The Indian Country School Leadership Institute (ICSLI)

School leadership is a critical component of an effective school, district, and community. The Indian Country School Leadership Institute (ICSLI) is designed to help build capacity amongst school and district leaders serving Indigenous communities. This institute is open to current and aspiring leaders for positions such as principal, assistant principal, superintendent, assistant superintendent, and other district-level leadership roles.

The ICSLI program will help school and district leaders develop and enhance leadership skills that align to serving Indigenous populations including cultural awareness, communication skills, problem solving, conflict resolution, community and governmental relationship building, policies and procedures, as well as other leadership skill sets to effectively work with Indigenous students, staff, leaders, and community members. The ICSLI program will guide leaders through collaborative discussions, problem solving, establishing platforms and philosophies for leadership development; as well as, applying leadership skills and research to build leadership capacity to serve indigenous populations.

Indian Country School Leadership Institute participants will engage in reviewing leadership topics, conducting literature reviews, and developing an action plan for increasing leadership capacities and conduct a thorough leadership action plan resulting in a Indigenous leadership guide for present and future leaders in Indigenous education systems.

Leaders create pathways for those they serve to succeed. ISCLI will help any school or district leader build capacity to become the best leader possible for the communities they serve.

Upon completing the program, the following will be granted:

Certificate of completion with 35 seat hours noted for professional development
$500 stipend provided upon completion
Self-authored practice guide is published on INE website
Connected to a diverse community of educational leaders with a shared commitment to culturally responsive schooling

Participants in the ICSLI are motivated, intellectually curious school or district leaders who want to build capacity for serving Indigenous communities and have high expectations for their students.

Applications for the 2024 ICSLI professional development program are now closed! Please monitor our social media pages and join our Listserv to learn information about 2025 applications. If you would like to apply for 2025, please read the eligibility criteria, expectations of applications, and application instructions below.

Eligibility criteria

Must be a school or district leader working in an Indigenous-serving school (i.e., Principal, Asst. Principal, Superintendent, Asst. Superintendent, and other district-level leadership roles)
Employed in a publicly-funded or tribally- funded school in Arizona
Ability to attend all meetings. ICSLI 2024 program calendar

Expectations of accepted applicants

Attend all virtual and in person meetings, including the final Showcase and Open House on December 7, 2024, in Flagstaff ICSLI schedule 2024
Submit all writing assignments on time, including the final complete curriculum unit that meets program specifications
Maintain regular communication via email and/or phone with the program staff
Improve content knowledge in the relevant area
Grow capacity to engage students using the principles of cultural responsiveness

Application process

Step 1: Confirm your eligibility

Please carefully read the “Eligibility criteria” and “Expectations of accepted applicants” sections to confirm your eligibility. This includes ensuring that you can attend ALL in-person and virtual meetings.

Step 2: Submit your application

The application is completed via Google forms, which requires you to complete and submit the entire application at one time. Please be sure you allow sufficient time to do this; we recommend approximately one hour.

The application includes two short paragraph questions. The questions are:

Please tell us why you are interested in joining this professional development program. What do you hope to learn or gain through this program? What strengths or assets will you bring to this program? (200-400 words)
Each participant will select a leadership topic to research deeply and write a culturally responsive leadership guide about. Please tell us the leadership topic you are most interested in exploring in this program (100-300 words)

It may be helpful to draft your response in a Word/Google Document (or something similar) then copy and paste your response into the application when you are ready to submit.

Step 3: Notification of acceptance

The Institute for Native-serving Educators will inform you of your application status by May 3, 2024.

Ready to get started?

Apply to ICSLI!

Click the link above or scan the QR Code below with your mobile device to be taken to the application page.

ICSLI schedule for 2024

Download the ICSLI schedule 2024

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