The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) understands and appreciates the work educators throughout the state are doing day in and day out to improve the quality of education for students, which in turn will increase student achievement. In education today, we know professional learning is most effective when it occurs in the context of educators’ daily work; when educators are actively involved in the process.
In pursuit of North Dakota’s PK-12 Strategic Vision for all students to graduate choice ready with the knowledge, skills, and disposition not be successful, the NDDPI promotes high-quality professional learning opportunities that advance educator effectiveness and student success.
“Research shows that no in-school factors matter more than teaching and leadership, and educators, like students, need continual opportunities to gain new knowledge and skills to enable all students to reach [transition] readiness.” (Learning Forward & Education Counsel. 2017. A new vision for professional learning.)
Cognia™ Learning Community (CLC)
The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) has partnered with Cognia™ to provide North Dakota educators access to high-quality, proven professional learning content, and practical resources via the online professional learning platform, the Cognia Learning Community (CLC). The CLC, accessible via single sign-on through Cognia Home, provides online access to professional learning modules for both teachers and leaders, with a library of 25 learning labs included as part of your Cognia membership. For a brief overview/introduction, refer to the Cognia Learning Community flyer or the resource page located on the Cognia website.
Onboarding Support
For support with user management in Cognia Home or tutorials and resources to help you get started, navigate to the NDDPI/Cognia Partnership page and click on the “Learning Community Resource” tab. For technical assistance with Cognia Home or the Learning Community, please contact clientcare@cognia.org.
Cognia also provides support to district and school leaders to assist in the implementation of the Learning Community. For more information, please contact Cognia Learning Facilitator, Katie Hall. She is the assigned professional learning expert dedicated to North Dakota and can assist in your engagement efforts within the Learning Community.
Cognia Learning Community Credit Options
Instructions for how to get university credit for professional learning done via the Learning Community can be found at the links below:
Learning Community Completion for Credit Form (updated link)
Instructions for University Credit (updated link)
For any other questions, contact the Office of Educational Improvement and Support.
Lexile and Quantile Certification
Lexile & Quantile Certification courses available to K-12 educators.
These self-paced, online courses provide meaningful instruction that helps educators learn how to use Lexile & Quantile measures to differentiate instruction, communicate effectively with parents and peers, and improve student learning. Participants will complete real-world performance tasks that can be immediately implemented in the classroom and collaborate with an online professional learning community through interactive forums. Each course is $99. Upon completion, educators will be considered certified in the Lexile &/or Quantile Frameworks.
Free access to the Lexile and Quantile Academy for all educators.
North Dakota Leadership Circle
Leaders in education need and deserve a responsive and collaborative community that reaches beyond their local environment.
As a long-time partner and service provider of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) and North Dakota schools and districts, Cognia™ is excited to support NDDPI in achieving its goals for leadership success. Through the Leadership Circle program, Cognia stands ready to provide an integrated and professional learning community and support system for North Dakota principals, superintendents, and education system leaders.
The Leadership Circle is a community for school leaders to collaborate with job-alike peers across the state and nation regularly.
Watch these short videos to learn more about the Leadership Circle opportunities.
Members have access to:
- Solution Circles: When members submit a problem, within a week we gather leaders throughout the country to collaborate and discuss solutions. For more perspective, watch the Solution Circle Example (4 min 45 sec)
- Weekly Leader Chats: Every week at 11 AM EST, members can join live or watch on-demand talks with TOP leaders, authors, and educators. The recordings are made available to all Leadership Circle members. This content is efficient and being used as an ongoing PD resource by members: Leader Chat Promo (37 sec)
- Think Tanks: When common, complex issues become a trend, members are invited to discussions to discuss potential solutions.
- Face-to-face events: We believe in leaders gathering in person. Our model isn't at all like a typical ‘conference.’ Watch a quick example: In-Person Events Promo (1 min 37 sec)
- Online Leadership Community: An online private space where Leadership Circle members have exclusive content and can connect with each other.
Below is the link to register for Leadership Circle. Once you have signed up, he Leadership Circle folks will reach out to set up onboarding sessions.
ND Network for Personalized Learning
The North Dakota Network for Personalized Learning represents a growing group of individuals, teams, schools, and districts across North Dakota committing to making learning personal for all students.
As a network, we believe there is a place for everyone to learn how to engage in this work. Learners are welcome to enter the work individually, as part of a school team exploring personalization, or in the depths of systems transformation.
Visit our website for more information: https://www.ndplnetwork.org/.
North Dakota Professional Development
Information on statewide trainings may be found on northdakotapd. This North Dakota professional development website is a joint venture between multiple state agencies and partners.
North Dakota Regional Education Association (NDREA)
Regional education associations as defined by North Dakota Century Code exist to offer the following services:
- Coordination and facilitation of professional development activities for teachers and administrators employed by its member districts.
- Supplementation of technology support services.
- Assistance with achieving school improvement goals identified by the superintendent of public instruction.
- Assistance with the collection, analysis, and interpretation of student achievement data.
- Assistance with the expansion and enrichment of curricular offerings.
The North Dakota Regional Education Association (NDREA) provides support to strengthen the seven regional education service agencies (REAs) across the state. These seven REAs serve 97% of the state’s public schools and more than 115,000 public school students. NDREAs use a systematic approach to effectively share methods and practices that research has found to produce the best performance and results.
North Dakota Standards-Based Learning
The NDDPI has partnered with the North Dakota REAs to provide supports for North Dakota Standards. The NDSBL website provides a collection of documents and supports to serve as a guide for schools and districts as they refine their curriculum, instruction, and assessment frameworks and practices.