"In the minds of most North Dakotans, the state’s education system works well. Although salaries of teachers rank near the bottom, students rise to the top.

But there are exceptions, and some of the public schools on the state’s four Indian reservations are among them. The schools can be found in Fort Yates, Fort Totten, Belcourt, Twin Buttes, Mandaree and White Shield districts.

The test scores in math and reading of these reservations’ public schools are dramatically lower than those of other schools in the state. For example, only about half — 52 percent — of American Indian students scored “proficient” or “advanced” in reading on North Dakota’s 2007-08 assessment. About the same percentage achieved those scores in math.

In contrast, the North Dakota average of those who scored “proficient” or “advanced” in reading is 75 percent. In math, it’s also 75 percent. And in some schools, such as Horace Elementary School in West Fargo, some 92 percent of students achieved those scores in reading, and 93 percent did so in math.

The dropout rate for North Dakota reservation schools is higher than in the rest of the state, too."

Get the Story:
Reservations, state should adopt KIPP (The Grand Forks Herald 1/25)
PRAIRIE VOICES: KIPP works (The Grand Forks Herald 1/25)

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