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| At their annual meeting in September of 2005, the Joint Boards, consisting of the state board of public school education, the state board of higher education, the education standards and practices board, and the state board for career and technical education, established a Steering Committee charged with developing a P-16 (Preschool through College) Education Task Force. The Task Force was to consist of members representing various levels of education, the business community, school boards, associations, agencies, students and parents selected from throughout North Dakota. It was established to examine all levels of education and to review standards, student assessments, the rigor of the curriculum, data availability, public awareness, teacher availability and development, resources and best practices.
The 38 Task Force members met for the first time in Bismarck, North Dakota, on January 11, 2006 and for at least one day a month through September of 2006. A Steering Committee of the Task Force met between each meeting to help keep the agenda moving forward. At each meeting, the Task Force heard from experts from the national, regional and state levels to learn more about what other states and the federal government have been doing, as well as to learn more about what is happening with all levels of education in North Dakota. The Task Force learned that, while the North Dakota education system is good, slippage in test scores is occurring, cracks in the education system are developing and students are falling through those cracks. Other states are moving ahead, while the results of ACT tests of ND students, for example, have remained flat for 15 years. In some areas, ND students are testing below the national average. Because of what they learned and through often intense and difficult discussions, the Task Force members agreed that achieving and maintaining a world-class education system is essential to enable North Dakota students to compete in a world economy and that North Dakota is capable of developing such a system. The Task Force Vision for North Dakota in education is: All North Dakota students will be educated in an innovative, relevant, integrated and challenging system providing world-class quality to prepare them to be good citizens and to take full advantage of all opportunities available to them in their lives. In order to achieve that Vision, the Task Force agreed upon the following six goals: |
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| Goal 1: North Dakota should put in place and enforce, throughout its P-16 education system, uniform, consistent proficiency expectations and standards and ensure that each student has a support system in place to enable the student to achieve proficiency. [This would mean an explicit move from “norm referenced” to “proficiency/competency” based standards.] | |
| Goal 2: All North Dakota students should have equitable access to and the expectation of completing a rigorous core curriculum/standards taught by effective and highly qualified P-16 educators. | |
| Goal 3: Top performing North Dakota students should be encouraged to become P-16 educators. North Dakota educators are professionals, their quality should be assured, and they should be paid accordingly, including receiving additional resources for professional development and for demonstrated improved performance. | |
| Goal 4: North Dakota should provide academic and career assessment and counseling that is comprehensive, developmental and systematic from pre-school through post-secondary education and to employment and life, to help students: Enhance their academic achievement by linking classroom studies to future choices, achieve skills they will need to transition successfully to post-secondary education and work, and develop the skills needed to make informed decisions throughout life. | |
| Goal 5: To educate the public about the importance of identifying and correcting weaknesses in the North Dakota education system, and | |
| Goal 6: To seek new and reallocate current resources to accomplish these goals. | |
| In order to accomplish the first four goals, the Task Force developed 26 strategies, including: | |
| Establishing statewide requirements for graduation from high school and admission into post-secondary institutions of 4 years of language arts/reading, 4 years of math, 3 years of science, 3 years of social/multi-cultural studies, 1 year of physical education and 2 years of foreign language or career and technical education or fine arts by 2014; Developing a statewide data system, ensuring that all students are proficient in these areas through regular assessments and individual assistance; |
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| Creating an Alignment Commission to develop on a continuing basis a common set of standards and expectations at all levels of education in North Dakota; | |
| Increasing the number of student-teacher contact days (currently 173 days, the lowest in the nation) to 183 by 2013; | |
| Enhancing educator salaries consistent with increased number of teaching days and student achievement and providing more professional development incentives and opportunities; | |
| Adding 3 units to the current 21 units required to graduate by 2011; Requiring immediate implementation of full-day kindergarten beginning at age 6, and |
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| Increasing substantially the number of academic and career counselors to assist students and parents to set and achieve appropriate career paths and goals. | |
The Task Force members believe their agreements are consistent with the recognition by the Education Improvement Commission of the need for an adequate education for all North Dakota students. Therefore, they are recommending that the Joint Boards adopt and begin to implement these recommendations by committing to the vision, goals and strategies, implementing the strategies where they are able and developing appropriate legislation to implement them where additional authority is needed. Finally, the Task Force recommends that the Joint Boards take action to ensure that the public recognizes and supports these needs for improvement in education in North Dakota and that sufficient resources are made available to accomplish them. All four of the Joint Boards have since unanimously adopted the Task Force recommendations and their respective Presidents received a positive reception regarding the recommendations from Governor Hoeven and his staff. The Consensus Council was pleased to be a part of the P – 16 efforts by planning, facilitating and documenting each of the Task Force and Steering Committee meetings. It was a great learning experience and a pleasure for the Council staff. For more information regarding the North Dakota P – 16 Initiative, visit the North Dakota University System website. |
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Fond Farewells and A Warm Welcome |
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Dale Anderson |
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| The Consensus Council Board of Directors bid a fond farewell to Dale Anderson, founding member and first Chairperson of the Council, following his resignation from the Board earlier this year. Dale and his wife Claudia are enjoying retirement in Fargo.
Dale was the long time Executive Director of the Greater North Dakota Association (GNDA) and was active in many community groups throughout the state and region. Dale consistently brought a sound and thoughtful business and private enterprise flavor to the table for discussion with Council colleagues and was essential in “succession planning” by helping to find his replacement on the Board, Bruce Furness of Fargo. Bruce Furness has been welcomed as a great addition to the Council Board of Directors. Bruce is presently a Business Relations and Development Officer at State Banks in Fargo but is probably best known as the former long-time Mayor of the City of Fargo. Bruce is a native North Dakotan and received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Jamestown College and a Masters degree in mathematics from Montana State University. Bruce has served on countless community boards and councils including, most recently, the Jamestown College Alumni Association, Red River Basin Commission Board of Directors, Greenway on the Red Board of Directors, Lake Agassiz Water Authority and Tri-College University Board of Directors. Additionally, Bruce has been honored for his past work receiving the Service to Mankind Award from the FM Sertoma Club, the Jamestown College Alumni Hall of Fame award, the Community Leadership Award by GNDA and being named a Melvin Jones Fellow by Lions International. Bruce can be reached at bfurness@statebanks.com |
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Bruce Furness |
