Forming Partnerships With Tribal Colleges to Meet Early Childhood Personnel Preparation Needs

Abstract

Having enough well-trained early intervention personnel continues to be a challenge on the reservations of our country. The Higher Education Partnership Project was designed to help address this challenge by providing a model of outreach training for reservation sites. The project involved collaboration with two tribal colleges, offering courses to students and professionals working with children with disabilities and their families. The program was successful in teaching critical competencies and building a local capacity for teacher training. Factors that led to this success were the involvement and support of personnel from the reservation in all phases of the project, making the courses sensitive and relevant to students' needs and cultures, and planning for the long-range continuation of the courses.