North Dakota

Great Public Schools Criteria

Great Public Schools Criteria refers to the seven elements needed for closing the achievement gaps and raising achievement for all students. The seven elements are: (1) readiness to learn, (2) high expectations, (3) quality conditions, (4) qualified staff, (5) accountability, (6) parental involvement, and (7) funding.

Read more below about the Great Public Schools Criteria in North Dakota.

Readiness to Learn

Full-day Kindergarten:

• State Policy: A definition of the minimum number of hours for full-day kindergarten is not specified in North Dakota state statutes. Districts are not required to offer full-day kindergarten and children are not required to attend. North Dakota provides the same level of funding half-day and full-day kindergarten.
• Definition, District Offering and Pupil Attendance: North Dakota defines half-day kindergarten is equal to 30 full days of instruction (5.5 hrs per day).
• Funding: North Dakota provides less funding for both half- day and full-day kindergarten than for grades 1-6.
  (Education Commission of the States [ECS] Kindergarten Database, 2007)

Parental Involvement

What is Family Literacy? The purpose of Even Start is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities of low-income families through the integration of early childhood education, adult literacy, and parenting education into a unified family literacy program. Even Start is implemented through cooperative projects that build on existing community resources to create a new range of services.

Even Start is a federally-funded family literacy program (through Title I, Part B of the Improving America's Schools Act) administered in North Dakota through the Department of Public Instruction/Title I State Office. Even Start provides learning opportunities to families with children from birth through age 7. The program integrates early childhood education, adult literacy education, parenting education, and parent and child together time (PACT).

Family Literacy refers to a continuum of programs that addresses the intergenerational nature of literacy.

Under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Title II of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, family literacy programs integrate:

1. interactive literacy activities between parent and child;
2. training in parenting activities;
3. literacy training that leads to economic self sufficiency;
4. age-appropriate education to prepare children for success in school and life experiences.

The benefits to participating in a family literacy program include:

For Children:

• Pre-s chool Readiness
• Basic Concepts
• Elementary Education
• Writing
• Math

For Parents:

• Career Guidance
• Vocational Training
• Job Shadowing
• Parenting Skills

For the Family:

• Improved educational skills for parent/child
• Improved parent/child esteem
• Stonger family network
• The joy of learning together
• Social Skills
• Physical Coordination
• Reading
• Critical Thinking
• Group Skills
• GED/Diploma
• College Readiness
• Child Care/Transportation
• Computer Skills

North Dakota Even Start Family Literacy Program