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Full-Text Articles in Education

Supporting Native Indian Preschoolers And Their Families Family–School–Community Partnerships, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado-Mancebo, Paula S. Szczepaniak, Jacqueline Jones Nov 2011

Supporting Native Indian Preschoolers And Their Families Family–School–Community Partnerships, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado-Mancebo, Paula S. Szczepaniak, Jacqueline Jones

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

In this urban midwestern public school district, families of Native Indian students, pre-K through grade 12, attend four multigenerational gatherings like this one during the school year—one of a number of events orchestrated by the Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) program. NICE is a program in the school district that partners with families to provide Native-centric educational opportunities for preschool children. Family events such as the storytelling activity in the opening vignette represent trends in early childhood education: building family-school-community partnerships to enhance learning and build family resources. The all- Native-Indian preschool program is unusual and rare in urban areas. …


Nurturing Urban Native American Families Through Preschool Family Literacy Celebrations, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado, Paula Szczepaniak Jan 2011

Nurturing Urban Native American Families Through Preschool Family Literacy Celebrations, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Tami Maldonado, Paula Szczepaniak

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Most Native Americans (NAs ) live in urban settings [1]. Only half of indigenous ninth-grade students graduate with their non-native, same-age peers [2]. New and innovative approaches to teaching urban NAs to increase their graduation rates are urgently needed. One such innovative approach infuses cultural education into curriculum: young children from diverse Native Nations, many of whom have additional non-Native heritage, attend an experimental, urban Native Indian Centered Education (NICE) preschool in the Midwest. The preschool focuses on building and strengthening family literacy resources and developing family-school-community partnerships to strengthen literacy.