North Dakota’s Insights.nd.gov website now features educational data available to the public. This website “is the state’s official source for information about public education across North Dakota. The information is provided by partner agencies through the Statewide Longitudinal Data System and is brought about through the collaborative work efforts of the following North Dakota agencies: Dept. of Public Instruction, Career and Technical Education, ND University System, Job Service ND, Dept. of Commerce, school districts and work force development programs. Insights.nd.gov is intended to inform policy makers, agencies, researchers and communities on ND public schools and workforce development on many topics, including public education. The site is expected to contain more information as it becomes available” (https://insights.nd.gov/, “Welcome”).
This website features updated school accountability reports and I find all of it highly interesting and user-friendly! In fact, as I was clicking on each local school where my children are enrolled, I communicated the military-connected student count and demographics to my husband who then requested to see the information, clicking through the schools listed and the years of recent changes also listed, and I didn’t get my tablet back for 30 minutes!
However, when you click “Explore Public K – 12” and then “STEM Opportunities,” nothing is listed for our area, so I contacted North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) on December 15th and requested they update the information listed to include four local opportunities: The Magic City Discovery Center, Minot North High School’s Minot Robotics Team #10173, my FIRST Lego League Team #48013 Dragon Master Builders, and STARBASE ND. These opportunities should be reflected soon.
In addition, when you click “Insights into North Dakota Colleges and Universities” and then “Information for Parents” and scroll down to “What Other Types of Financial Aid Are Available for Higher Education?” there’s no reference to military-connected student scholarships, so I contacted NDDPI via my same December 15th email and requested they add the following bullet under the first Scholarship bullet: Military-Connected Student Scholarships – The Department of the Air Force, School Liaison Program provides a “Scholarship Listing” to serve the following individuals: Active Duty, Guard & Reserve & Retirees, DoW Civilians, Recruiters, ROTC Instructors, Geographically Separated Units (GSU), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), US Public Health Service (USPHS), Foreign national personnel and allied partners, Contractors, and Educators & Community.
To request your own digital copy, which is updated annually, please email: mafb.school.liaison@us.af.mil. This information should also be reflected soon.
We are so lucky to have such comprehensive data at our fingertips! I am so thankful for the information provided, as it helps me with my own data reporting, but more consequential—it helps our community: local families and military-connected families who can now make wise, data-driven decisions regarding their student’s education. I will be including the link to this website in my emails to incoming families. Our collective benefit from such work is invaluable! If you know of any other local opportunities or see any other information to add, please reach out to NDDPI’s Information Technology department or me at mafb.school.liaison@us.af.mil.
The information in this article is provided as a resource and does not constitute endorsement by Minot AFB, the United States Air Force, or the Department of Defense of the external website, or the information, products, or services contained therein.
