North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction hosted its 10th annual Indian Education Summit at the state Capitol in Bismarck.
It’s a two-day event.
DPI said the summit focused on such topics as school improvement, culturally relevant STEM education, and other issues.
"They focus on understanding that different learners have different needs," said State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler. "Everyone needs to learn to read and write and do math. But the way that we get there is very different for learners."
Baesler said teachers may need to change math instruction or reading instruction, so it is "culturally responsive."
"Make sure that you're choosing materials, for example, that Native Americans can relate to, connected to their history, their culture, and their traditions within their own homes and communities," Baesler said.
Baesler said this is important to the Native American students — but it’s also important for the state as a whole, to care about student success.
"When a state like ours only has 780,000 people in total, workforce is always going to be an issue," Baesler said. "It's vitally important that all of our students are graduating ready for college, work or military, when they leave our school system. We can't afford to have 10 percent of our population not meeting their fullest potential."
