Last week, I attended this year’s first State Literacy Team in-person meeting with 20 other state members at our North Dakota State Capitol. It was a pleasure to collaborate in our group of diverse perspectives to strengthen literacy efforts across North Dakota.
The State Literacy Team mission is to foster communication and collaboration among North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI), North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services (NDDHHS), educational entities, and community members to amplify literacy priorities. The State Literacy Team vision is to support local literacy efforts, resulting in strengthened capacity across North Dakota to improve student outcomes.
At the meeting last week, we worked hard to develop accurate, comprehensive information on five chapters of our state’s literacy plan template. I particularly enjoyed our discussion during small-group sessions when Taylor Olsen, Program Coordinator – Comprehensive Literacy Grants, NDDPI – emphasized that curriculum is not the ND Standards. I was reminded of my Family & Community Child Care Coordinator roles when I trained our Family Child Care Providers on curriculum. Growing that program to become the Largest FCC Program in the Air Force was a major accomplishment, but ensuring all children-in-care received quality instruction was the most meaningful and rewarding work! At the state meeting, we also set future goals, voting on a unified statewide team signature activity. Next steps on this impactful work will be decided at our virtual meeting in October.
According to the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress or NAEP—also known as “The Nation’s Report Card”—North Dakota ranks 43rd in fourth-grade reading and 45th in eighth-grade reading (https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/profiles and americanexperimentnd.org). Despite these national ranks, the AF base middle schools have done amazingly well in our state with regard to reading in the past few years! According to the 2022-2023 test results from the North Dakota Academic Progression of Learning and Understanding of Students (ND A-PLUS) assessment system, Nathan Twining Middle School on Grand Forks AFB took the lead in the state for the highest ND A+ ELA (English Language Arts) Middle School reading score.
Memorial Middle School ranked second. In 2023-2024, Nathan Twining Middle School ranked first, and Memorial Middle School ranked third. In 2024-2025, Memorial Middle School ranked first, and Nathan Twining Middle School ranked fourth. This information was recently briefed at a Minot Public Schools District #1 School Board Meeting.
Despite these impressive local scores, statewide student success remains our North Dakota Literacy Team’s focus. In North Dakota, scientifically based reading instruction is required for students in kindergarten through third grade. This has been the case for the past four years. Screenings for dyslexia are also required. These initiatives are very important, but unfortunately ELA proficiency levels in North Dakota remain lower than pre-pandemic levels (North Dakota: 2025 Assessment Results. statetestscoreresults.substack.com). Thus, our students deserve our heightened awareness and continued support for literacy.
During this past year as a School Liaison Program Manager, I have actively worked to link students and teachers to reading resources, providing literature on the following: United Through Reading, tutor.com, Minot Public Library reading programs, and Minot AFB Library reading programs. I participated in our local “Literacy in the Field” event last Fall and will do so again this year. I distributed over 440 Legendary Family Learning Guide “Building Literacy Skills” books (also referred to as “Legendary Learners books”) to base schools, community schools, the Child Development Center on Minot AFB, homeschoolers, and local libraries. Lastly, I ensured our youth received educational History of America activity books at our nation’s 250th Anniversary Celebration—Freedom Fest—on Minot AFB. These efforts aim to improve our local students’ literacy skills and I hope our students are better for them, as I certainly enjoy the work and look forward to continuing it.
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