(L – R): Robert Potts, Wayne Kutzer, Wayne Sanstead,
Janis Somerville and Dean Koppelman

 
 
During its third meeting in Bismarck on Wednesday, March 8, the North Dakota P-16 (pre-school through college) Education Task Force heard from state agency personnel and a panel of administrators of small, medium and large high schools in North Dakota. Presenters discussed legal requirements for graduation, standards at the local and state levels, school curriculums and employer needs and employee skills gaps.

The P – 16 Task Force was established by the four “joint boards” to involve participants from throughout the state in an open dialogue aimed at developing a more rigorous, seamless and accountable education system for all students. The joint boards are Career and Technical Education, Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Higher Education and the Education and Standards Practices Board.

Administrators from Grand Forks, Rugby, Killdeer and Alexander discussed the curriculums their schools offer, courses their students take and the numbers of students who go on to college and enter the workforce. They emphasized that hiring and retaining quality teachers has been essential for a quality education and is becoming more difficult. In the smaller schools, use of interactive video plays a significant role in offering students access to course options they would not otherwise have, but maintaining and paying for use of the system is also expensive, they said.

Maren Daley, Executive Director of Job Service North Dakota, explained survey results on employer needs and employee skills gaps, indicating that communications skills, analysis and critical thinking, time management and teamwork were among the skills employers need in their employees and where they are seeing weaknesses. She added that, as high school students graduate, regardless of whether they are going on to college or entering the workforce, they need to have essentially the same set of skills, ability and knowledge.

Previous presenters have emphasized the need for a more rigorous curriculum for high school and college graduates in a global economy. With the degree of interconnectedness throughout the world due to technology, especially the Internet, and ease of travel and shipment of goods, North Dakota students need to be competitive with all students in the world. The Task Force members have identified a future in which all North Dakota students are educated in a world-class quality, highly innovative and challenging system. While that vision may seem lofty, Dean Koppelman, Dickinson Superintendent asked, “How can we do any less if we want our children to be able to be successful and thrive in this new world?”

The Task Force is addressing prioritized issues in the current P-16 education system, including:
  Aligning proficiency standards and expectations throughout the education system;
  Developing a more rigorous, accessible core curriculum for all students;
  Recruiting and retaining highly valued, quality teachers;
  Educating students, parents and the public about the importance of identifying and correcting weaknesses and gaps in the education system; and
  Developing new and reallocating current resources to help make positive change happen.


Task Force members said that ensuring a uniform, accessible and high quality education may require changes in educational governance and suggested that the joint boards need to be legislatively authorized to make certain that the necessary alignment of proficiency standards and expectations throughout the P-16 system occurs on a continuous basis to keep up with a changing world. The next meeting of the Task Force is April 12 in Bismarck.

The Consensus Council is pleased to provide meeting planning, facilitation and documentation for the P – 16 Education Task Force. For more information about the work of the Task Force, contact any of the Consensus Council staff.

Breaking Down Barriers: Jobs for People With Disabilities
 
Since 2002, the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities (NDCPD), through the Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG), at Minot State University has received funding to explore, analyze, test and consider strategies by which Medicaid benefits and services can be delivered to encourage people with disabilities to be gainfully employed. Over the last four years, this project has been instrumental in securing passage of a Medicaid Buy-In program in North Dakota, now referred to as the Workers with Disabilities Program. Simply stated, this program, approved and funded by the 58th Legislative Assembly, allows recipients of Medicaid to pay a “premium” for coverage while continuing to work. The security provided by such legislation allows people with disabilities to continue to earn wages while not risking the loss of important healthcare coverage. Additionally, the MIG project, and its many partners, has provided education and information to workers, employers and citizens to promote work opportunities for people with disabilities, a commonly under-employed group of folks. Other related barriers to employment, including housing and transportation needs, are also being addressed by MIG and its agency and community partners. The Consensus Council has been pleased to provide planning and facilitation for the MIG projects over time.
During 2006, federal funding for the MIG project directs the establishment of a Comprehensive Employment Systems network, building on the success and infrastructure development established over the past four years. Much of the work in 2006 will focus on planning to achieve the following overall goals:
  To develop a unified strategic plan for ND to maximize employment of people with disabilities;
  To increase employment and related outcomes for people with disabilities through training,
  Information dissemination and direct benefits planning assistance;
  To increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities by improving the availability and expertise of qualified service providers,
  resolving barriers to housing and increasing affordable, accessible housing choices;
  o develop and implement an outcome and evaluation measurement system for tracking data related to employment of people with disabilities in ND.

The Consensus Council is pleased to provide meeting planning, facilitation and project documentation for the strategic planning activities that will occur in the coming months. A regional approach to statewide planning has been designed to allow for participation by many, diverse people from all corners of the state.
For more information about NDCPD or the MIG Projects please contact:

Tom Alexander, Project Director tom.alexander@minotstateu.edu.



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