App A - Notification Letters

Appendix A

Notification Letters

Letter to grant coordinators (survey only) from the Department

[Department of Education letterhead]

[Date]

[Name], Title VI Indian Education Grant Coordinator

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Dear [name of Title VI Grant Coordinator]:

As we wrote to you in December, the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a study of the Title VI Indian Education Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. We have now received formal approval to launch the data collection, and you will be receiving information on how to access the survey shortly from the study team at SRI Education and Policy Studies Associates.

Your participation in this survey is very important to enable the Office of Indian Education and other Title VI grant coordinators to learn from your experience and insights, in order to improve teaching and learning for American Indian and Alaska Native students. As you may know, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires all grantees to assure that they will cooperate with the Department’s program evaluations (Section 8306(a)(4)), including this one. Recognizing that you have many other demands on your time, the survey has been designed to be completed in about 30 minutes.

The study will culminate in a publicly available final report that combines information from the survey of all Title VI coordinators, case studies, analysis of existing data, and literature review to provide a comprehensive and detailed description of how grantees are implementing the program. The final report will not associate individual responses or findings with a specific grantee or person; rather, the survey responses will be used either to summarize findings across sites or to provide examples of program implementation that do not contain any identifying information.

A member of the study team will contact you within the next week to provide instructions for completing the survey.

If you have any questions about this study, you can reach the study director, Brenda Turnbull, at [email protected] or 202‑939-5324, or you can contact Jean Yan here at the Department at [email protected] or 202-205-6212.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and support and thank you and your staff for providing the expertise and time needed for the success of this important study.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger Tara Ramsey
Director, Policy and Program Studies Service Acting Director, Office of Indian Education

Letter to grant coordinators (survey and case study) from the Department
[Department of Education letterhead]

[Date]

[Name], Title VI Indian Education Grant Coordinator

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Dear [Title VI grant coordinator name]

As we wrote to you in December, the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a study of the Title VI Indian Education Grants to Local Educational Agencies program. We have now received formal approval to launch the data collection.

Your participation in this study is very important to enable the Office of Indian Education and other Title VI grant coordinators to learn from your experience and insights, in order to improve teaching and learning for American Indian and Alaska Native students. Specifically, we ask you to complete an online survey of all Title VI Grant Coordinators and that your site participate in a case study. We anticipate that the national survey will provide information on the full population of grantees, while the case study data will permit the study team to present a detailed and nuanced description of the work of a small subset of Title VI grantees.

As you may know, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires all grantees to assure that they will cooperate with the Department’s program evaluations (Section 8306(a)(4)), including this one. Recognizing that you have many other demands on your time, the survey and case study interview protocols have been designed to minimize the burden of participation. We estimate that the survey will require about 30 minutes to complete, and will be administered between [date1] and [date2]. The case studies will include site visits to conduct interviews and focus groups with grant coordinators, grantee leaders and staff, parents, and tribal leaders. Two researchers will visit each site between [date1] and [date2]. Each individual interview will be audio-recorded and will last approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Participation in the interviews is voluntary.

The study will culminate in a publicly available final report that combines information from the survey of all Title VI coordinators, case studies, analysis of existing data, and literature review to provide a comprehensive and detailed description of how grantees are implementing the program. The final report will not associate individual responses or findings with a specific grantee or person; rather, the survey responses will be used either to summarize findings across sites or to provide examples of program implementation that do not contain any identifying information.

A member of the study team will contact you within the next week to provide instructions for completing the survey. If you have any questions about this study, you can reach the study director Brenda Turnbull at [email protected] or (202) 939-5324, or Jean Yan here at the Department at [email protected] or (202) 205-6212.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and support and thank you and your staff for providing the expertise and time needed for the success of the study.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger Tara Ramsey
Director, Policy and Program Studies Service Acting Director, Office of Indian Education

Letter to grantee leaders/administrators and staff in case study sites from study team

[Date]

[Grantee name] staff member

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Dear [grantee name] staff member,

We are writing to inform you about a national Study of the Implementation of the Title VI, Indian Education Local Education Agency (LEA) Grants Program being conducted for the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to a national survey, the study includes case studies of nine Title VI LEA grants projects. The study team selected [grantee name] to be one of the case study sites. We would like to take this opportunity to explain the study purpose and design and invite you to participate in a case study interview.

This study is designed to examine strategies used by Title VI grantees like [grantee name] to provide culturally responsive services and activities and help American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students meet challenging state academic standards; align and leverage program-funded services with those funded by other federal, state, and local sources; identify eligible AI/AN students; establish and implement project priorities with parent, community, and tribal involvement; and measure progress towards Title VI project objectives.

Two members of the study team—one from SRI International (SRI) OR Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and one from Arizona State University’s Center for Indian Education OR the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Center for Alaska Education Policy—will visit [grantee name] on [date]. They will interview key stakeholders, including the grant coordinator, up to five grantee administrators and staff, parents, and tribal leaders. Interview questions will focus on Title VI eligibility requirements and on planning and providing services for the indigenous students in your area. As you may know, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act requires all grantees to assure that they will cooperate with the Department’s program evaluations (Section 8306(a)(4)), including this one. However, participation in the interviews is voluntary. Moreover, we recognize that grantee leaders and staff have many demands on their time, and we have designed the case study interview protocols to minimize the burden of participation. The staff interviews will be audio-recorded and will last approximately 45 to 60 minutes.

The study team has secured Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for this study and will follow all legal and ethical requirements to protect participants in the study. The study team will store all data collected for the study in a secure environment and will protect the confidentiality of the information you provide, to the extent provided by the law. After completion of the study, the study team will destroy all data files with identifiable information. The team will not use the data for purposes other than this study. The study team will produce a publicly available final report that provides a rich and nuanced description of Title VI grant implementation, but will not identify any individual or LEA that participates in the study.

Thank you for your cooperation and support. Your participation in this study will ensure that the Office of Indian Education and Title VI grant coordinators can learn from your experience and insights and improve teaching and learning for AI/AN students.

Sincerely,

[SRI/PSA/ASU/UAA Interviewer names and contact information]

Letter to parents in case study sites from study team

[Date]

[Name]

[Tribe/Tribal Organization]

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Your child’s school has been selected to participate in the U.S. Department of Education’s Study of the Implementation of the Title VI, Indian Education Local Education Agency Grants Program. In addition to a national survey, the study includes case studies of nine Title VI Indian Education projects, and [grantee name] is one of the sites. We would like to take this opportunity to explain the study and invite you to participate in a group interview, as your perspective is central to helping the Department achieve the goals of the study.

This study is designed to examine strategies used by Title VI grantees like [grantee name] to provide culturally responsive services and activities and help American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students meet challenging state academic standards; align and leverage program-funded services with those funded by other federal, state, and local sources; identify eligible AI/AN students; establish and implement project priorities with parent, community, and tribal involvement; and measure progress towards Title VI project objectives. The study has also wants to learn how families are involved in program enrollment and service planning.

Two members of the study team—one from SRI International (SRI) OR Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and one from Arizona State University’s Center for Indian Education OR the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Center for Alaska Education Policy—will visit [grantee name] on [date]. We will interview key stakeholders, including parents/guardians, the grant coordinator, up to five grantee administrators and staff, and tribal leaders. We will ask about your experience with Title VI eligibility requirements as well as about your participation in planning and providing services for the indigenous students in your area. The parent group interviews will be audio-recorded and will last approximately 60 minutes. Participation in the focus groups is voluntary.

Please know that the study team will follow all legal and ethical requirements to protect participants, and has secured Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for this study. The study team will store all data collected for the study in a secure environment and will protect the confidentiality of the information you provide, to the extent provided by the law. After completion of the study, the study team will destroy all data files with identifiable information. The team will not use the data for purposes other than this study. The study team will produce a publicly available final report that provides a rich and nuanced description of Title VI grant implementation, but will not identify any individual who participates in the study.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and support. Your participation will ensure that the Office of Indian Education and Title VI grant coordinators can learn from your experience and insights and improve teaching and learning for AI/AN students.

Sincerely,
[SRI/PSA/ASU/UAA Interviewer names and contact information]

Letter to tribal leaders in case study sites from the study team

[Date]

[Name]

[Tribe/Tribal Organization]

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Dear [tribal leader]

[Grantee name] has been selected to participate in a national Study of the Implementation of the Title VI, Indian Education Local Education Agency Grants Program being conducted for the U.S. Department of Education. In addition to a national survey, the study includes case studies of nine Title VI Indian Education projects. The study team selected [grantee name] to be one of the case study sites. We would like to take this opportunity to explain the study and invite you to participate.

This study is designed to examine strategies used by Title VI grantees like [grantee name] to provide culturally responsive services and activities and help American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) students meet challenging state academic standards; align and leverage program-funded services with those funded by other federal, state, and local sources; identify eligible AI/AN students; establish and implement project priorities with parent, community, and tribal involvement; and measure progress towards Title VI project objectives. The study also wants to learn how tribal leaders are involved in program enrollment and service planning.

Two members of the study team—one from SRI International (SRI) OR Policy Studies Associates (PSA) and one from Arizona State University’s Center for Indian Education OR the University of Alaska Anchorage’s Center for Alaska Education Policy—will visit [grantee name] on [date]. We will interview key stakeholders from each project site, including tribal leaders, the grant coordinator, grantee administrators and staff, and parents/guardians. We are writing to ask if you would participate in an interview. We will ask you about our experience with Title VI eligibility requirements as well as about your participation in planning services for the indigenous students in your area. The interview will be audio-recorded and will last approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Participation in the interview is voluntary.

Please know that the study team will follow all legal and ethical requirements to protect participants, and has secured Office of Management and Budget (OMB) clearance for this study. The study team will store all data collected for the study in a secure environment and will protect the confidentiality of the information you provide, to the extent provided by the law. After completion of the study, the study team will destroy all data files with identifiable information. The team will not use the data for purposes other than this study. The study team will produce a publicly available final report that provides a rich and nuanced description of Title VI grant implementation, but will not identify any individual, LEA, or tribe that participates in the study.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation and support. Your participation will ensure that the Office of Indian Education and Title VI grant coordinators can learn from your experience and insights and improve teaching and learning for AI/AN students.

Sincerely,
[SRI/PSA/ASU/UAA Interviewer names and contact information]