MDE Indigenous Education Initiative Tribal Consultation Guidebook - Manual / Resource - Page 11
What Should be the Focus of Consultation?
All decisions being made by LEAs related to the planning,
implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the educational
programming in a school that serves Indigenous learners should
be brought to the consultative relationship. Ultimately it will be
up to each tribe to decide if they will engage and to what degree
that engagement will be.
For this reason, consultative discussions should begin by
talking about the overall educational system and what the data
shows about how well the system is meeting the objectives
for Indigenous learners before narrowing the discussion to
how funds in each funding stream are being used to support
Indigenous learners.
From a strictly compliance standpoint, the exact list of required
consultative topics will depend on which grants an LEA receives
and the size of those grants. LEAs should review the ESEA
references in Appendix B to understand any specific legal
requirements that may apply to their situation. Since all federal
grant programs contain provisions for coordination and are
designed to be supplemental to the general education program,
consultation should focus on helping all parties understand how
a particular grant and the services funded by it supplement the
general education program or work in coordination with the
general education and other programs.
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