New Mexico Administrative Code
Title 6 - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Chapter 35 - INDIAN EDUCATION
Part 2 - IMPLEMENTING THE INDIAN EDUCATION ACT
Section 6.35.2.10 - IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INDIAN EDUCATION ACT

(a) provide assistance, including advice on allocation of resources, to school districts and Indian nations, tribes, and pueblos to improve services to meet the educational needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students based on current published indigenous best practices in education;

(b) provide assistance to school districts and Indian nations, tribes, and pueblos in New Mexico in the planning, development, implementation, and evaluation of curricula in native languages, culture, and history designed for all students, including American Indian and Alaska Native students, as approved by Indian nations, tribes, and pueblos in New Mexico;

(c) develop or select for implementation a challenging, sequential, culturally relevant curriculum to provide instruction to American Indian and Alaska Native students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade to prepare them for pre-advanced placement and advanced placement coursework in grades seven through 12;

(d) provide assistance to school districts, post-secondary institutions, and Indian nations, tribes, and pueblos in New Mexico to develop curricula and instructional materials in native languages, culture, and history in conjunction and by contract with native language practitioners and tribal elders, unless the use of written language is expressly prohibited by the Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo;

(e) conduct indigenous research and evaluation for effective curricula for American Indian and Alaska Native students;

(f) collaborate with the department to provide distance learning for American Indian and Alaska Native students in public schools to the maximum limits of the department's abilities;

(g) establish, support, and maintain an Indian education advisory council;

(h) enter into agreements with each Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo in New Mexico or its authorized educational entity to share programmatic information and to coordinate technical assistance for public schools that serve American Indian and Alaska Native students;

(i) seek funds to establish and maintain an Indian education office in the northwest corner of the state, or other geographical location, to: implement agreements with each Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo in New Mexico or its authorized educational entity; monitor the progress of American Indian and Alaska Native students; and coordinate technical assistance at the public pre-kindergarten to post-secondary institutions that serve American Indian and Alaska Native students;

(j) seek funds to establish, develop, and implement culturally relevant support services for the purposes of increasing the number of American Indian and Alaska Native teachers, administrators, and principals and providing continued professional development, including training in cultural competency, for educational assistants, teachers, and principals serving American Indian and Alaska Native students; in conjunction with the Indian education advisory council, the assistant secretary shall:

(k) develop curricula to provide instruction in tribal history and government and develop plans to implement these subjects into history and government courses in school districts throughout the state;

(l) ensure that native language bilingual programs are part of a school district's professional development plan, as provided in Section 22-10A-19.1 NMSA 1978;

(m) encourage participation in cultural competency training by educational assistants, teachers, and principals serving American Indian and Alaska Native students; and

(n) develop a plan to establish a post-secondary investment system for American Indian and Alaska Native students to which parents, Indian nations, tribes, pueblos, and the state may contribute.

(a) If the district is unable to obtain the required signatures, the district must submit a written, signed explanation of the reasons.

(b) Tribal governments declining to provide a signature of approval will be afforded the opportunity to submit a written, signed explanation of the reasons for the refusal.

(c) A tribal leader or authorized designee of an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo that has students attending a school district's schools may file a written complaint with the United States department of education regarding any action of the school district pursuant to, or relevant to, the school district's Indian policies and procedures in accordance with Subpart G of 34 CFR Part 222.