How to effectively align the Utah Effective Teaching Standards with American Indian values : a first step for elementary school teachers

Many times we find that American Indian students are disengaged in their K-12 education and classroom practices can conflict with their culture. This disconnect between value structures can make it difficult to navigate the educational pipeline leading to low college enrollment and attrition. This project will identify ways to align the Utah Effective Teaching Standards, specifically the distinguished level, with cultural values and best practices for American Indian students. By identifying ways teachers in Utah can meet both the teaching standards and their student's values, educators can create environments that reflect the values of their American Indian students, which can help engage students. By summarizing effective empirically supported solutions I will identify the strategies that work best in the classrooms providing highly skilled instruction that both encourages learning and creates a welcoming environment. Additionally, this project will outline values of American Indian students and discuss how they can be incorporated in teacher instruction. Using these sources of theory and research, I have created a resource for Utah elementary educators to help effectively align teaching strategies to cultural values of American Indian Students.