Native Students Stepping Forward:
Dollar General Adult Education Program
2014 – Ongoing
About The Program
The American Indian College Fund’s Native Students Stepping Forward: Dollar General Adult Education Program is designed, in partnership with tribal colleges and universities (TCUs), to fulfill our vision of supporting adult students along the literacy pathway to adult basic education (ABE), high school equivalency (HSE), college, meaningful employment, and healthy lives. While still emphasizing HSE enrollment, persistence, and completion, this grant program strengthens the whole adult education pathway, incorporating a broader concept of literacy that includes reading and writing, but extends to areas such as math, cultural, financial, digital, and family literacies.
The Dollar General Literacy Foundation (DGLF) is the program’s primary funder, supporting it at up to $434,000 annually. With DGLF’s investment, the Native Students Stepping Forward program is committed to helping individuals of all ages receive the educational foundation they need to succeed in post-secondary education opportunities or the workforce. Through TCU-implemented programming, this work seeks to strategically expand services and resources for adult education students. In a continuous effort to value the whole student, the program aims to assess and address students’ needs to succeed, encourages culturally relevant programming elements, promotes visibility of HSE students at TCUs, and supports college and career readiness. TCU grantee partners also regularly engage across the cohort in a Community of Practice (CoP) to connect and build relationships, share best practices and challenges, strengthen programming, and examine holistic impact on students and communities.
High School Equivalency Visibility Project
The American Indian College Fund engaged three TCU high school equivalency (HSE) partners for the HSE Visibility Project, featuring the stories of HSE students and graduates in a social media campaign throughout winter and spring of 2024.
2024 Adult Education Program Convening
Fall 2024 – Rapid City, SD
Previous Adult Education Convenings
Grantees
Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University
Northwest Indian College
Oglala Lakota College
Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College
Salish Kootenai College
Sinte Gleska University
Sitting Bull College
Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
Turtle Mountain College
Related Blogs
Through the Eyes of a GED Instructor
It seems not so long ago it was the start of a new school year, with things just beginning to roll. Students were rushing to get last-minute supplies, such as paper and pencils. Counselors’ schedules were loaded with appointments.
Dollar General GED Program: Monique’s Story
The Sinte Gleska University Adult Basic Education/GED department provides free GED tutoring and testing services to approximately 120 adult learners annually on the Rosebud Reservation and surrounding counties in south central South Dakota.
An Interview with Monique Moran, GED Graduate
The American Indian College Fund and Sinte Gleska University (SGU) are sharing this powerful GED story demonstrating the success of the Dollar General American Indian and Alaska Native Literacy and Adult Education Program.
Oglala Lakota College’s GED Program Goes Electronic with Adult Basic Education (TABE) Tests
The Oglala Lakota College (OLC) Community Continuing Education/GED department will implement electronic Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) in all 11 classroom sites in the fall of 2019.
