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Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. Media Education Development Institute of Alaska (MEDIAK)

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Project Abstract Eligibility: Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) of Anchorage, Alaska, is a regional Alaska

Native nonprofit, and accordingly eligible for 5 preference priority points. Evidence on this

claim (tribal resolution) is found in the Appendices. Alaska Native students under perform in the

Anchorage School District because the system does not acknowledge their unique modes of

experiential learning. These students lack a voice in the Alaskan public sphere. To remedy these

problems, CITC proposes the Media Education Development Institute of Alaska (MEDIAK),

which will train Alaska Native students in new media technologies such as broadcasting, digital

filmmaking and journalism. Objectives and activities: 8 process objectives frame the project.

Staff will design a media/journalism curriculum, recruit Native students in the school district,

and form cohorts of participants. Some will be engaged in an intensive in-school

media/journalism class, while others will participate on an after-school basis. Both cohorts will

earn graduation credit. Within this context, students will work with staff experienced in media

production and journalism to produce media products, learn about journalism, and enact the

language arts skills necessary for success in these areas. Engaging students in journalism and

media production activities builds employment skills for the 21st century and supports

proficiencies necessary for graduation. Project outcomes: 1) A statistically significant

improvement will be observable in the performance of participating students’ proficiency in

reading and writing. 2) Each year will yield a statistically significant improvement participating

students’ school readiness; 3) Each year will yield statistically significant reduction in the

participant dropout rate. # of Alaska Natives Served by project: Year 1 min-120; Year 2 min-

130; Year 3 min-140; life of project, min-390. $598,462 is requested to achieve these outcomes.


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Proof of Eligibility / Competitive Preference Priority Points (5 points)

According to page 26 of the Alaska Native Education RFP, the Secretary shall award

priority points to applications from Alaska Native regional nonprofit organizations.

Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) is an Alaska Native regional nonprofit

organization. See CITC’s 501(c)(3) determination letter attached in Part 6 as well as tribal

resolution from CIRI to further support our claim. Pursuant to this documentation and

CITC’s status as a regional Alaska Native nonprofit organization, this application is

entitled to 5 preference priority points.

The applicant, Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. meets the definition of eligibility based

upon the following: Established in 1983, CITC is one of the state’s 12 Alaska Native regional

non-profit organizations. Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) delegates tribal authority to CITC. CIRI

is one of the thirteen regional Native for-profit corporations formed pursuant to the 1971 Alaska

Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA). CIRI is responsible for enhancing the lives of Alaska

Natives, both economically and socially. In order to accomplish this goal, CIRI created a

network of non-profit organizations to enrich the lives of its Alaska Native shareholders and

other Native Americans living in the Cook Inlet Region of Alaska. Cook Inlet Tribal Council,

Inc. is part of this network. CITC is designated as a tribal organization by CIRI to contract with

local, state and federal agencies to administer programs and activities for the socio-economic

well-being, education, cultural heritage, and health of Alaska Natives. By annual resolution

(attached in Part 6), CIRI delegates its tribal authority to CITC to apply for and administer

federally funded services to Alaska Natives. Consequently CITC is eligible to administer federal

Native American entitlement and discretionary grants for Native American programs.


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a) Need for Project (20 points)

Magnitude of the need for services to be provided or the activities to be carried out

Ordinarily, not a lot of people would think of these kids as student leaders, but they’ve

risen to the occasion. A lot of these students are considered at risk. I think a lot of them just

needed someone to tell them they “can.” -Chris Joy, MEDIAK Instructor

Magnitude of the Need for Services: Problem Statement: The experience of Alaska Native

students in the Anchorage School District does not honor their modes of experiential learning.

Include a description of your community or target group: Our community is the Alaska

Native population of Anchorage, Alaska’s demographic and economic center. Anchorage has the

highest percentage of Native residents of any U.S. city and is the nation’s fourth largest urban

Native population (27,000). Target: The 6,600 Native students of the Anchorage School District

who are at high risk for dropping out. The District is the largest in Alaska and 89th largest in the

nation. It serves 50,000 students. This project--The Media Education Development Institute of

Alaska (MEDIAK)—will work within that system to re-engage Native high school students.

1) Timely, specific and relevant data and cite factors that place Alaska Natives at risk

The following risk factors endanger our students and perpetuate dependency: 1)

Underperformance/under-engagement in school; 2) low employment levels and; 3) low incomes.

1. Underperformance and under engagement in school

The GPRA indicators for this program concern dropout rates, academic proficiencies and school

readiness. Dropout rates: AN/AI students drop out of school at twice the rate of their peers. In

the 05/06 academic year, 333 AN/AI students in grades 7-12 dropped out, accounting for ¼ of all

dropouts despite making up just 1/10th of district enrollment (see graph in Part 6). The


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graduation rate for Alaska Native students in 2005 was just 33%, compared with a overall

district rate of 60%.

Standard proficiencies: Data suggest that instruction received by AN/AI students in the District

is not effective for them (see graphs in Part 6). At every grade level for which data are

available, AN/AI students are far less likely to be “proficient” in basic academic skills. In 2006,

just 67% of all Alaska Native students were tested as proficient in language arts and 59% math.

In the senior class of 2006, AN/AI also had the highest incidence of failing the Graduation

Qualifying Exam. 13% (270 students) failed. Even so, we retain hope and we have a strategy.

2. and 3. Socioeconomic Status of Alaska Natives in Anchorage

Alaska Native General Pop. Discrepancy

Median income $37,438 $55,546 Alaska Natives earn 33% less.

% in workforce 43% 55% Alaska Natives are less employed.

% in poverty 17% 7% More Alaska Natives in poverty.

(Source: Census 2000. While more recent data for the general population are available, updated

data on the Native subpopulation are not. To maintain consistency, we cite 2000 data for both).

Even for Alaska Natives with jobs, underemployment is a major issue. Most Alaska

Natives work in the service sector, where wages are inadequate. MEDIAK builds the presence of

Alaska Natives in media, journalism and broadcasting fields for the following reasons. 1) Less

than 1% of the Alaskan positions in these fields are held by Alaska Natives. Mass media

presence can help break cycles of under and unemployment by empowering Natives to exercise

their voice. 2) These fields require more technical training, thus pay better wages (see Part 6 list

of media occupations for examples).


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Together, indicators on all three of these risk factors (low school performance, low

employment outcomes, and low incomes) paint a picture of reduced opportunity for Alaska

Natives in Anchorage. They demand immediate action by CITC, which proposes to better

prepare our young people for 21st century opportunities.

The Solution: Since the 2003-2004 academic year, CITC’s Educational Services

department has worked in conjunction with our partner tribal nonprofit, Koahnic Broadcast

Corporation (KBC), to deliver the Media Education and Development Institute of Alaska

(MEDIAK) to Alaska Native and American Indian youth. At MEDIAK, students learn by doing.

And what they do is very exciting. MEDIAK students make videos and documentary films. They

design websites. They publish a magazine. They produce radio and television broadcasts. They

have a voice--and the world listens. MEDIAK students have opportunities to earn school credit,

celebrate Native cultures, experience paid internships with media professionals, make new

friends, and change their lives for the better. In September 2007, the Department of Education

funding that supports this work will expire. The expanded version of the program, which will

begin October 2007, will retain continuity of services and build upon lessons learned from the

current initiative, bringing MEDIAK to a wider audience and integrating it with the school

system. It will make graduation, engagement, and proficiency in language arts key outcomes.

MEDIAK is as popular with Native youth as it is transformative. Student traffic in

MEDIAK’s after school Media Lab grew by nearly 470% between 2005-2006. Student media

projects have been celebrated across the state and the nation (for example, at the 2006 National

Museum of the American Indian Film Festival, where a participant was honored for a

documentary he produced). MEDIAK has become an integral asset to the Alaska Native

community as a whole, with students receiving constant invitations to cover important gatherings


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and events and to assist other tribal initiatives with outreach and public service announcements.

Via the proposed enhancement project, MEDIAK will become just as fully incorporated into

school day and the academic offerings available to Alaska Native students.

MEDIAK is an oasis of hope for a group of people who face daunting odds. MEDIAK

respects and incorporates Native learning styles, builds specific employment skills, enhances

core academic skills such as reading and writing, and re-engages students that have all too often

lost interest in school. 21st century digital media excites students and, by encouraging

collaborative, interdisciplinary inquiry, reconnects them to wellsprings of academic potential.

This supports the RFP’s call for “supplemental educational programs to benefit Alaska Natives,”

particularly the career preparation and dropout prevention priorities.

2) Describe how the proposed project will remedy risk factors for each target population.

Proposed Project: The Media Education Development Institute of Alaska (MEDIAK) tackles

all of the risk factors: 1) it supports higher academic achievement through culturally appropriate

experiential learning; 2) it creates employment skills; and 3) it supports higher incomes by

enhancing students’ likelihood of graduation and obtaining higher wage employment, much less

postsecondary education. The Anchorage School District has acknowledged these key skills and

outcomes by agreeing to award graduation credit to participants of MEDIAK.

CITC will expand MEDIAK to complement our educational mission by bringing

the program inside the regular school day (thus providing us more time with participating

students) and by linking the after-school component with avenues to graduation, which fits

the RFP’s call for dropout prevention and supplemental educational activities. Our specific

project goal is to fully transition MEDIAK as described above from being a supplemental

educational experience to one that complements and augments the experience of AN/AI students


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in the Anchorage School District, impacting the GPRA measures of improving educational

proficiencies, school readiness and the dropout rate. Underperformance in school and long-term

socioeconomic outcomes are linked by the three risk factors discussed above.

The services to be provided should be closely tied to the identified needs: There is a powerful

need for educational services that acknowledge the unique cultural experience and learning styles

of Native students. The seminal Alaska Native Education Study of 2001 defines these learning

styles as experiential, “visual, aural and tactile,” emphasizing observation, practice and peer

collaboration. We propose an intensive experiential learning experience for Native students,

which both supports literacy and the active use of skills such as reading and writing as well as

addressing the need for clearer linkages between school and future work opportunities (in the

media field) for Native students. Media careers include dozens of possibilities such as production

work, camera operator, journalist, producer, editor, writer, cinematographer, documentarian, web

designer, radio producer, radio announcer, sound board operator, or other of dozens of media-

related fields (see Part 6 for a sample list of careers that MEDIAK prepares students for).

Conclusion: A population of at-risk youth deprives Alaska of vast human potential. In

the 21st century, in the wealthiest nation in the world, the above-described disparities are

inexcusable. Fortunately, we have the resources (the US Department of Education), the initiative

(Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc.) and the infrastructure (the Anchorage School District) to attack

poor academic outcomes among our youth. After running MEDIAK outside of the school setting,

we conclude that we must utilize the model in conjunction with academics.

b) Quality of Project Design (30 points)

Overview: CITC will expand the existing Media Education Development Institute of Alaska

(MEDIAK) from its current status as a standalone program to one that specifically works inside


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the schools to impact the GPRA outcomes for the Alaska Native Education Program. The

enhancement will target additional students and provide the MEDIAK experience inside the

school day. An overview of the proposed enhancement is below:

Actor: Current MEDIAK: Proposed Enhancement:

Cook Inlet Tribal Council,

Inc. (applicant) & Federal

Department of Education

Technology/media instruction,

comprehensive engagement

and support for students.

Continued, plus engaging

school district to improve

graduation rate and

proficiencies among students.

Anchorage School District No role. Linkages to graduation credit,

MEDIAK will impact

educational outcomes.

Intensive in-school cohort and

after-school cohorts proposed

for >100 students per year.

Koahnic Broadcast

Corporation

Journalism instruction. Continued.

University of Alaska-

Anchorage

Journalism instruction,

website hosting, radio show

hosting

Continued.

Anchorage Museum of

History & Art

No role. Committed funding for joint

documentary project with

MEDIAK students.


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Current Program: MEDIAK combines cutting-edge technology with ancient ways of learning.

Three student-run clubs—video, radio, and magazine—meet weekly in the Media Lab after

school. Peer-elected student officers preside over these meetings, where the group settles on

specific projects, determines timelines, and assigns individual responsibilities. Formal, adult-lead

instruction in journalism and digital media is incorporated into these sessions, but most learning

occurs on a peer-to-peer basis. New students observe more advanced students at work and are

inspired by past examples of student projects, and to practice their skills in an encouraging, fun

environment. Media professionals and other community members are guests in the MEDIAK

Lab, which, in addition to being a state-of-the-art production facility, is also a much-needed

youth drop-in center, a welcoming, safe, culturally-rich place of their own for Native teens.

Each of the three MEDIAK Media Clubs is bound to a student-ratified set of by-laws that

lay out procedures and delineate ongoing club tasks. Twice a semester, the Video Club is

obligated to have a public screening of new work. Screenings have been held on the University

of Alaska Anchorage campus, the Anchorage Museum, Out North Theater, and the CITC

Headquarters. These events are popular with family members and the general public. Student

video projects have also been featured in film festivals around the nation and have appeared on

the PBS show “In the Mix” and on Canadian television. The MEDIAK Radio Club is responsible

for broadcasting a weekly live show on the University of Alaska Anchorage student station,

KRUA, for producing news features for National Native News, and for creating community-

based public service announcement campaigns. Past campaigns have supported Alaska Native

Heritage Month, Native American/Alaska Native HIV Awareness Day, and an underage drinking

campaign sponsored the US Department of Justice. The Magazine Club writes, photographs, and

publishes Alaska Aloud, a quarterly magazine distributed to schools and hospitals throughout the


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state and mailed directly to over 1000 Alaska Native households in the Anchorage area. Taken as

a whole, this body of student work—conceived, researched, written, and produced by some of

the most at-risk youth in America—represents a tremendous accomplishment and a much-needed

point of pride for the Alaska Native community.

Proposed enhancement: Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) proposes to enhance its

existing Media Education Development Institute of Alaska (MEDIAK) into a full component of

the academic experience for participating Alaska Native students. Since 2003, MEDIAK has

worked with students after school, equipping them with skills in journalism, broadcasting, web

design and filmmaking. This proposal aims to more fully exploit the academic benefits of

MEDIAK. The MEDIAK audience will be expanded significantly (to 120 in year 1, 130 in year

2 and 140 in year 3) and integrated into the school day, offering at least 20 students per year an

intensive, for-credit, experience in media education, technical and computer skills development

and career preparation. 100 students per year (110 in year 2 and 120 in year 3) will participate in

an after-school supplemental model, also for graduation credit. 5 staff will be responsible for

implementing these changes and delivering instruction to the students during the school year.

These activities will improve the educational outcomes of Alaska Native students in the

Anchorage School District (as measured by GPRA outcomes). Students will gain invaluable

skills in digital media production: journalism, filmmaking, web and graphic design that will

significantly enhance their employment prospects. CITC will leverage its experience in

secondary education support and existing and new partnerships in the public sector to do this.

The purpose of the DOE Alaska Native Education program is to support efforts to help

meet the unique educational needs of Alaska Natives and to support the development of

supplemental educational programs to benefit Alaska Natives. Congruent with this overarching


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purpose, the overarching goal of the Media Educational Development Institute of Alaska

(MEDIAK) is to provide career preparation activities that enable Alaska Native children to

prepare for meaningful employment in the media field, which is congruent with the RFP

call for career prep /dropout prevention activities in supplemental educational programs.

Project Goal: The specific project goal of this proposal is to transition MEDIAK from

being a supplemental educational experience to one that specifically complements the experience

of AN/AI students inside the Anchorage School District, increasing school engagement and

impacting graduation rates, academic aptitudes, and school readiness (GPRA measures).

Process Objectives:

Objective 1. By the end of year 1, the Media Education Development Institute of Alaska

(MEDIAK) Project Director, in consultation with Anchorage School District (ASD) staff and

student MEDIAK interns, will formalize the media education curriculum that will fully integrate

MEDIAK with the school system as a for-credit course. Measures: Refined, written curriculum

produced and approved by CITC Education staff in consultation with Anchorage School District.

Objective 2. In each of the project years, project staff will implement an outreach strategy that

reaches 90 % of the Alaska Native student body of the Anchorage School District with outreach

communications (including in-person presentations, student-created DVD presentations, public

service announcements and radio news stories) resulting in enrollment of 100 students in year 1,

110 students in year 2, and 120 students in year 3. Measures: Outreach effort logs, outreach

deliverables (newsletters, DVDs, broadcasts, family gathering nights) measured against real-life

in-class log of student participation. # of students enrolled in MEDIAK for each target year.

Objective 3: Engage 100 students each year three-times weekly in after school media clubs

during the school year. The objective is for 80% of the students to receive such graduation credit


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either via the credit by choice program or by the elective credit program in the Anchorage School

District, for a total of 80 students in year 1, 88 students in year 2, and 96 students in year 3.

Measures: # of students enrolled versus # completing, Attendance logs, school reports on

graduation credit progress by participating students.

Objective 4: In each of the three project years, engage 20 students in five-times weekly media

education class for credit. 80% of the students will receive graduation credit. Measures:

Attendance logs, # of students enrolled vs. # of students completing course.

Objective 5: Students, as part of their participation, in the MEDIAK project, will produce at

minimum, 4 quarterly magazines per year. Measures: Publication log/archive; # of publications.

Objective 6: MEDIAK students will produce at least 90 minutes of documentary film each

semester for twice-a-semester public film events.

Measures: Completed documentaries, Satisfaction surveys, attendance logs, DVDs produced.

Objective 7: MEDIAK students will produce a minimum 30 weekly live radio shows during

each project year. Measures: Radio programming logs, audio archive of shows.

Objective 8: MEDIAK students will produce 4 nationally distributed National Native News

pieces in conjunction with Koahnic Broadcast Corporation each year. Measures: Koahnic

Broadcast Corporation programming log, podcasts or other audio archives of shows.

Outcome Objectives (correspond with GPRA):

Objective 1: By the end of each year, a significant improvement will be observable in the

performance of participating Alaska Native and American Indian students in proficiency in

reading and writing (language arts, collectively). This objective corresponds with GPRA #1.

Measures: Test performance in basic subject areas (language arts) in the Alaska Standards Based

Assessment; qualitative assessment of journalism skills.


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Objective 2: After each project year, a significant improvement will be displayed in the

performance of participating Alaska Native and American Indian students Alaska Native

students on measures of school readiness. This objective corresponds with GPRA #2. Measures:

Results of ASSETS school readiness measures, attendance (as an indicator of persistence, and

qualitative evaluation by MEDIAK instructors). Pre/post risk assessment for participants.

Objective 3: Each project year will demonstrate a significant improvement in the dropout rate of

participating Alaska Native and American Indian secondary students, and the efficacy of the

program will be compared with controls of Alaska Native and American Indian student retention.

Measures: Annual enrollment reports from Anchorage School District and teacher reporting on

attendance and individual student engagement; qualitative assessment of student satisfaction.

Approach Overview: The project approach is dual. The in-school cohort of MEDIAK

participants will include 15-20 Alaska Native students per year, each of whom will be engaged 5

times weekly in media class. The after-school cohort will be larger, (100 students in year one

with 10% growth for each project year thereafter). Each cohort’s experience will be informed by

the “three conditions” model of achievement (“3C Model”), which states that exposure,

motivation, and skill level are the three most important areas in which institutions can impact

academic performance. The legs of the MEDIAK program correspond with this model: 1)

identifying and recruiting students and exposing them to media production techniques such as

radio and television broadcasting, print journalism, web page production, filmmaking and pod

casting; 2) motivating students via the appeal of technology, the opportunity to produce widely

consumed media products (“giving the youth ‘a voice’”), and 3) skill level factors, specifically in

reading and writing (language arts, which we have discovered are a point of weakness for many

Alaska Native students). This is a current research model that informs CITC’s work in the


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Anchorage School District. It is supported by the Department of Education and was articulated

by James C. Byrnes of the University of Maryland (2003). (Logic model is attached in Part 6).

All 8 process objectives offer tangible work and educational outcomes created by the

MEDIAK students. This benefits students because it motivates them, sparks their

creativity, and leads to specific long-term outcomes, such as graduation, better proficiency

in language arts, and higher wage work upon graduation.

Process Objective 1: Anchorage School District has already committed to awarding graduation

credit to MEDIAK students in both the in-school and out-of school cohort of the program (e.g.

students in out-of-school cohort will have to log 120 hours of participation and 3 projects.

Process Objective 2: The outreach strategy will consist of presentations at Anchorage School

District Schools, direct mail outs of the student magazine, student-created DVD presentations,

public service announcements and radio news stories that highlight the opportunities available to

MEDIAK students. Reaching 100% of the Alaska Native secondary student body is important

because we want to engage more than just the students who are likely to pursue opportunities.

Process Objective 3: After school media clubs encourage students to make connections between

school-based academic work and “real life.” They provide important socialization opportunities,

occasions for supportive adult and peer-to-peer mentoring, and a laboratory for developing

leadership skills. Club work leading to Anchorage School District credit allows for credit-

recovering and self-paced learning. The MEDIAK Media Lab itself functions as a sort of drop-in

center, attracting and constructively occupying students in a safe and positive place.

Process Objective 4: MEDIAK’s learner-centered, community-based, interdisciplinary,

experiential, high-tech instructional model has the potential to remake the formal educational

experience of Alaska Native students in the Anchorage School District. The very nature of


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MEDIAK’s approach makes academic skills relevant to students’ lives, cultures, and

communities. As MEDIAK enters the formal school day, the program will become an attractive

alternative for Native students who might otherwise be disengaged.

Process Objective 5: The quarterly magazine is entitled Alaska Aloud and provides students with

incredible opportunities to apply literacy skills writing for a large audience and to address issues

of personal and community importance in a constructive, meaningful fashion.

Process Objective 6: Production of films is an extraordinarily educational experience for

MEDIAK youth. Students learn to “write” with a camera and write for the camera in relevant,

fun ways rarely, if ever, managed in English class. Taking a video camera out into the

community gives young people a critical lens through which they explore the world around

them. The production process is richly collaborative, challenging, and highly rewarding.

Process Objective 7: The “MEDIAK Radio Hour” airs from 3-4pm on Mondays over the

University of Alaska Anchorage radio station (KRUA 88.1FM). This provides a valuable

outreach link to our community and more importantly, provides participating students with a

tremendous experience in the rigors of creating a weekly production for public consumption.

Process Objective 8: Via MEDIAK’s partnership with Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (an

Alaska Native-based nonprofit broadcasting and production firm—and CITC’s “sister”

organization), students will produce pieces for the nationally syndicated program National

Native News. This intensive process involves carefully writing, editing, and recording pieces and

represents a significant accomplishment for anyone, not just high school students.

The roles to be played by any partnering organizations should be outlined: All of the below

have signed letters of commitment signifying their participation in this project.


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* Anchorage School District (ASD): ASD will permit a MEDIAK-based class to be included in

the curriculum of one high school for the duration of the project, will award credit for that class,

and will provide program space as needed. ASD will sign an agreement outlining the

relationship. ASD will provide data for evaluation and continuous quality improvement of

program. Anticipated results are: 1) 20 students in each program year will receive elective

graduation credit for participating in MEDIAK’s intensive in-school component. 2) 100 students

will participate in MEDIAK in year 1, with 10% growth in each program year, with 80%

receiving credit for graduation. 3) Standardized test performance will improve among

participating students. 4) Participating student attendance will improve in each program year.

* Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (KBC): KBC is a Native broadcasting organization that

runs the local radio station KNBA and delivers national content via Public Radio International.

KBC agrees to provide broadcasting instruction under a subcontract with CITC/MEDIAK and to

provide access to broadcasting, recording facilities and equipment. KBC agrees to continue

assistance with production of public service announcements, radio broadcasts, and student

involvement in National Native News. Anticipated results are: 1) Students in both program

subsets will be trained in broadcast techniques. 2) Students will produce public service

announcements, original pieces, and stories for radio. 3) Students will have the opportunity to

contribute to National Native News. 4) Students will produce a weekly radio show.

* Anchorage Museum of History and Art (AMHA): AMHA has been a prestigious cultural

center for the community and state since 1968. AMHA is committing $5000 to production of a

student-produced documentary on the Alaska Native collection of the museum. AMHA is

committing staff time, space, and access to the permanent collection. AMHA has also

developed curricular materials that can be used by MEDIAK instructors and will offer


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staff support to implement such materials. The anticipated results are: 1) AMHA

documentary. 2) Students will gain work experience that supports academic mission of Alaska

Native Education program. 3) Students/ MEDIAK will gain possible future collaborative

opportunities with the museum. 4) Visibility for MEDIAK/outreach benefit.

* University of Alaska-Anchorage Department of Journalism and Communications: UAA

will conduct joint planning with MEDIAK staff on summer options for bridging program

between academic years; UAA will host student-coded website (www.mediak.net); UAA will

provide journalism instruction; UAA will help plan postsecondary pathways for students

interested in journalism as higher education option and as career. UAA’s radio station, KRUA,

will also host MEDIAK’s weekly radio show. Anticipated results: 1) Enhanced language arts

performance by AN/AI participants in program. 2) Quarterly magazine. 3) Broadcasts; 4)

Website as a platform for national and international distribution of student work; 4) students able

to earn college credit for JPC 094—Digital Documentary Production.

Realistic goals with measurable goals and objectives.

With 20+ years administering federal grants, and extensive work inside the school

system, CITC is well acclimated to what is reasonable given the constraints of time and

resources. The objectives for this project represent a reasonable degree of progression combined

with appropriately ambitious benchmarks. They are based on CITC’s four years’ experiencing in

piloting MEDIAK and the lessons learned from it, and draw upon our evaluation expertise.

MEDIAK outcome objectives are identical to the RFP’s GPRA outcomes.

On-going advice from and consultation with representatives from the community.

The CITC strategic plan calls for the establishment of an organization-wide consumer advisory

board, to include representation from various sectors of our constituency, including MEDIAK.


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As delineated in the project management plan and evaluation (Sections C and E), MEDIAK will

conduct student satisfaction surveys and quarterly screenings of student work. Letters of

support: Letters from the following organizations are found in Part 6: the Anchorage School

District, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation, Booth Memorial Services, University of Anchorage-

Alaska, and Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Roles and responsibilities are detailed

earlier in this section. CITC will update agreements upon notice of grant.

c) Quality of Management Plan (20 points)

Adequacy of the management plan

Timeline for MEDIAK Enhancement:

Process Objective 1: Formalizing media education curriculum.

Task Staff Responsible & Deadline

1. Consult with ASD to develop MOA governing a school-

day MEDIAK program for Native students.

Project Director,

End of Month 2

2. Work with ASD to develop a pilot interdisciplinary

multimedia curriculum that applies MEDIAK’s proven

Project Director & Media

Instructor,

Director, ESS .05 FTE

MEDIAK Program Manager 1.0 FTE

Career Counselor 1.0 FTE

Chief of Operations (CFO)

Media Instructor 1.0 FTE

Lab Instructor 1.0 FTE

Program Assistant 1.0 FTE

Evaluator (Contractual)

Contractual Instructors

Student Interns (stipends)


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methods to ASD instructional standards. End of Month 4

3. Consult with ASD to develop a system for student data

collection and evaluation.

Project Director & Data Specialist,

End of Month 4

4. In collaboration with ASD, students, and their families,

revise pilot MEDIAK curriculum and launch formal

program as fully integrated alternative educational option

for all Native high school students.

Project Director,

End of Year 1

Process Objective 2: Outreach strategy creation and implementation

Task Individuals Responsible

1. Conduct school visits to all Anchorage secondary schools

to recruit Native students and present basic media

workshops.

Media Instructor. Lab Instructor &

Career Counselor,

Twice Yearly

2. Mail each new issue of Alaska Aloud to every household

home to a Native secondary student in Anchorage (data

provided by ASD).

Career Counselor,

Quarterly

3. Distribute student magazines and other program materials

to all Alaska high schools and Alaska Native Medical

Center clinics.

Program Assistant,

Quarterly

4. Continue regular student media broadcasts and public

showcases

Media Instructor & Lab Instructor,

Quarterly

5. Continue regular updates to www.mediak.net Student Interns & Lab Instructor,

Continuously

6. Develop collegial relationships with students, student Career Counselor


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families, ASD and school staff, UAA faculty and staff, and

media professionals.

Process Objective 3: 3x weekly after-school media clubs

Task Individual Responsible

1. Maintain MEDIAK Media Club activities as outlined in

club bylaws

Student Interns, Media Instructor,

Lab Instructor,

Continuously

2. Coordinate ASD “Credit-by-Choice” program

requirements for participants to receive ASD elective credit

Career Counselor & Media

Instructor; Continuously

3. Coordinate opportunities for college credit (UAA JPC

094) for appropriate club-related student media work

Program Director, Career

Counselor & Media Instructor,

Yearly

Process Objective 4: 5x weekly in-school cohort of intensive interdisciplinary media

education


1. In collaboration with ASD staff, teach daily media-based

classes for graduation credit as an alternative option during

the formal school day.

Media Instructor,

By the end of Month 4

Process Objective 5: 4 quarterly magazines per year


1. Assist students in developing magazine

story ideas

Student Interns, Media Instructor and Lab Instructor,

Continuously

2. Assist students in researching and Student Interns, Media Instructor and Lab Instructor,


21

writing magazine content Continuously

3. Assist students with photography,

graphic design, and desktop publishing

skills


Continuously

4. Upload magazine content to

www.mediak.net.

Student Interns, and Lab Instructor,

Quarterly

Process Objective 6: 90 minutes of documentary film per semester.


1. Assist students in developing film and

video ideas


Continuously

2. Assist students in researching, writing,

shooting, interviewing, logging material


Continuously

3. Assist students with digital video

editing skills.


Continuously

4. Coordinate public screenings at Out

North Theater, UAA, the Anchorage

Museum, or other appropriate venues

Project Director,

Twice/semester

Process Objective 7: Production of weekly live radio show on UAA station.


1. Assist students in developing content

and production ideas


Continuously

2. Assist students in researching and

writing radio content and conducting


Continuously


22

interviews.

3. Assist students with digital audio

editing skills.


Continuously

4. Coordinate broadcasting partnership

with UAA

Project Director,

Continuously

Process Objective 8: Production of 4 nationally distributed radio broadcasts.


1. Assist students in developing story

ideas.


Quarterly

2. Assist students in researching, writing

radio content, and conducting interviews.


Quarterly

3. Assist students with digital audio

collection and editing skills


Continuously

3. Coordinate activities with Koahnic

Broadcasting Corporation and other

national media professionals

Program Director,

Continuously

Skill sets for all staff are found in Section D. “Adequacy of Resources.”

Describe and budget for the roles/responsibilities of all key staff members and provide

resources for staff development and training.

All tasks, save for oversight and indirect responsibilities (accounting, support services, etc.)

related to delivering MEDIAK are the responsibility of grant-funded staff (indicated in shaded

boxes on the organizational chart). Roles and responsibilities are also enumerated in the position

descriptions attached to this proposal. . The following summarize position duties:


23

Director, ESS Department (.05 FTE): The Educational Services System Director is supervised by

the Vice President, Operations of CITC and the President/CEO of the corporation. The Director

supervises and advises the Program Manager, signs off on expenses, meets with the evaluation

team as appropriate, and serves as a point of departmental contact with various project partners,

including the Anchorage School District. Ensures timely implementation and oversees project.

MEDIAK Program Manager (1.0 FTE): The Program Manager supports the Education

Department’s goals by planning, developing and managing MEDIAK, fostering relationships

among project partners, overseeing staff, and meeting the goals and objectives in this proposal.

The Program Manager will also have instructional duties as determined in year 1 by curriculum

planning and approval. Primary contact for evaluator. Represents program to community.

Career Counselor (1.0 FTE): The Career Counselor will forge personal relationships with

students, families and private/public custodial agencies. The Career Counselor maintains

MEDIAK’s multiple media internships, advising and supervising the student “Presidents.”

Media Instructor (1.0 FTE): The Media Instructor, supervised by the Program Manager, is the

chief instructional officer, teaching students to create media productions with different mediums.

Lab Instructor (1.0 FTE): The Lab Instructor is the technology professional of MEDIAK,

maintaining all equipment, teaching students how to use it, supporting the website development

(though the website is and will continue to be entirely student-coded).

Program Assistant (1.0 FTE): The Program Assistant will coordinate all administrative details,

assist with tasks, interface with youth, and conduct record-keeping and communications.

Student Interns (1.0 FTE): The project provides small stipends for Native student mentors to

serve as “Presidents” of the various MEDIAK media instructional areas (video, broadcasting,

magazine, for example). The Interns are among the most experienced MEDIAK students who


24

have demonstrated abilities and aptitude for both leadership and production of high quality

media products. The project cannot function without their work.

Evaluator (Contractual): The contractual external evaluator will conduct and interpret formative

and summative components of evaluation. Results of these studies will inform program delivery.

Data Specialist (Contractual): The Data Specialist will report to the Project Manager and

Evaluator. The Specialist assists with data collection for federal GPRA and interfaces with the

Anchorage School District to obtain proper data sets and ensure participant confidentiality.

Resources for staff development and training: Staff will continue to attend conferences such as

the Alaska Society for Technology in Education. MEDIAK staff have an internal professional

development program in the form of an offsite reading group to discuss key texts, ideas, and

relate them to their work at MEDIAK and CITC. This grant also budgets for staff travel to

annual Department of Education orientation sessions.

Level or percentage of effort for the project director should be noted in the application and

is required to grant the award. Full-time is often beneficial.

Shannon Gramse (1.0 FTE) will serve as project director, dedicating 100% of his time to

the operation of MEDIAK. His experience includes extensive collaboration with project partners,

and Mr. Gramse enjoys pre-established working relationships with each of the signatories to the

letters of commitment that accompany this application. This experience and these relationships

will allow the program to quickly be integrated into current Anchorage School District offerings.

How this project fits into your overall organizational structure and how the goals of this

project are a part of the primary organization’s goals and objectives.

Since Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s 1983 incorporation, one of our primary goals has been

encouraging the socioeconomic advancement and development of leadership skills of Alaska


25

Natives in the spirit of self-determination. In 2004, CITC continued a longstanding effort to

organize our strategic growth, which yielded a new mission statement – to work in partnership

with Our People to develop opportunities that fulfill our endless potential. Today, that means

serving approximately 14,000 annually under our four main divisions – Educational Services,

Child and Family Services, Recovery Services, and Employment and Training Services.

MEDIAK is housed within Education Services since the purpose of the project is to fully

integrate MEDIAK into CITC’s educational offerings.

MEDIAK is entirely consistent with CITC’s Strategic Plan, which was most recently

articulated in 2006. It coincides with Goal 1: Partnership (CITC will partner with Our People

and other key stakeholders to develop our full potential through educational, employment &

training, recovery and family development opportunities); Goal 2: Opportunity (CITC will

provide a comprehensive range of opportunities to assist Our People in fulfilling their potential).

Housing the program within Educational Services makes sense. The Department is

already engaged in a major, DOE-sponsored partnership with the Anchorage School District

(Partners for Success), which aims to reduce the dropout rate and improve overall academic

performance among Anchorage’s Alaska Native secondary students. It provides supplemental

math and language arts instruction for these students and promotes family involvement in

education, much as MEDIAK will. We anticipate that there will some overlap between Partners

enrollment and MEDIAK enrollment, which is ideal, because it will enhance the “buzz” factor

and expand the combined impact of both programs on students across the district.


26

d) Adequacy of Resources (15 points)

Extent to which the budget is adequate to support the proposed project.

CITC has provided educational programming since 1983 and is well versed in the funds

required, from planning through implementation, operation and evaluation phases of projects.

The budget was developed by drawing input from administration, program staff and secondary

education experts. The three-year project budget is based on actual project costs from the piloted

version of MEDIAK, which is now in its third year of operations. CITC will provide significant

in-kind resources to the proposed project through the existing organizational capacity listed

above. Please refer to the budget and budget narrative for detailed budget explanations.

Show how appropriate resources and personnel have been carefully allocated for the tasks

and activities described in the application. Job descriptions/resumes are found in the Part 6.

Key staff person Qualifications

Debi Kruse,

Educational

Services Director

(.05 FTE)

> 15 years experience with Alaska Native / American Indian

organizations; coordinated statewide Department of Labor Youth

Opportunity Grant in over 35 communities between 2000-2005. Direct

experience with Native populations includes training and implementing

for programs that emphasize strengthening home and family ties.

Shannon Gramse,

Program Manager

MEDIAK Manager since 2005; > 12 years’ experience working with

secondary and postsecondary students; taught college-level courses in

English; honored statewide for contributions to literacy in Alaska.

Stephanie Rogers,

Career Counselor

Career Counselor with MEDIAK since 2005; experience building

personal relationships with families and public/private agencies serving

youth; experience coordinating internships for program participants.


27

Dolly Norton, Lab

instructor/ IT

specialist

(Inupiaq); Extensive computer expertise, traditional knowledge. Has

been highly successful in engaging youth in new media projects to date.

Brenda Maly,

Program Assistant

(Aleut); Experience coordinating administrative details, serves as role

model to Alaska Native youth, A.A. degree; has worked with Alaska

Native people for entire professional career (10 years).

Chris Joy, Media

Instructor

Extensive radio and television production experience in commercial and

public environments. B.A. in journalism; extensive video production

knowledge and experience, particularly in digital formats.

Spero Manson

(external

evaluator)

Extensive work on Native behavioral health and education projects.

Chair of University of Colorado Health Sciences Center American

Indian Center.

Leverage existing resources as well as those that any partners are contributing:

We will leverage the existing capacity of Cook Inlet Tribal Council, Inc. (CITC) will sustain the

updated MEDIAK project and take it from pre-implementation to full operation rapidly. CITC is

a tribal human and social services nonprofit located in Anchorage, Alaska, with a mission to

work in partnership with Our People to develop opportunities that fulfill Our endless potential.

CITC organization is divided into the following departments: Educational Services

System (ESS); Employment and Training Services (ETSD); Recovery Services; and Child &

Family Services (CFS). These divisions represent a natural partition of the interrelated

components that contribute to self-sufficient lifestyles for families.

With an annual operating budget exceeding $35 million, CITC has administered dozens

of federal grants from the Departments of Education, Labor, Health and Human Services, and the


28

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Additional capacity

available to the MEDIAK project staff in-kind are administrative and executive support, a top-

notch accounting and information technology infrastructure, human resources management,

training space, copiers, and numerous vehicles that can be used for special project events.

Resources available through Educational Services System Department: CITC’s

Education Department, in which MEDIAK will be housed, works inside the Anchorage School

District to improve achievement levels among Alaska Native students. The partnership is strong,

as verified by Superintendent Carol Comeau’s letter attached to this application, and the signed

memorandum of agreement associated with this proposal.

Leveraging partner resources: Anchorage School District will help facilitate CITC’s

work. It is the largest of 53 school districts in Alaska and ranks 89th in the nation, serving 88

schools and over 50,000 students annually. Resources available through ASD include project

space in each of the 3 participating schools which includes use of computer labs, dedicated

classrooms, computer work stations and e-mail for project staff, and other instructional support

supplies and equipment. Koahnic Broadcast Corporation has agreed to provide broadcasting

facilities and training to MEDIAK students; University of Alaska Anchorage is hosting the

student-run website (mediak.net), the weekly radio program, and providing college credit via

journalism instruction to participants. The Anchorage Museum of History and Art has committed

$9,000 and will work with participants to produce a documentary on museum collections.

Costs should be allocated against the scope of the project and its anticipated benefits.

Multi-year funding will accommodate the systemic nature of this proposal: we intend to take an

existing effort to provide media literacy services to youth in general and tailor those services to

support the educational mission of both the School District and CITC, which are congruent with


29

the Alaska Native Education program’s goal of reducing dropout rates among Native students. It

culminates in a fully integrated program that develops academic skills among Native students

using nontraditional didactic methods, rather than traditional methods now proven ineffective for

Native students. Our plan also supports career preparation, since services will equip students

with skills valuable in the modern workplace in a field in we are so underrepresented.

Provide a detailed budget narrative that itemizes how you will use grant funds.

Please refer to budget and budget narrative for detailed budget explanations.

Nonfederal funds that will be used for this project should be noted.

The Anchorage Museum has already committed a minimum of $5,000 to MEDIAK, as indicated

in its letter of support. This money will specifically go to support a collaboration between

MEDIAK students and Museum staff on a documentary chronicling its Alaska Native collection.

e) Quality of Project Evaluation (15 points)

Table 1 (Part 6) provides a visualization of the entire evaluation plan and its relationship

with process and outcome objectives, measures and anticipated results.

Each applicant is expected to inform each LEA and request to assist in generating

data: The Anchorage School District (ASD) is the local educational agency and has been

informed that Alaska Native and American Indian ASD students will be invited to participate in

this program. Pursuant to Superintendent Carol Comeau’s letter of commitment, ASD is offering

its full support, including assistance in collecting and sharing relevant data. ASD has been

consulted throughout the planning of MEDIAK.

Identify the individual/organization that has agreed to serve as evaluator: Spero

Manson, Ph.D., Professor and Head, American Indian and Alaska Native Programs, University

of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, will serve as the evaluator for this project.


30

Dr. Manson, himself a member of the Pembina Chippewa community, is widely known and

highly respected among Alaska Native and American Indian human service organizations. He is

the primary evaluator for CITC educational programs, and provides continuity in the spectrum of

CITC educational offerings. He has published over 150 articles on health, education, and

community action programs among Native people. Dr. Manson has received many awards for his

work, including special recognition by the Indian Health Service (1985, 1996, 2004), the

Association of American Medical College’s Herbert Nickens Award (2006) and George Foster

Award for Excellence from the Society of Medical Anthropology (2006). Dr. Manson has led 5

major evaluation studies for CITC over the last six years in the health, employment training, and

education fields. His resume is attached to this application.

Describe evaluation design, including: 1) Types of data to be collected. We will evaluate

MEDIAK in terms of processes and outcomes directly tied to project objectives. As summarized

in Table 1: Evaluation Plan (Part 6), and detailed in the narrative above, we have identified eight

process objectives and three outcome objectives for evaluation. The data will derive from four

basic sources: a) program documentation (e.g., meeting minutes, product archives); b)

Anchorage School District academic records (e.g., enrollment, academic performance, course

credit, school readiness), c) activity-specific proceedings (attendance and distribution logs), and

d) participant perceptions and experiences (student surveys, focus groups, audience surveys).

2) When data will be collected. We will collect data continuously, using the a data

specialist budgeted for as part of the evaluation contract. Test scores, for example, can only be

collected upon administration and grading of tests, while school readiness measures will be

collected on a pre/post-participation basis.


31

3) What designs/methods will be used: Though much of these data will be quantitative

in nature, our approach to evaluation also recognizes the importance of qualitative accounts for

contextualizing and interpreting the former. For example, with respect to MEDIAK outreach

activities, product archives, distribution logs, and enrollment figures will indicate what kinds of

materials were developed to advertise the program, where, when, to whom, and how often these

materials were disseminated, and how many AN/AI students subsequently were recruited to the

project. Focus groups with MEDIAK and non-MEDIAK students will provide insight into which

materials effectively conveyed the intended messages, into which settings were cost-effective

points of distribution, and into characteristics of students most reached by these activities.

We will draw upon our extensive evaluation experience, especially in partnership with

the ASD, to use well-tried and successful methods of collecting these data. For example, CITCI

places considerable importance on detailed, accurate, and timely documentation of its program

activities. Project meetings are carefully chronicled, with special emphasis on describing the

strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to proximal as well as distal program goals.

Decisions, and the processes leading to them, are explicitly recorded and readily recoverable

from meeting minutes and managers’ monthly summaries of project progress. Then, too, our

ongoing collaboration with the ASD on several other DOE-sponsored projects has led to regular,

nearly seamless transfers of ASD academic data to our evaluation team. Downloaded in

ACCESS files according to negotiated file structures, we will have full access to relevant

academic data for all AN/AI students in the ASD, enabling us to compare MEDIAK participants

and non-participants in terms of several key project outcomes. Lastly, we are familiar with and

experienced in using survey methodologies to briefly, but effectively capture data relevant to

program process and outcomes. We will use close-ended items with Likert-format response


32

alternatives as well as open-ended questions to document CITC and ASD staff perceptions of

curriculum development, to elicit audience responses to multi-media products, and to document

changes in risk among AN/AI students before and after participating in MEDIAK.

As indicated in Table 1: Evaluation Plan (Part 6), the data will be collected in this manner

at regular intervals which coincide with the natural cycles of program activities. For example,

CITC and ASD staff will be surveyed about their experiences in and impressions of curriculum

development shortly after its completion. Likewise, shortly after exposure to outreach activities,

focus groups will be conducted with students who subsequently enroll in MEDIAK and with

students choosing not to enroll to identify effective engagement and recruitment materials as

well as techniques. Other data will not be as time-sensitive, and can be acquired over a longer

period. Examples include program documentation such as meeting minutes, attendance logs, and

product archives can be assembled on an annual basis; ASD academic records will be

downloaded and forwarded to us on a semester basis, and later aggregated annually. We will

work hard early in the project to ensure that data is gathered reliably and accurately.

Dr. Manson possesses a sophisticated knowledge of multivariate analytic methods as well

as ethnographic skills which he will bring to bear on these data to populate and test the model of

achievement -- the “3C Model” – which guides MEDIAK as a multi-faceted educational

intervention. This model postulates that exposure, motivation, and skill level are the three most

important areas in which institutions can impact academic performance.

4) What instruments will be developed and when: All focus group discussions will be

transcribed verbatim in preparation for analysis. The transcripts will then be coded using QSR

NUD*IST Vivo (NVivo),7 a software program used in many qualitative studies by Dr. Manson.

Coding with this program will permit us to uncover themes and the relationships among them.


33

Variable construction will be performed using SPSS and SAS. Structural equation models (both

measurement and path models) will be developed using Mplus,3 a statistical program that permits

multilevel mixture modeling. In those cases where missing data imputation is appropriate and

desirable, we will use one of several methods now available including SAS’s PROC MI

(multiple imputation) or the NORM/CAT/MIX procedures developed at Penn State. These

methods replace the outdated mean substitution or single imputation procedures. We will

complete analyses with imputed data and list-wise deletion.

5) How the data will be analyzed: First, we will investigate relationships between exposure,

motivational, and skill-level factors and each of the MEDIAK outcomes (e.g., academic

performance, school readiness, and drop-out). Here we will determine how strongly related each

outcome is to the various elements that comprise these factors. We will explore if these

relationships differ by individual-level student characteristics (e.g., age, gender, grade). Drawing

on the pre-intervention assessment of student risk, the next analyses will seek to expand our

understanding of the associations between these factors and outcomes. Specifically, we will

investigate the impact of family and childhood (e.g., parent educational experience, number of

school changes, on-time grade status), community (e.g., student/teacher ratios, AN/AI % of

student body, school standing), and historical (e.g., district-wide dropout rates, specialized

programs) factors on MEDIAK outcomes. These measures will be inserted into our analytic

modeling in a purposeful manner. We will include current community elements, followed by

childhood and family academic experience, and finally historical conditions. Thus, we will test

the ability of more distant factors to add to our understanding of the factor↔outcome

relationships beyond the more proximal factors specified in this intervention. Special emphasis

will be placed on testing the possible mediating effects of outreach strategy, nature and degree of


34

participation, and on the relationships between exposure, motivational, and skill-level factors and

MEDIAK outcomes. Mplus allows for structural equation modeling with categorical indicators,

which will be used to pursue this line of inquiry. Given that interactions are not easily

accommodated with such methods, we will employ logistic/multiple regression to identify

important associations otherwise masked.

7) When reports/results/outcomes will be available: As depicted in Table 1 (attached in Part

6): Evaluation Plan, we will report on project process at strategic points closely tied to the

natural history of relevant activities. The goal will be to provide timely and useful information to

assist staff in achieving the desired outcomes. Thus, for example, annually we will report the

success that outreach activities have had in disseminating information to 90% of the AN/AI

students in the ASD. However, we will more frequently advise CITC staff about the relative

effectiveness of materials and strategies in engaging and recruiting participants. This will occur

on a monthly basis, as is the case in the current evaluation of other CITC health and education

projects. Progress regarding project outcomes will be limited to semester and annual reports,

which coincide with the timelines for compiling and forwarding academic indicators.

8) How information will monitor progress/provide accountability information. Both kinds

of results will be presented at a yearly meeting of key stakeholders and in the annual evaluation

report. We will develop and distribute FAQ sheets as well as “report cards” that present

MEDIAK successes and challenges in terms that can be easily understood by the wide range of

constituents with a vested interest in the project’s ability to increase the academic competence of

AN/AK youth in the Anchorage system.

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