21st CCLC: State Education Agency

Tips From Your Peers: Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

1. The BIA has a contract with Redhouse Training and Consulting to provide training, technical assistance, and evaluation to all 52 of our sites. Redhouse has developed the following instruments for monitoring our sites:
   1. Rubric
   2. Site visit observation instrument
   3. Site visit checklist
   4. Site visit protocol

   We visit all sites at least once a year, providing both announced and unannounced visits. In addition to these formal instruments, because we also provide technical assistance and training, we are in regular contact with all sites. This contact includes frequent e-mails and phone calls in addition to on-site visits.

   We also annually provide two training sessions to all sites. We hold an annual two-day national meeting at which training is offered as well as a one-day on-site training for afterschool staff. This year we also have developed a two-day training for new coordinators.

   We have found that this relationship-based, hands-on approach yields valuable information that would be difficult to achieve by other methods.

2. In terms of resources, the Internet, in general, and the U.S. Department of Education site, in particular, have been valuable. The National Institute on Out-of-School Time and Harvard Family Research Project have been helpful.

   The national conference put on by the Department of Education also has been helpful as well as conferences put on by Foundations, Inc.

3. Last year, we asked the sites to develop their own self-assessment tools. This year, we provided them with a tool that Redhouse developed at the national meeting.