WestEd’s Sharon Nelson-Barber will serve on the “Creating an Ecology of Support: Effective Teacher Preparation for Teaching the Native Language” panel at next month’s National Indian Education Association (NIEA) Annual Convention in Portland, OR.

The workshop panel will highlight Diné (Navajo) language teachers’ recommendations in the form of an “Ecology of Support,” which includes cultural values, success stories, and a vision for systemwide strategic improvement.

Sharing this proposed Ecology of Support has the potential to make a significant and direct contribution to how systems, schools, and teacher professional learning is structured, thereby improving indigenous learner success across many domains.

The NIEA convention takes place October 14-17, 2015, at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland. Visit the NIEA convention web page for more information  including registration.

Nelson-Barber directs the Culture & Language in STEM Education division of WestEd’s Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics (STEM) program. Her research centers on understanding how the sociocultural contexts in which students live influence the ways in which they make sense of schooling in mathematics and science.