American Indian/Alaska Native Trust Fund Recommendations
American Indians, Alaska Natives, and the U.S. Congress recently faced the reform of the American Indian Trust Fund, valued at $2.4 billion. Macro provided consultation and survey services to the Office of the Special Trustee (OST) in the development of a comprehensive series of reports and recommendations that verified and expanded their Strategic Plan and Budget for reform. Macro recommended several reforms of the American Indian Trust system, including establishment of a single organization's responsibility for the trust fund; the adoption of commercial trust system software and a "service bureau" transaction processing and reporting subsystem; the installation of systems and equipment upgrades; the development of a communication network; and increased training. The recommendations were adopted by the Special Trustee, budgeted, and presented to the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Congress.

Head Start Distance Learning
Macro conducted an evaluation of an innovative project to deliver training via satellite to Head Start teaching teams, primarily in rural and isolated areas. American Indian/Alaskan Native Head Start programs were one of the prime targets for a distance learning demonstration to train teaching staff in areas where traditional training methods were not feasible. Macro project team members visited a combined total of 15 American Indian reservations and Alaska Native villages to collect classroom observations and interview Head Start teaching staff about the effectiveness of this initiative. We provided both a formative evaluation to consider the needs of a diverse set of learners with different learning styles and to aid in program improvement and a summative evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the training. The evaluation focused on knowledge gained, personal attitudinal changes, and changes in classroom teaching behavior.