This report documents the activities of 18 state-funded partnerships in Arizona's school-to-work (STW) system: 10 regional partnerships, most in their fourth year of implementation, and 8 Maricopa County partnerships, all in their first year of implementation. The report is divided into two sections. The first section highlights the status of each of the 10 regional STW partnerships as of the midpoint of the state's fourth year of STW implementation. Profiles are provided in alphabetical order and provide a brief description of the changes and accomplishments in the past year. The second section profiles each of the 8 Maricopa County STW partnerships approximately three-quarters of the way through their first 13 months of STW implementation. Profiles are provided in alphabetical order and provide a brief description of the status of partnership activities and accomplishments to date. Each profile consists of the following seven components: (1) partnership name; (2) site visit date; (3) school profile; (4) employers/Governor's Strategic Partnership for Economic Development representation; (5) goals 1-6: system governance and partnership development, program coordination and integration, technical assistance, community involvement, public awareness, and system evaluation; (6) discussion (partnership assets, partnership challenges); and (7) summary and suggestions.

Tribes have a direct government-to-government relationship with the U.S. government wherein no decisions about their lands and people are made without their consent. In Arizona, for example, American Indian reservations occupy nearly 30 percent of the land. Native Americans have a legal and moral claim to significant quantities of water as well. Because of their special legal standing in the United States, tribes are not just another group of stakeholders to be considered in the research and policy process. The purpose of this paper is to provide a legal and political background for interactions between the United States and tribal governments and provide models for those interactions, with special attention to research and outreach.