R16CC is a strong Center with a shared and distributed leadership model as its foundation. Working in collaboration, members of the Tribal Advisory Board, SEAs, ESDs, and Local Education Agencies open pathways to hear the voices of students and families from communities historically underserved. This approach assists SEAs to build a strengths-based perspective of historically marginalized students and their families to inform critical work focused on equity, tribal sovereignty, and school improvement.

For the evaluation, the Abt team uses methodologies that begin with place-based relevance and take a culturally respectful approach to gathering data that reflects diverse cultures, regions, and knowledge. For example, during focus groups and interviews, we shift power to the interviewee to inquire, explore, reflect, and guide the conversation. Our evaluation team firmly believes in community-centered evaluation approaches that prioritize learning while determining impact, seeking authentic community engagement and integration of persons with lived expertise to ensure relevance and utility.