Project Abstracts

FY 2006 New Awards

Native Hawaiian Education Program

CFDA 84.362A

  1. S362A060001 – Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board (Honolulu)
  2. S362A060004 – Alu Like, Inc. (Honolulu)
  3. S362A060006 – Alu Like, Inc. (Honolulu)
  4. S362A060008 – University of Hawaii at Hilo – Na Pua Noeau (Hilo)

5.S362A060009 – Kakoo Central Maui Hawaiian Civic Club (Wailuku)

  1. S362A060018 – Hawaii Technology Institute (Honolulu)
7.S362A060021 – University of Hawaii SEED Office of Student Affairs (Honolulu)
  1. S362A0060022 – University of Hawaii, Department of Educational Psychology (Honolulu)
  2. S362A060027 – University of Hawaii/College of Education Center on Disability Studies (Honolulu)
  3. S362A060030 – Na Kamalei-Ko’olauloa Early Education Program (Kamuela)
  4. S362A060038 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)
12.S362A060040 – University of Hawaii, Maui Community College (Maui)
  1. S362A060042 – University of Hawaii, Center on Disability Studies (Honolulu)
  2. S362A060047 – Kanu o ka ‘Aina Learning ‘Ohana—Halau Wanana (Kamuela)
  3. S362A060048 – University of Hawaii/Manoa-SEED Office of Student Affairs (Honolulu)
  4. S362A060051 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)
  5. S362A060054 – College Connections (Honolulu)
  6. S362A060055 – Educational Services Hawaii Foundation (Honolulu)

19.S362A060056 – Hawaii Department of Education (Honolulu)

20.S362A060059 – Pacific American Foundation (Honolulu)

21.S362A060060 – Pacific American Foundation (Honolulu)

  1. S362A060072 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)
23.S362A060074 – Waianae High School Alumni and Community Foundation (Waianae)

S362A060001 – Waianae District Comprehensive Health and Hospital Board (Honolulu)

This project will develop, expand, and sustain culturally based, community-designed, non-traditional educational programs at the Waianae Health Academy (WHA). The project aims to increase the number of Native Hawaiians from the Waianae Coast who will complete college programs, obtain employment, or continue in postsecondary education. The project will utilize an individualized case management approach to help students overcome barriers to achieving their goals, and training stipends and reciprocity programs to assist with financial barriers. All students will be required to volunteer in the Waianae community.

S362A060004 – Alu Like, Inc. (Honolulu)

This project aims to help parents understand the importance of early nurturing and encourages verbal parent-child interactions and the expansion of families’ English and Hawaiian vocabularies. The main goal of this component is to increase families’ exposure to print materials and their awareness and use of home resources and varied learning opportunities and environments. Additionally, the project contains a Prenatal/Postpartum Component, in which Parent Educators focus on maternal nutrition and care, fetal development, childbirth, postpartum issues, brain development, and family planning, and a Parent-Child Component (after birth), in which Parent Educators focus on safety, health and nutrition, child development and guidance, and childcare.

S362A060006 – Alu Like, Inc. (Honolulu)

The goal of this project is to utilize the World Wide Web to provide access to 200 books and other curriculum materials on the Hawaiian Language and culture. This project will make these resources available on a Web site for the teachers, staff members, students, and families of the 12 Hawaiian-focused charter schools that comprise the Na Lei Na’auau Hawaiian Charter School Alliance. The project will provide training on how to access and use the Web site.

S362A060008 – University of Hawaii at Hilo – Na Pua Noeau (Hilo)

The Pathways Project will serve 195 Native Hawaiians in the 9th– 11thgrades on the islands of Hawaii, Maui, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, and Lanai. Students will be in three-year cohorts that will include significant immersion in cultural and scientific activities, such as three two-week summer residencies at a four-year university campus, mentorships with university faculty and professionals over two school years, field-based research projects, and access to university research facilities. Project objectives are: (1) to enable Native Hawaiians to enter and complete programs of post-secondary education; and (2) to increase the number of Native Hawaiians entering the Natural and Environmental Science Professions.

S362A060009 – Kakoo Central Maui Hawaiian Civic Club (Wailuku)

The Central Maui Hawaiian Civic Club will form a nucleus of Kupuna (elders) to integrate cultural activities after school and to interact and share cultural values with young children (from Kindergarten to 3rd Grade) and their families on a monthly basis. The project will provide educational and cultural experiences to 30 youth after school through enrichment activities. In addition, the Civic Club will train at least 20 Kupuna to work with homeless youth.

S362A060018 – Hawaii Technology Institute (Honolulu)

This project is designed to assist Native Hawaiian students to enter allied health careers as medical assistants through enrollment and completion of Hawaii Technology Institute’s (HTI) accredited Diploma in Medical Assisting Program. Building on its 20 years of experience teaching a primarily Native Hawaiian student population, the project plans to: 1) provide a learning environment that addresses the learning styles predominant among Native Hawaiians; 2) encourage a culturally sensitive and life-skills promoting environment against a backdrop of universal values to promote good citizenship; 3) incorporate activities that address multiple learning styles; and 4) integrate industry-standard certification in the curriculum to increase the marketability of students in today’s competitive work environment.

S362A060021 – University of Hawaii SEED Office of Student Affairs (Honolulu)

Manana K pono will: (1) provide college preparation outreach activities to Native Hawaiian high school students from at-risk communities; (2) expand the UHM College Opportunities Program (COP) by recruiting, selecting, and supporting Native Hawaiian high school graduates from at- risk communities to participate in a six-week residential summer program and a first-year retention program; (3) strengthen the transfer process of Native Hawaiian UH community college students to UHM by coordinating current efforts and developing new activities; (4) increase the 1st through 4th year retention and 6-year graduation rates of Native Hawaiian students at UHM by establishing academic learning communities, expanding financial support, and providing tutoring and academic advising; and (5) improve faculty knowledge, skills and abilities in teaching and advisingNative Hawaiian students by involving faculty and advisors from different fields and departments to participate in an undergraduate learning community or professional seminar.

S362A0060022 – University of Hawaii, Department of Educational Psychology (Honolulu)

The CREDE Professional Development for Teachers of At-Risk Native Hawaiian Students project focuses on developing, delivering, and evaluating professional development for educators who teach in schools with high concentrations of at-risk Hawaiian students. The professional development will promote teachers’ use of the Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy, (research-based principles for teaching at-risk students). The project objectives are: 1) to develop two distance-learning courses to promote teachers’ use of the Five Standards with Native Hawaiian students; 2) to deliver EDEP 411 to two cohorts of teachers who teach in schools serving large concentrations of at-risk Hawaiian students; 3) to deliver EDEP 768C to the first group of teachers after they complete EDEP 411; 4) to influence professional development programs by promoting the incorporation of the project findings into existing programs; and 5) to conduct a program evaluation.

S362A060027 – University of Hawaii/College of Education Center on Disability Studies (Honolulu)

Through this project, Hawaiian youth – across all levels of achievement – will participate in interactive activities that inspire teaching, learn about computers, and develop skills to prepare for their futures. The project will build on proven strategies in technology-based literacy learning, including math, for children and teens, and creative futures planning. At-risk youth will engage in story writing based on pictures, and record the stories as slide shows with computer software. The school and community-based partners will provide the locations, supervision, and teaching and cultural expertise.

S362A060030 – Na Kamalei-Ko’olauloa Early Education Program (Kamuela)

This project will use an intergenerational Hawaiian model with children and their families to improve the quality and coordination of infant support groups, parent and child interaction programs, and preschools. The project goal is to provide opportunities for families to foster cultural and healthy development of the child through mentoring in home, class, and interactive environments for Native Hawaiian infants and toddlers. This approach aims to produce a cultural educational curriculum designed for parents and programs to support child development and school readiness.

S362A060038 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)

Project Tütü and Me: Ola Nä ‘Ohana will identify, recruit, and provide services to Hawaiian children and caregivers in cooperation with churches, schools, and community organizations serving the Hawaiian and Part-Hawaiian community. The projectwill provide quality learning opportunities for young children; education and support for their caregivers; health education and assessment, including prenatal advice and counseling to expectant mothers; and implementation of assessment measures to quantify the program’s impact on both preparing children for formal school and educating their caregivers.

S362A060040 – University of Hawaii, Maui Community College (Maui)

The Liko A’e Native Hawaiian Scholarship Program has a two-fold mission: 1) to support Native Hawaiian students’ entry into and completion of a program of higher education, and 2) to sustain the cycle of improvement among Native Hawaiians through education. Liko A’e project services and strategies enable Native Hawaiians to enter and complete programs of postsecondary education. As a result, the Native Hawaiian graduates are able to contribute and sustain growth and development in their communities.

S362A060042 – University of Hawaii, Center on Disability Studies (Honolulu)

The ultimate goal of the Kïwila Project is to increase the proportion of Native Hawaiian youth and adults who are knowledgeable about and actively engaged in civic affairs as the basis for improving educational and employment outcomes. The project will develop and field-test civics curricula for grades 4, 8, and 12. The curricula will be culturally responsive to the needs of Native Hawaiian students and based on principles of differentiated instruction and universal design for effective use with students of all ability levels and learning styles. The project is a partnership effort between curriculum developers and researchers at the University of Hawai‘i's Center on Disability Studies and mentors and cultural experts with ALU LIKE, Inc., a non-profit agency providing social services to Native Hawaiians.

S362A060047 – Kanu o ka ‘Aina Learning ‘Ohana—Halau Wanana (Kamuela)

The Hälau Wänana: Native Hawaiian Center of Higher Learning project aims to: 1) fully license 12 native Hawaiian teachers by the summer of 2009, making them “highly qualified”; 2) assist 100 native Hawaiian teachers to meet their HTSB re-licensing requirements by the summer of 2009, allowing them to remain “highly qualified”; 3) create bilingual instructional materials, including a set of bilingual K-3 leveled readers designed to improve literacy among native Hawaiian students; and 4) implement a statewide indigenous action research project involving over 1000 native Hawaiian students that is designed to improve native student performance in reading, math, science, and other areas.

S362A060048 – University of Hawaii/Manoa-SEED Office of Student Affairs (Honolulu)

The PALS project will implement a high-quality, research-based afterschool literacy program in six predominantly Native Hawaiian elementary schools (60% or higher Native Hawaiian enrollment) on Oahu and will evaluate the effectiveness of the program on student literacy skills and attitudes. In addition, the project will target public elementary schools in the “restructuring” phases and involve culture- and place-based activities to promote greater understanding and absorption of academic subject matter. It will provide empirical evidence as to whether culture-and place-based activities that are incorporated into an afternoon literacy program are an effective strategy to increasing the academic outcomes of Native Hawaiian students.

S362A060051 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)

Nā Pono No Nā ‘Ohana is an innovative, family-based education project that uses an intergenerational approach to learning, focusing on the entire family rather than on adults and children separately. It brings the extended family into the learning process to improve adult education and parenting skills and to prepare young children to succeed in school. Adults learn supportive parent-child interaction, responsibilities as citizens of a larger community, and a means to improve their own educational and career opportunities. Children receive a progressive early childhood education. Families join together in class settings to practice what they learn. Project success is measured by: 1) parents becoming more actively involved in their children’s education and pursuing for themselves a high school diploma, postsecondary education and/or employment where appropriate; and 2) children being better prepared to enter and succeed in kindergarten.

S362A060054 – College Connections (Honolulu)

The Native Hawaiian Scholars Program is a statewide project that will prepare Hawaiian teens to complete high school and succeed in college by combining academic support with cultural enrichment. Project objectives include recruitment of 500 eligible students; provision of culturally responsive activities that integrate Hawaiian values with academic achievement, making families aware and supportive of the college preparation process; assessing each participant’s academic needs and providing support when needed; helping students to apply to postsecondary programs and financial aid; and providing continuing academic and financial counseling during college.

S362A060055 – Educational Services Hawaii Foundation (Honolulu)

This project plans to develop an outreach learning center for Native Hawaiian youth who are in foster care and who are currently certified to participate in a special education curriculum. The project will focus on providing intensive supplementary educational services that integrate Native Hawaiian culture and belief with social and emotional issues of attachment, grief and loss and the workings of the mind and brain. Project outcomes include improvement in school attendance by 25% by end of year one; decreases in the discrepancy between student performance level and the chronological grade level; and decreases in school dropout rate, expulsions, and suspensions.

S362A060056 – Hawaii Department of Education (Honolulu)

The Papa Honua: Student, Teacher, and Family Literacy Project seeks to: 1) improve student language arts and math competencies by providing intensive and focused learning activities for students, including a month-long readiness programs for students entering K-1, in small student subgroups complementary to, and simultaneous with, regular classroom instruction; 2) increase teachers’ Hawaiian language instructional fluency in language arts and math by engaging specialists who conduct professional development workshops throughout the school year; 3) encourage a strong student support system by utilizing traditional Hawaiian ways of doing and knowing, seamlessly linking home and family as a meaningful part of formal education and the academic curriculum; 4) increase conversancy and fluency in the Hawaiian Language; 5) develop a curriculum that educates students through their heritage, language, and culture; and 6) maintain strong linkages with doctoral-level graduate students and University of Hawaii faculty for consultation and research.

S362A060059 – Pacific American Foundation (Honolulu)

The M_lama Kaho`olawe: Native Hawaiian Culture-and Place-Based Curriculum

Addressing Math and Science project will meet the educational needs of Native Hawaiian youth and adults from at-risk communities through the development and implementation of culture and place-based academic and vocational curricula that incorporates mathematics, science, and other core academic subjects. The project objectives are: 1) to develop culture-and place-based academic and vocational curricula that involves academic rigor, equity, and developmental appropriateness; 2) to train 150 teachers and 4 vocational instructors to implement the culture-and place-based curricula; and 3) to assess learning outcomes for 450-625 intermediate and high school students and 25 Native Hawaiian high school graduates participating in the project.

S362A060060 – Pacific American Foundation (Honolulu)

This project will improve educational outcomes and increase leadership development in Native Hawaiian at-risk youth through promoting civic activism and by drawing on community and cultural resources for emotional and social support. The project objectives are: 1) to develop and implement a quality youth leadership development program for Native Hawaiian youth from at-risk communities; 2) to train Native Hawaiian adults from at-risk communities as youth leadership mentors; 3) to train Native Hawaiian youth from at-risk communities as leaders; and 4) to assess the leadership, educational, and psychological outcomes of youth participants.

S362A060072 – Partners in Development (Honolulu)

This project, in collaboration with the University of Hawaii College of Engineering and the Archimedes Hawaii Project, plans to effect a systemic change in the education of at risk Native Hawaiian middle school children in the area of physical science, relating to electronics and technology. Families will participate in the process of learning science at school, which will empower them to continue to learn at home. Additionally, the project will provide teacher training for Native Hawaiian science and math teachers that provides a template for integrating standards based science and math requirements with hands-on electronics lessons.

S362A060074 – Waianae High School Alumni and Community Foundation (Waianae)

Homaipa'a kumua'o hi'ipualena, a community-driven project developed by Waianae High School Alumni and Community Foundation (WHSACF), in partnership with Waianae High School (WHS), aims to build an innovative Human Resource Management System (HRM System) that recruits, trains, and retains highly qualified teachers for WHS, its students and the Wai`anae community. The project will develop a HRM System that integrates and aligns: 1) clear expectations for teacher performance; 2) a marketing and outreach campaign to recruit highly qualified teachers for WHS, including teachers of Native Hawaiian ancestry and from the Waianae community; 3) a web- based data portal system that tracks teacher self-assessment data, professional development plans, and performance outcomes; 4) a professional development program that provides teachers with career-focused opportunities for professional growth and advancement; 5) an induction program for new teachers that includes an orientation retreat and mentors for new teachers; and 6) recruitment and retention incentives, including signing bonuses, teacher housing, success rewards, and Bachelor and Master Degree programs at WHS.