"Opportunity" is a word that Jill Dolata and Allison Wilson use often in describing their work on two scholarly endeavors related to tribal communities – each of which is the result of being in the right place at the right time.
Dolata and Wilson are doctoral students in the University of Oregon's Department of Special Education. Wilson is a Houston native who attended the University of Montana and worked as a teacher for a few years before moving to Oregon to pursue her doctorate. Dolata is from Traverse City, Mich., and completed her master's in speech-language pathology at the University of Texas.
Other than their Texas connections, the two didn't know each other or have much in common until they both took a Program Evaluation Methodology course sequence taught by CHiXapkaid (chee-HOP-kade – also known as Michael Pavel, an education studies professor.
The timing of the methodology class coincided with some studies CHiXapkaid was being asked to lead, so he asked Wilson and Dolata – each of whom had experience in early childhood education – to work with him. They jumped at the chance.
"My favorite thing about the program is the opportunity to be involved with projects outside standard coursework," Wilson says. "While being in some of those classes can lead to projects like this, there are so many other opportunities because of the research hubs that are here and some of the work faculty are doing out in the community."
The first opportunity offered by CHiXapkaid was to complete a study titled, “Dear Children: Preferred Preparation for Native Early Childhood Educators.” It addresses the issue of preparing early childhood educators to meet the needs of Native American children, families and communities. It was requested by the Foundation for Early Learning – now Thrive by Five Washington – a program funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates and Boeing Foundations.
The other involved a contract to complete a third-year program evaluation for the American Indian College Fund's Wakanyeja ("Sacred Little Ones") Early Childhood Education Initiative. The effort is funded by an $8 million grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Work on either of the projects would be an impressive accomplishment for a current doctoral student. As a package, CHiXapkaid finds the work remarkable.
“The work Jill and Allison have done is exceptionally good, and the 'Dear Children' report is already generating a lot of interest, in the Pacific Northwest and nationally,” CHiXapkaid says. “Both the American Indian College Fund and the Kellogg Foundation were very pleased with the third-year evaluation report we submitted. I'm incredibly proud of them, not just because of their research but because of the people they are. They're a credit to the College of Education and their profession.”
- by Cody Pinkston, from a longer story for the UO College of Education