School leaders present shift to standard-based instruction and survey showing strong student engagement

School leaders at the Belcourt school board meeting described a multi-year shift to standard-based instruction, the district’s role as a Cognia training site and survey results they said show substantially higher student engagement than statewide averages.

District staff described Cognia’s new platform as a cleaner interface with stronger data reporting and improved links between school performance and instructional needs; staff will attend a training in Minot and the district’s high school will be used as a statewide training site. "They're using our high school as a training throughout the state of North Dakota," said Lori Elliott, who is leading teacher boot camps for elementary, middle and high school staff.

The board was shown a student engagement report the presenters said breaks engagement into behavior, cognitive engagement, emotional engagement and school belonging. According to the presentation, the district scored higher than the state in each area: behavioral commitment (district 84.69% vs. state 55.17%), cognitive engagement (district 87.61% vs. state 44.10%), emotional engagement (district 89.50% vs. state 52.18%) and school belonging (district 86.28% vs. state 47.15%). Presenters said the results indicate students feel included, invested and connected to school.

Lori Elliott framed the survey results as an early indicator of progress tied to a change in classroom practice. "We're working towards total student growth," she said, describing coaches who will work in classrooms this winter to help teachers implement the standard-based approach. Claudette, who reviewed the results with Elliott, said she expects the measures to improve further as teachers refine practice: "I look for this to be even higher next year."

Board members and presenters emphasized the implementation timeline and supports: focusing on a small set of priority standards each year, training teachers to deconstruct and deliver standards-based lessons, and using activity-based group work to increase cognitive and emotional engagement. The presenters estimated the work could take roughly three years to fully realize the expected assessment gains.

The discussion also noted a pending proposal to co-present with Cognia at the National Indian Education Association conference (Oct. 7–10) in Buffalo; the board was told Cognia would not pay travel expenses and the district had not yet received notice of whether its March proposal was accepted.

Next steps described at the meeting included continued boot camps, coaching deployment in classrooms and a plan to return with updated survey results and progress reports as instruction changes.