Study of the ESEA Title VI Indian Education LEA Grants Program

Appendix D

Title VI Coordinator Interview Protocol

Introduction to the Title VI Coordinator Interview

• Introduce the interviewer(s).

• Explain the purpose of the study and topics to be covered in the interview. Interviewers will read the following statement to interview respondents at the beginning of each interview:

We are conducting this interview as part of the Study of the Implementation of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title VI Indian Education LEA Grants Program, being carried out under contract for the U.S. Department of Education by Policy Studies Associates (PSA), a research organization, and SRI International (SRI), an independent, nonprofit research institute, as well as researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Alaska Anchorage. The study is not intended to examine the outcomes of the program, nor will findings be attributed to any one site. We are conducting interviews to gather descriptions of grant activities that can help illustrate the findings from a survey of all grantees. This interview will focus on the strategies grantees use to:

• provide culturally responsive services and activities and help Native students meet state standards;

• align and leverage program-funded services with those funded by other federal, state, and local sources;

• accurately identify eligible Native students;

• establish and implement project priorities with parent, community, and tribal involvement;

• measure progress toward Title VI project objectives.
  
  

Upon completion of the study, findings will be shared with all grantees and be available for the general public.

• Explain the provisions for protecting respondent’s privacy. Interviewers will read the following statement to interview respondents at the beginning of each interview:

As part of the study, the study team will share its findings with the U.S. Department of Education. However, the results of the interviews will be summarized across all the districts and programs participating in interviews. Individuals will not be identified by name in any form of analysis or report, and data will be reported in a manner that does not reveal your identity or the identity of your project. In addition, when we need to use quotes to help illustrate the findings, we will use them anonymously. Except for what is already public, the study team will store all data collected for the study in secure environments and will protect the confidentiality of the information you provide, to the extent provided by law. Finally, your participation in this interview is voluntary and you may decline to respond at any time.

• Advise the respondent that the interview will last approximately 45-60 minutes.

• Explain that a member of the study team may follow-up by phone to clarify responses to interview questions.

• Invite questions from the respondent.

• Ask permission to audio-record the interview using the following statement:

We would like to record this conversation to ensure that we accurately capture your comments. If you agree, we would retain the recording only until we can validate the notes, at which point the voice recording would be destroyed. The transcripts will be destroyed at the end of the study. If at any point you would like to say something off the record, I will stop the recording. Do you agree to allow us to record the interview?

• Confirm respondent’s current roles and responsibilities within the agency/organization and in terms of the Title VI Grants Program. Ask if there are others we should speak with regarding Title VI.

Notes: (1) Before going on site visits, interviewers will review all extant data on grantee (grant size, goals, services provided, demographics of students served) and school/project plans and policy documents (including any information available about the district’s comprehensive plan and Title VI Parent Advisory Committee). (2) Interviewers will ask all follow-up questions as specified in the protocol. In addition, interviewers will be directed to seek clarification of any response they judge to be vague or incomplete. The primary strategy for seeking clarification will be to ask respondents to provide specific examples to illustrate their responses. A second strategy will be to ask respondents to “say more” or to “expand on” or “explain the meaning of” a particular comment. Interviewers will adapt questions for BIE and tribe grantees and use locally recognized terms (e.g., in referring to the AI/AN population), as appropriate.

Title VI Coordinator Interview Protocol

I. Background

1. How long have you been the coordinator of the Title VI grant?

2. What other responsibilities do you have, if any?

   1. What percent of your time (in FTEs) do you spend on administering the Title VI grant?

II. Services Provided

3. What are the key features of your district’s [tribe’s, school’s] comprehensive program for meeting the needs of Native children?

4. During the 2017-18 school year, what specific services and activities does your Title VI funding support? [Probe for services reported on EASIE APR Report that interviewee does not mention.]

   1. How many eligible Native students receive each of these types of services and activities?

   2. When and where are these services and activities provided to eligible Native students?

   3. In what ways has your project tried to make the services and activities culturally responsive? [Prompt for each of the following]:

      1. Instruction in students’ heritage language (i.e., the language used by local tribes)

      2. Native history and culture are incorporated into the curriculum

      3. Learning is connected to students’ local contexts, such as their town or community (i.e., place-based learning)

      4. Teachers receive professional development in culturally responsive instructional strategies

      5. Native teachers and support staff are hired

   4. What are the challenges to providing culturally responsive services and activities to eligible Native students? [Probe for small/large Native student population size, adequate funding, accessibility, internet connectivity]

   5. How are these challenges addressed?

   6. How do these services and activities support your [district or school’s] comprehensive program for meeting the needs of Native students?

5. In the last 5 years, has your project added, dropped, or modified the services and activities provided through this grant? If yes:

   1. What Title VI-funded services and activities have been added, dropped, or modified?

   2. What led to the changes? [Probe for role of stakeholder input, needs assessment, new information about culturally responsive practices.]

6. What services and activities do you think should be added, dropped, or modified among the portfolio of services and activities your [project] offers to Native students? Why? Are there needed services that your project lacks the capacity to provide? If so, why?

7. How do you coordinate Title VI-funded services and activities with other projects/funding sources that serve the needs of Native students and/or at-risk students and families?

   1. With what other projects/funding sources are Title VI services and activities coordinated? [Probe for Title I/II/III/IV, Education for Homeless Children and Youth Program, BIE (e.g., Johnson-O’Malley), Impact Aid, IDEA, state and local programs/funds.]

   2. How is service delivery coordinated? [Probe for shared staff, shared supplies and materials, shared space, other resources.]

   3. What strategies or processes have facilitated this service coordination? [Probe for cost-sharing agreements or Memoranda of Understanding, interagency task forces or committees, data sharing agreements, conducting joint trainings.]

   4. What are the barriers to coordinating services and activities to serve the needs of Native students? [Probe for alignment of policy and/or regulation.]

III. Planning Services

8. What process does your [LEA/school/tribe] use to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of Native children?

9. How do you identify Native students’ unique educational and culturally related academic needs?

   1. What information do you gather? [Probe for student outcome data, surveys, focus groups.]

   2. How often do you assess student needs for the purposes of project planning? How much time is required to assess student needs?

10. Which stakeholders do you usually go to in seeking input to plan grant-funded services and activities for eligible Native students?

11. Describe the role of your Title VI Parent Advisory committee.

12. What is the composition of your Title VI Parent Advisory committee? [Probe for number of parents, teachers, tribal elders or other representatives, secondary school students.]

13. In planning for the 2017-18 or 2018-19 school year, have you consulted with the Title VI Parent Advisory Committee?

14. What mechanisms are in place to ensure consultation with the Title VI Parent Advisory Committee? [Probe for regular meetings, public hearing, written communication, other.]

15. What is the focus of the consultation with the Title VI Parent Advisory Committee? [Probe for needs assessment, selecting services, planning for service delivery.]

16. How effective is the Title VI Parent Advisory Committee?

    1. How do you assess the effectiveness of the committee?

    2. What challenges does the committee face in planning grant-funded services and activities?

17. In planning for the 2017-18 or 2018-19 school year, have you consulted with tribes or tribal organizations?

18. What mechanisms are in place to ensure consultation with tribes? [Probe for regular meetings, public hearing, interagency task force, written communication, other.]

19. What is the focus of the consultation with tribes? [Probe for needs assessment, selecting services, planning for service delivery.]

20. How effective is the tribal consultation?

    1. How do you assess the effectiveness of the tribal consultation?

    2. What challenges arise during tribal consultation?

21. Of the stakeholders you consult, which are most influential for purposes of selecting services and activities to support Native students? Why?

22. Where else do you get information about appropriate services and activities for the eligible Native students?

    1. How do you learn about culturally responsive services and activities?

23. Ultimately, what factors determine which services and activities are provided to eligible Native students? [Probe for use of needs assessment, input from stakeholders and public hearing, information about culturally responsive practices, local capacity and availability of services.]

24. If you could design an ideal program, what would it look like?

IV. Identifying and Counting Eligible Children

25. What processes does your district have in place for identifying students who may be eligible for Title VI-funded services? [Probe for specific procedures and policies.]

26. In what ways does your district work with partners to support parents and guardians in completing the Indian student certification (ED 506) form? Ask about work with each of the following groups:

    1. Parents and parent committees

    2. School or district staff

    3. Community members

    4. Tribal leaders, organizations

    5. Health department, housing authority, child and family services, or other agencies

27. What strategies are most effective in ensuring that forms are completed accurately and submitted in time to qualify for services?

28. What challenges does your district face in its efforts to identify students eligible for Title VI-funded services? [Probe for engaging schools to conduct targeted outreach to Native parents/guardians regarding project-eligible children; improving the online accessibility of information about eligibility, conflicts with self-reported race/ethnicity data for other purposes, complications with tribal recognition and membership.]

29. What is the estimated cost to your district in terms of time and money of identifying eligible Native students and ensuring completion of the ED 506 form?

30. [For tribe and BIE grantees only] Are all of the students your school serves members of [name] tribe? Are all eligible for Title VI-funded services? [If school serves students who are members of other tribes], do you face any issues with official tribal recognition and/or membership that make it difficult to identify students for services? How tribes collaborate with the LEA to verify attendance (e.g. check the roster)?

V. Measuring Progress Toward Title VI Project Objectives

31. What are your project objectives for the 2017-18 school year? [Probe for the objectives reported on EASIE Budget Report that are not mentioned.]

32. What tools or data sources does your project use to measure progress toward each of these objectives? [Probe for measures aligned with each objective and those reported on the EASIE APR Report.]

33. What challenges does your project face in measuring progress toward project objectives? [Probe for access to data, resources to collect data, time/capacity to analyze data.]

34. To what extent are services and activities modified in light of data or evidence of progress? Why or why not? Specific examples? Which data sources are most useful for informing decisions?

35. Are there challenges or other factors that inhibit the use of any data sources for making decisions about project services and activities? If yes, please describe.

VI. Wrap-up

36. What are your hopes for your community by having Title VI-funded services and activities available to serve the needs of eligible Native students?

37. Is there anything else that we did not cover but you think is important for the study to capture about your Title VI project?

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