Altera: A finalist for Snoqualmie Tribe’s tribe-specific curriculum design contract associated with “Since Time Immemorial” Washington State curricular mandate.

WAPATO (September 1, 2023) – Altera (educational nonprofit) is a finalist for the Snoqualmie Tribe’s curriculum design contract to shape the Tribe’s educational tools into a ready-to-adopt PreK-through-high school curriculum in Washington State public school districts adjacent to Snoqualmie lands. The final announcement is expected in mid-October 2023.

The curriculum will incorporate the Tribe’s culture, heritage and sovereignty to educate students and staff of the lived experiences, contributions and perspectives of the Snoqualmie Tribal Nation, Snoqualmie people and the shared history of the region.

Altera incorporates culturally responsive pedagogy into all program design for students. Elements of Altera’s approach to culturally responsive teaching include:

• Engaging all students in rigorous content for personal, social and academic growth.
• Affirming collectivist cultural practices that encourage students to collaborate across grade levels, abilities, language fluency, gender, and culture.
• Grounding learning in place-based content which allows students to share their lived experience, values, culture, and language as funds of knowledge that enrich learning.
• Designing inquiry-based learning processes that center students in knowledge building and allow them to take ownership of information exchange.
• Valuing multiple perspectives during deep and sustained inquiry through themed content presented in multiple ways over time.
• Ensuring students can contribute their own diverse perspectives to learning spaces.
• Prioritizing knowing students outside the learning context by connecting instruction to home, neighborhood, community and culture for positive impact.
• Recognizing that important cultural references should appear in all aspects of curriculum design.
• Building curriculum accessible to all students that attends to diverse student needs.
• Presenting opportunities to elevate student voices in meaningful ways that reflect learning while allowing students to contribute to learning outcomes.