Skip to content
CU Denver & CU Anschutz logo Colorado State University logo University of Northern Colorado logo

colorado school of public health

coloradoSPH

  • Apply
  • Visit
  • Give
 

Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health

  • About
    • Location
    • Directory
    • Contact Us
    • News
    • Events
  • Projects
    • AIM-AHEAD
    • Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Diabetes Translation Research
    • Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Health Disparities
    • Culturally Tailoring a Diabetes Nutrition Education Program
    • Native-CHART
    • Native Skin Health
    • Native WYSE CHOICES
    • Strategically Focused Research Network
    • Strong Lakota Families
    • Suicide Prevention Hub
    • Tribal Early Childhood Research Center
    • TIPCAP
    • Past Work
  • Training
    • Native Elder Research Center
    • NCRE Scholars Program
    • Native Children's Research Exchange Network & Conference
    • GUMSHOE Program
    • Multidisciplinary Research Fellowship Program
  • Journal
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Current Volume
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Past Volumes
University Quick Links
  • Home
  • Projects
  • Past Work
  • AIANHSRC

American Indian & Alaska Native Head Start Research Center (AIANHSRC)

Description


Logo for the American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Research Center

The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Research Center (AIANHSRC) was funded by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE) in 2005, at a time when Region XI Head Start children, families, and programs were not represented in research on Head Start children’s experiences or development. Region XI programs are those funded by Head Start grants to federally-recognized American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) tribes or consortia of tribes. The number of Region XI Head Start grantees varies as grants are obtained or relinquished, but includes roughly 150 grants to programs that serve about half of all AI/AN children in Head Start nationwide at any given time.  


Two reports completed prior to the funding of AIANHSRC summarized the available literature on AI/AN children’s early development, what the literature was missing, and priorities for meeting Region XI Head Start’s data needs. These two reports can be accessed on the ACF website: A Summary of Research and Publications on Early Childhood for American Indian and Alaska Native Children (2003) and Establishing a Research Agenda for American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Programs (2004). As the 2003 report points out, Region XI programs operate in unique settings and, within those settings, children and families experience both challenges and opportunities. Understanding the unique settings, challenges, and opportunities within Region XI is critical for informing Head Start policy and practice. However, in order to gather meaningful data, research must be conducted in ways that are informed by an understanding of the mixed history of research with AI/AN communities, follow protocols for research involving sovereign tribal nations, and employ methodologies consonant with local ways of knowing and being. Central to this work is close partnership between researchers and Native communities in the co-creation of knowledge that reflects tribal ways of knowing, experiences, and perspectives.

Specific aims

AIANHSRC was funded to begin paving the way for meaningful research to be conducted in partnership with Region XI Head Start programs and the AI/AN communities in which they operate. With guidance from a Steering Committee comprised of Region XI Head Start leaders, child development researchers, and federal partners, AIANHSRC sought to build research capacity and knowledge that would help create the conditions under which such meaningful research could occur. To that end, AIANHSRC undertook three major sets of activities:

  1. Funding Head Start-university partnerships between senior academic researchers and individual Region XI programs to grow capacity for research among both partners, to conduct studies that would yield data to inform a broader research agenda, and to deliver benefit to the local program.
  2. Providing career development support for junior scholars pursuing an academic research career focused on Native children’s development, particularly in the context of Head Start or other early care and education settings.
  3. Conducting a multi-site pilot study of the methods and measures used in the Family and Child Experiences Survey to inform future possibilities for a descriptive study dedicated to the needs and priorities of Region XI programs. 

Partnership network

Map of the United States that highlights the location of the center's partners

Projects


Building Teacher Capacity through Collaborative Research with American Indian Head Start and Early Head Start Programs in Michigan

  • Principal Investigators: Hiram Fitzgerald, Phd & Jessica Barnes-Najor, PhD
  • Contact: fitzger9@msu.edu; barnes33@msu.edu
  • Research Institution: Michigan State University
  • Project Description: The project established sustainable evaluation and program development relationships between Michigan State University, three Michigan tribal communities, and nine Michigan Region XI Head Start sites to improve educational outcomes for children enrolled in their programs by improving the quality, capacity, and professional development of the program workforce.  Specifically, the project aimed to increase the number of teachers with bachelor’s degrees and specialized training in early childhood education. The project also aimed to assess the cultural relevance of current curricula and to develop models for enhancing curricula where needed through evidence-based practices. The central hypothesis was that children’s school readiness would increase with more highly trained teachers. A participatory process was used to accomplish project goals. The partnership resulted in an ongoing partnership that continues to endeavor to insure that teachers have high quality training, bachelor’s degrees, and specialized training in culturally relevant curricular content.

Growing Head Start Staff Capacity through Higher Education Access Supports and Training in Tribal Culture and Language

  • Principal Investigator: Sharon Rosenkoetter, PhD
  • Contact: sharon.rosenkoetter@oregonstate.edu
  • Research Institution: Oregon State University
  • Project Description: This project built upon a 50-year partnership between Oregon State University and a tribal community and sponsorship from the Cascades Center for Community Governance. The project sought to address the most urgent needs of the tribal community and its Head Start/Early Head Start program by increasing the skills and qualifications of Head Start employees through facilitated access to higher education and developing training in tribal culture and heritage. The project built upon findings from an earlier qualitative study conducted with leaders in the tribal Early Childhood and Human Services program.

Native Identity among O’odham and Maricopa Children in the Gila River Indian Community: Investigating Relationships of Cultural Curriculum, Schooling Processes, and Professional Development in Head Start

  • Principal Investigator: David Beaulieu, PhD
  • Contact: david.beaulieu@asu.edu
  • Research Institution: Arizona State University
  • Project Description: In the case of AI/AN Head Start programs, there are rarely Native community authenticated guidelines about how the curriculum is created or sustained. Often when curriculum is created, it is done without the involvement of the larger community and based in stereotypes rather than the values and worldview of the community. Similarly, there is little information or research about career paths of Head Start teachers. This project was field-based, locally controlled, and conducted research with mentoring and guidance provided by Native educators. The project engaged in a community-wide dialogic process of identifying and defining the nature of Native culture, the key values associated with it, and what was appropriate to incorporate into the Head Start curriculum. It examined Head Start teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development at the local level and how they intersect and interact with efforts to indigenize the school curriculum. 

  • Principal Investigator: Dr. Susan Faircloth
    Contact: susan.faircloth@colostate.edu  
    Research Institution: Colorado State University

    Project Description: Differences in special education rates between AI/AN and non-AIA/N children, AI/AN Head Start and non-Head Start children, the impact of cognitive, behavioral, and contextual factors on special education placement among Head Start participants and non-participants was examined using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study kindergarten cohort data. Another project was carried out in partnership with a Region XI Head Start program to understand the social, emotional, and linguistic competencies of Native children given high rates of speech and language disorder among AI/AN children nationally. 

 

  • Principal Investigator: Eunice Romero-Little, PhD
    Contact: m.eunice@asu.edu  
    Research Institution: Arizona State University

    Project Description: A Photovoice project was carried out in partnership with a Region XI Head Start program in order to document the role of Native language and culture in Head Start children’s development, and to lay the groundwork for the creation of a Native language and culture curriculum. Head Start staff and parents took pictures that exemplified their perspectives on Native language and culture in children’s development, particularly in the context of Head Start.  Photos were discussed and exemplars were selected through a group consensus process that yielded key themes and explanatory text for each selected photograph. As a set, the photographs highlighted the foundational role of language and culture for Native children’s development and the possibilities for grounding the community’s Head Start program in Native language and culture.

 

  • Principal Investigator: Nicole Thompson, PhD
    Contact: nlthompson@asu.edu  
    Research Institution: Arizona State University

    Project Description: Two Photovoice projects were carried out with separate Region XI Head Start programs. Head Start staff took pictures that exemplified their experiences with and perspectives on Head Start in their communities. In a group consensus process, photos were discussed, exemplars were selected, key themes were chosen, and explanatory text was developed. As a set, the photographs brought important issues, concerns, reflections, and calls for action to the fore. Themes reflected the role of Native language, culture, teaching, practices, and values in Region XI Head Start programs; the dedication of Head Start staff, despite sometimes challenging circumstances or conditions; the importance of family, extended family, and the community in the lives of young children; and the foundational role of Head Start in children’s development and in the broader community.  

In order to pave the way for possible future inclusion in national studies of Head Start, AIANHSRC conducted a multi-site pilot study of the Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES). FACES is a descriptive study of Head Start children’s and families’ experiences in Head Start and in their homes and communities, children’s development, and program operations. It has been critical for informing Head Start policy and practice based on child, family, and program data. However, since it began in 1997, Region XI programs had not been included, leaving a critical data gap. In order to inform potential future efforts to include Region XI, a pilot study was carried out to test FACES methods and measures and determine modifications that would be necessary in a full-scale effort. Pilot study findings were shared internally with the Steering Committee and federal partners, and were among the resources that were drawn upon in 2013 when planning for the first national study of Region XI Head Start began. The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (AI/AN FACES) resulted from this planning and was the first national study of Region XI Head Start. It was successfully carried out in 2015 with 21 Region XI programs, and in 2019 with 22 Region XI programs. For more information on the survey, please go to the AI/AN FACES website.

Outcomes


AIANHSRC was established to increase research capacity among researchers and tribal community partners as a step toward addressing the Region XI Head Start research and data gaps that existed prior to the Center’s funding. The AIANHSRC Steering Committee included Region XI Head Start leaders, researchers, and federal staff who provided guidance to ensure that the Center’s activities aligned with Region XI Head Start priorities and with best practices for research with AI/AN communities.  Capacity was grown by supporting senior researchers and junior scholars who partnered with Region XI Head Start programs on site-specific projects that employed culturally consonant methodologies to gather data that meaningfully captured the experiences of Region XI Head Start children, families, programs, and communities and that were promising for informing local and national Head Start policy and practice.  Many of the research and program partners involved in this early work have continued their research partnerships with one another or with the Center and its work as it has evolved over the years with subsequent funding through the Tribal Early Childhood Research Center. In addition to these individual research-program partnerships, the Center partnered directly with diverse Region XI Head Start programs across the country to pilot methods and measures from the Family and Child Experiences Survey.  This pilot work laid the foundation for the first national study of Region XI Head Start that has since been carried out with cohorts of over 20 Region XI programs in 2015 and 2019.

Publications


Following are examples of publications and presentations related to projects supported by AIANHSRC:

  • Faircloth, S. C., & Pfeffer, R. (2008, March). Collaborating with tribal communities and families to improve the social, emotional, and linguistic competence of young Indigenous children. Newsletter of the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) Special Interest Division 14: Perspectives on communication disorders and sciences and culturally and linguistically diverse populations, 15(1).
  • Fitzgerald, H. E., Farrell, P., Barnes, J., Belleau, A., Gerde, H. K., Thompson, N. L., … & Parish, A. (2013). Wiba Anung: Co-creating a sustainable partnership with Michigan’s American Indian Head Start programs. In H. E. Fitzgerald & J. Primavera (Eds.), Going public: Civic and community engagement (pp. 137-161). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  • Fitzgerald, H. E., Farrell, P., Barnes, J. V., Belleau, A., Gerde, H., Thompson, N., … & Parish, A. (2013). Wiba Anung: Transformation change in Tribal Head Start. In H. E. Fitzgerald & J. Primavera (Eds.), Going Public: Civic and community-engagement (pp. 137-161). East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press.
  • Gerde, H., Barnes, J., Belleau, A., Rau, L, Farrell, P., Calcatera, M., Parrish, A., & Fitzgerald, H. E. (2012). A systematic evaluation of the cultural content and language instruction in American Indian Head Start. Journal of American Indian Education, 51(2), 42-65.
  • Hibel, J., Faircloth, S. C., & Farkas, G. (2008). Unpacking the placement of American Indian and Alaska Native students in special education programs and services in the early grades: School readiness as a predictive variable. Harvard Educational Review, 78(3), 498-528. doi: 10.17763/haer.78.3.8w010nq4u83348q5
  • Romero-Little, M. E. (2010). How should young Indigenous children be prepared for learning? A vision of early childhood education for Indigenous children. Journal of American Indian Education, 49(1/2), 7-27.  
  • Sarche, M., Novins, D., & Belcourt-Dittloff, A. (2010). Engaged scholarship with tribal communities. In H.E. Fitzgerald, C. Burack, & S. Seifer (Eds.). Handbook of engaged scholarship, Vol. 1: Institutional change (pp. 215-230).  East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. 
  • Sarche, M., & Spicer, P. (2008). Poverty and health disparities for American Indian and Alaska Native children: Current knowledge and future prospects. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1136, 126-136. doi: 10.1196/annals.1425.017
  • Sarche, M., Spicer, P., Farrell, P., & Fitzgerald, H. E. (Eds.). (2011). Child psychology and mental health: American Indian children and mental health development, context, prevention, and treatment. Denver, CO: Praeger.  
  • Spicer, P., & Sarche, M. (2007). Culture and community in research with American Indian and Alaska Native infants, toddlers, and families. Zero to Three, 27, 55-56.
  • Spicer, P., & Sarche, M. (2006). Responding to the crisis in American Indian and Alaska Native children’s mental health. In H. Fitzgerald, B.M. Lester, & B. Zuckerman (Eds.), The crisis in youth mental health, Vol. 1: Critical issues and effective programs (pp. 257-275). Westport, CT: Praeger. 
  • Thompson, N. L., Miller, N.C., & Cameron, A.F. (2016). The Indigenization of Photovoice methodology: Visioning Indigenous Head Start in Michigan. International Review of Qualitative Research, 9(3), 296-322. doi: 10.1525/irqr.2016.9.3.296

Poster presentations

Bezdek, M., Bergan, A., & Spicer, P. (2007). The American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Research Center. Poster and presentation at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Boston, MA.

Poster symposium at the Society for Research on Child Development Biennial Conference, Denver, CO. (2009). 

  • Spicer, P., & Sarche, M. Advancing Research on Early Childhood Education in Indian Country
  • Barnes, J. V. Bridging the Gap: Understanding Cultural Factors Relevant to American Indian Head Start Programs
  • Rosenkoetter, S., Critical Elements in Meeting the Head Start Higher Education Mandate
  • Thompson, N. Understanding the Importance of Head Start in Michigan’s Nine American Indian communities: A Photovoice Project
  • Faircloth, S., & Hibel, J. What’s Head Start Got to Do with It?  Academic Outcomes among American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start Participants
  • Romero-Little, M.E. Valuing and Validating Indigenous Languages and Understandings: Teaching and Learning of Young Native American Children

Funding Information

Sponsor: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation​

Grant No.: 90YF0053

Years Funded: 2005-2012

Principal Investigators: 

  • Michelle C. Sarche, PhD, CAIANH, University of Colorado
  • Paul Spicer, PhD, University of Oklahoma

Centers for American Indian & Alaska Native Health

Colorado School of Public Health

CU Anschutz
Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building

13055 East 17th Avenue

Mail Stop F800

Aurora, CO 80045

CAIANH
  • Contact Us
  • Join Our Mailing List
ColoradoSPH
  • Contact Us
  • Locations
  • Employment
  • Accreditation
Information for
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Website Feedback
  • CU System
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Accessibility
  • Accreditation
  • Employment
  • Give Now
 

© 2022 The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate. All rights reserved.

Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. All trademarks are registered property of the University. Used by permission only.

CMS Login

Apply

Visit

Give

Opens in a new window Opens document in a new window