 25, 2018, in Billings,
Montana. Additional information can be
found on the BIE website at the following URL: https://www.bie.edu/Resources/NRMC/index.htm.
Since school year (SY)
2014-15 the BIE has been engaged in recruitment and the National Board
Certified Teacher (NBCT) achievement of BIE-funded teachers, counselors,
librarians and even a few principals. In this initiative the BIE has paid
registration fees, component fees, workshop fees, and provided regional and
national support to NBCT candidates, as well as an annual $2,500 stipend to
NBCT Achieved teachers.
As
of May 2018, the BIE has 529 candidates actively working towards NBCT
Achievement as part of the goal to have 1,000 NBCTs working at BIE-funded
schools by 2020. This is exponential growth to move from zero candidates in
2013 to 529 in 2018–no other state in the U.S. has had this level of success
and progress according to our source at the National Board for Professional
Teaching Standards (NBPTS). In December of 2018, the BIE has the potential to
add 176 brand new NBCTs. The BIE currently has 28 NBCTs that have achieved
because of the initiative, and 30 that have joined the organization as NBCTs.
The
NBPTS Leadership Academy 2018 was the first time in four years that the BIE had
NBCTs attend as a result of the initiative. Casey Sovo was the BIE
representative at the Academy and met with Tan-A Hoffman and Sarah Solomon from
BIE school JKL Bahweting in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and the State of
Mississippi to lay plans to establish a BIE NBCT Network that will connect all
of the BIE-funded NBCTs and Candidates located in the 23 states where we have
schools. This network will be the first of its kind stretching across state
lines and school districts to ensure that BIE-funded NBCT Candidates and
Achieved teachers have access to support, guidance and direction regarding the
certification process, and leadership opportunities to advance the teaching
profession within the BIE.
Haskell Indian
Nations University was recently ranked eleventh in the Top 100 national
institutions that award degrees to minority students.
This annual report was generated by Diverse Issues in Higher Education
magazine. This is the only national report on the success of colleges and
universities in awarding degrees to African American, Asian American, Hispanic
and Native American students.
Haskell Indian Nations University remains the number one Tribal College producer
of Native American bachelor degrees. Haskell advanced its standing in this
annual report, moving up from thirteenth in the 2015-16 annual report.
Haskell Indian Nations University President, Dr. Venida S. Chenault,
credited efforts undertaken by the University over the past four years as contributing to the success of
Haskell. She cited the strategic commitment of Haskell to improving its
retention and graduation rates, an emphasis on creating a culture of student
success, and prioritizing academic programs, technology, and services for
students as critical factors in this success.
Monday, August 6 marked the first day of school for
many students in the Navajo region. Jeeh Deez’a Academy located in Low
Mountain, Arizona was busy welcoming students, preparing lunches and familiarizing
students with their teachers and classrooms. Acting Principal Victor Benally is
proud of the work done regarding instruction, assessments, lesson planning,
professional development, parental engagement and the hard work performed by
school staff and faculty to make the school a friendly and safe place for all
students. See a photo album from the first day of school here.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recently authorized the “Every Kid in a Park”
program for another year. Fourth-graders nationwide may now obtain a pass for free access to all
federal lands and waters. The pass is valid for the 2018-19 school year,
granting entry for one student and up to three accompanying adults -- or an entire car for drive-in
parks -- at more than 2,000 national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and
marine sanctuaries. The web site offers educators and parents a list of
activities, trip planning books, safety and packing tips, and other helpful
information.
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