Since 2014, the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction has been holding a annual “Indian Education Summit” at the state Capitol in Bismarck.
The Summit’s purpose is to help teachers reach all students. It provides professional development for teachers, as well as information and techniques they can use in their classrooms.
And DPI says it has been working, in terms of graduation rates.
In 2012, the state’s graduation rate for all students was 52 percent in public schools. Now, that rate is 83 percent.
"We are seeing movement in the right direction," said DPI Director of Multicultural Education Lucy Fredericks. "We still have work to do."
State School Superintendent Levi Bachmeier called the progress "incredible."
"That's national headline celebration," Bachmeier said. "So these events are important — not only to celebrate all the progress that's been made, but to recognize there is more work to do. If we're at 83 percent, there's still 17 percent of our students that we need to continue to support and challenge, to get them all across the finish line. The only way we're going to do that is to bring people together and figure out how to best serve these kids."
Bachmeier has been visiting schools around the state, but said he hasn’t yet visited tribal schools.
"I've been intentionally delaying visiting tribal schools, until I have had a consultation with their tribal governments," Bachmeier said. "Those consultations have been going on this summer. And I'm excited to start visiting tribal schools this fall and winter."
Bachmeier said not visiting those schools wasn't meant to overlook or neglect them. He said his first classroom job was in a school on South Dakota's Pine Ridge reservation.
