State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler successfully pushed the U.S. Department of Education to agree to grant North Dakota’s schools more local control and flexibility in managing federal aid that benefits students from low-income homes.

State School Superintendent and Gov. Doug Burgum have collaborated on a request to the U.S. Department of Education to waive all federally mandated student assessments for the 2019-20 school year.

Governor Burgum, with State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler, provided updated guidance to K-12 school districts after the governor on Sunday ordered schools closed this week to slow the spread of COVID-19 and provide time to gather more data, better assess coronavirus testing and treatment capability, and allow school districts to plan for educating their students in the event of an extended COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Doug Burgum today announced that K-12 schools which were closed this week by executive order will not have to make up the instructional time later this school year.

BISMARCK, N.D. – By executive order, Gov. Doug Burgum today ordered the closure of North Dakota K-12 schools in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 based on guidance from public school superintendents, medical experts and the North Dakota Department of Health (NDDoH).  

Update from ND Superintendent Kirsten Baesler: The situation is constantly evolving. North Dakota leaders have been meeting around the clock since Friday afternoon. 

Update from ND Superintendent Kirsten Baesler: I am aware of the Minnesota directive to close schools this week.

ND State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler and Governor Doug Burgum say the governor will not order the state’s schools closed for now, because information about the presence of COVID-19 in North Dakota does not justify that step. There has been one confirmed COVID-19 case in Ward County, and there have been no documented cases of spread within a community.

State School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler congratulated 64 North Dakota high school seniors who have been nominated for United States Presidential Scholar honors.

The scholars were chosen from 20 public and four nonpublic high schools. Bismarck Century has the most nominees, with 13, while Grand Forks Central had 10. Fargo’s Davies and North high schools have six nominees each.

The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction is seeking applications from organizations interested in operating North Dakota’s Summer Food Service Program. It provides meals to children when school is not in session.

Megha Bharadwaj, a junior at Bismarck’s St. Mary’s Central High School, and Rachel Goven, a senior at Turtle Lake Mercer High School, have been chosen to take part in the U.S. Senate Youth Program in March. The honor includes a $10,000 college scholarship.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Monday encouraged North Dakota school districts and early childhood care providers to apply for grant funds that will help strengthen the reading, writing and speaking skills of the state’s young people.

A legislative committee last week gave the Department of Public Instruction permission to begin distributing funds from the $43.9 million U.S. Department of Education grant.

School districts and early childhood care providers may apply for a share of the money, which will be distributed over five years. Training sessions on how to fill out grant applications will begin Jan. 14. The application deadline is March 1.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Monday that new survey information about the health behavior of high-school students shows they are drinking less and using less tobacco.

Fewer high school students reported being bullied electronically or personally at school in the survey, which was taken last spring. Fewer young people neglected to buckle up when riding in vehicles, the survey said. "These trends are moving in the right direction and are things we can and should celebrate," Baesler said.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler has approved a request from the North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders to designate Oct. 22-23, 2020, as days during the 2020-21 school year when classes, sports events and practices, and other school activities may not be held.

State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said Monday that three school organizations have been awarded almost $230,000 in grants to explore the best ways to identify and serve young North Dakota students who have dyslexia. The groups represent 19 school districts.

Check out the new Lexile and Quantile Hub! Find new and enhanced tools that fit your needs.

BISMARCK, N.D., Oct. 4, 2019 – State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler announced Friday that a new year’s worth of North Dakota school performance and accountability information has been integrated into the state’s “education dashboard” website.

NDDPI is pleased to announce funding support for existing and upcoming leadership professional development opportunities designed specifically to meet the individual needs of school leaders across the state.

What does it take to be an incredible school board leader? Betsy Ames has served for 50 years!

ACT, Inc. and MetaMetrics, Inc. are conducting an important research study this fall to link the Lexile and Quantile Frameworks with the ACT Reading and Mathematics scales.

Choice Ready is an element in the North Dakota accountability system to measure whether our high schools prepare students to be ready for success upon graduation.

Millicent Schwartz, a Grand Forks Red River graduate, and Seth Benson, a graduate of West Fargo Sheyenne High, both earned perfect 36 composite scores on the ACT.

More than 90% of parents want their child’s school to teach computer science, but only 35% of high schools, nationally, teach it. Considering the lack of student access along with the obvious benefits, concerted efforts have been made over the past couple of years to address the lack of computer science as a part of our North Dakota students’ educational experience. 

Under ESSA, state education departments are required to annually create an accountability report for every public school in the state. The school accountability reports outline how schools are performing on the accountability elements North Dakota selected within its ESSA plan.

North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler on Wednesday praised two North Dakota high school students who scored a perfect 36 on their ACT college entrance exams.

The following amounts will be used for the 2019-2020 school year to determine the school district responsibility (cost cap) for the education of resident students.