"Research that Benefits Native People: A

Guide for Tribal Leaders."

Over the past three years through the financial support of the Administration
for Native Americans, the National Congress of American Indians Policy Research
Center and their partners, the First American Land-grant College and
Organization Network (FALCON) and the National Indian Child Welfare Association
(NICWA), have developed a curriculum and in-person training to equip tribal
leaders, Native students, and other Native community members to understand and
manage research and program evaluation. The curriculum was developed in
response to requests from tribal leaders who wanted resources to make better
decisions about the proposed research in their communities. It emphasizes the
validity of Indigenous knowledge while highlighting the benefits of western
research standards.

The curriculum consists of five separate modules, which address the most
critical research issues in Native communities. They include:

       Module 1: Foundations of Research: An Indigenous Perspective (attached)
--Introduction to how tribal values relate to research; these will be
emphasized throughout the curriculum.
--Introduction to the context and situations in which a tribal leader may need
a working knowledge of research and related issues.

      Module 2: Managing The Designing And Planning Of Research
--Designing a research study, including how-to lessons and practical
considerations
--Guiding a research design process
--Developing a research plan

      Module 3: Using Ethics As A Guide For Managing Research
--Identifying and understanding the basic ethical considerations related to
conducting research
--Developing skills for applying ethical considerations to research

      Module 4: Conducting Research In Partnership With Others
--Identifying the basic considerations involved in choosing and evaluating a
research partner
--Identifying key characteristics of effective tribal research policy,
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), cooperative agreements, and various
research agreements
--Introduction to developing a skill set for contributing to a successful
partnership

      Module 5: Understanding Evaluation
--Designing and implementing a program evaluation
--Validating basic principles of culturally competent evaluation techniques in
tribal communities
--Identifying what an evaluation can be expected to measure