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Sealaska Heritage Institute is developing curriculum for:

The institute's effort to develop Tlingit and Haida immersion curriculum is funded through two federal grants from the U.S. Dept. of Education, Alaska Native Education Program, which awarded to SHI a 3-year grant of $864,000 in 2002 for Tlingit curriculum development and a 3-year grant of $1.4 million in 2003 for Haida curriculum development.

SHI’s long-term goal is to sponsor language immersion programs in communities across Southeast Alaska and the grants will allow the institute to lay the groundwork for that endeavor, said SHI President Dr. Rosita Worl.

“SHI over the past several years has focused on training Native people to speak and teach Tlingit and Haida, an essential first step to revitalize the languages,” Worl said. “These grants allow us to tackle the problem of language loss on a new level. 

Language immersion is the most effective technique for teaching Native languages to children, said Worl, who emphasized that studies show language immersion also improves student performance in other academic areas.

SHI will use Tlingit and Haida language immersion as a tool, not only to teach the language, but to help students meet state academic standards, Worl said.

“These grants for the first time will allow us to develop the materials to teach children directly through Tlingit and Haida in ways that allow them to understand the content and learn the languages at the same time,” she said.

The institute's effort to develop culturally relevant high school curriculum is funded through an $850,000 federal grant to prepare Southeast Alaska Native high school students for college.

The grant, awarded in 2004 by the U.S. Dept. of Education, will be distributed over three years and includes funds to develop culturally relevant curriculum in math, science and history; to incorporate the curriculum into high school classes; and to provide workshops for teachers.

The curriculum will integrate Alaska state academic standards with Alaska standards for culturally responsive curriculum and schools. The project was crafted in response to extremely high drop out rates among Native students, said Dr. Rosita Worl, president of the institute, which has integrated Native curriculum into elementary school classes in the Juneau School District.

“We already know from our previous work that Native students do better when language and culture are integrated into the curriculum.  This grant will allow us to focus at the high school level,” said Worl, noting the project not only aims to make it easier for Native children to graduate from high school but to transition to college.

News Articles:
"Heritage Institute seeks to connect education to Native experience"
"Sealaska looks to HS curriculum"
"Sealaska Herigate Develops Culturally-Relevant High School Curriculum" (Radio story by CoastAlaska reporter Ed Schoenfeld)

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