Systems and Supports to Develop Indigenous Educators: A Landscape Analysis

Education Northwest conducted a landscape analysis to support the Region 16 Comprehensive Center in gathering information about promising practices and innovative strategies for recruiting and retaining Indigenous educators in teacher education programs (TEPs) and the workforce. This landscape analysis included a review of the literature; a review of enrollment and graduation data from TEPs across the country (publicly available from the U.S. Department of Education through Title II of the Higher Education Act); and interviews with scholars, experts, and program administrators who were conducting research around supporting Indigenous educators or were working in TEPs that enrolled or graduated high numbers of Indigenous students. The report is intended to provide insights and recommendations for Tribes, TEPs, schools, districts, regional entities, and state agencies with a focus on three research questions: (1) How can TEPs successfully recruit and retain Indigenous students? (2) How can schools and districts successfully recruit and retain Indigenous educators in the workforce? and (3) How can these findings inform ongoing and future work in Washington State?