§ 7457 — Native American Language Resource Centers

(a) The purpose of this Act is to further align the resources provided by the Department of Education with the policies set forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) through establishment of a program within the Department of Education to support 1 or more Native American language resource centers. (b) The Secretary of Education is authorized to make a grant to, or enter into a contract with, an eligible entity for the purpose of— (1) establishing, strengthening, and operating a Native American language resource center; and (2) staffing the center with individuals with relevant expertise and experience, including staff who speak American Indian and Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian language and have worked in language education in the American Indian and Alaska Native languages and the Native Hawaiian language in a preschool, elementary school, secondary school, adult education, or higher education program. (c) The Native American language resource center established under subsection (b) shall carry out activities to— (1) improve the capacity to teach and learn Native American languages; (2) further Native American language use and acquisition; (3) preserve, protect, and promote the rights and freedom of Native Americans to use, practice, and develop Native American languages in furtherance of— (A) the policies set forth in the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.); and (B) the United States trust responsibility to Native American communities; (4) address the effects of past discrimination and ongoing inequities experienced by Native American language speakers; (5) support the revitalization and reclamation of Native American languages; and (6) support the use of Native American languages as a medium of instruction for a wide variety of age levels, academic content areas, and types of schools, including Native American language medium education. (d) The Native American language resource center established under subsection (b) may also carry out activities— (1) to encourage and support the use of Native American languages within educational systems in the same manner as other world languages, including by encouraging State educational agencies, local educational agencies, and institutions of higher education to offer Native American language courses the same full academic credit as courses in other world languages; (2) to support the development, adoption, and use of educational outcome metrics aligned with the Native American language of instruction, including assessments, qualifications, and processes based on promising practices in Native American language medium education; (3) to provide assistance to Native American language programs seeking Federal resources; (4) to encourage and support teacher preparation programs that prepare teachers to teach Native American languages and to use Native American languages as a medium of instruction, including by disseminating promising practices and developing pedagogical programming and through appropriate alternative pathways to teacher certification; (5) to provide information and resources— (A) on promising practices in the use and revitalization of Native American languages in Native American communities, including use in educational institutions; and (B) for the use of technology in school and community-based Native American language programs to support the retention, use, and teaching of Native American languages; (6) to support the use of distance learning technologies and training for parents, students, teachers, and learning support staff associated with Native American language programs, including— (A) the compilation and curation of digital libraries and other online resources for Native American languages, except that any materials collected by the center shall only be materials provided by a Native American language program or Native American community; (B) the development of optional distance learning curricula appropriate for preschool, elementary school, secondary school, adult education, and postsecondary education; (C) pedagogical training for Native American language teachers; and (D) other efforts necessary to continue Native American language acquisition through distance learning; (7) to provide technical assistance for Native American communities and school systems to develop Native American language medium education programs in preschool, elementary school, secondary school, or adult education programs conducted through the medium of Native American languages; (8) to support Native American language programs and Native American communities in— (A) accessing international best practices, resources, and research in indigenous language revitalization; and (B) gathering and sharing technical assistance, promising practices, and experiences; (9) for the operation of intensive programs, including summer institutes, to train Native American language speakers, to provide professional development, and to improve Native American language instruction through preservice and in-service language training for teachers; and (10) that otherwise support the Native American language resource center established under subsection (b) to carry out the activities required in subsection (c). (e) In this section: (1) The terms “elementary school”, “local educational agency”, “secondary school”, and “State educational agency” have the meanings given the terms in section 7801 of this title. (2) The term “eligible entity” means— (A) an institution of higher education; (B) an entity within an institution of higher education with dedicated expertise in Native American language and culture education; or (C) a consortium that includes 1 or more institutions of higher education or 1 or more entities described in subparagraph (B). (3) The term “institution of higher education” has the meaning given the term in section 1001 of this title. (4) The terms “Native American” and “Native American language” have the meanings given those terms in section 103 of the Native American Languages Act (25 U.S.C. 2902). (f) There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, $3,000,000 for each fiscal year.