Indian student progress tracked

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 29, 2006

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RAPID CITY -- Beginning this fall, the progress of American Indian students in the Rapid City School District in grades 8 to 12 will be monitored every month.

"We don't want to lose a kid," said Mitchell Stone, a consultant with The Red Stone Education Group, a nonprofit education consulting firm.

Each American Indian student will have a lesson and learning plan, and that file will be checked monthly, according to Stone.

The extra attention is the result of a renewed effort by the school district to reach more Indian students, according to superintendent of schools Peter Wharton.

The school district has hired Red Stone to assist in the day-to-day operation of its Office of Indian Education and supervise Title VII, the federal grant program supporting Indian education.

"We lack the capacity to accomplish and fulfill all that's needed to happen to substantially impact student achievement with our Native American students," Wharton said.

Title VII pays the salaries for a staff of 11 people; most work directly with Indian students at various schools in the district.

Stone and John Haas, another Red Stone consultant, will also oversee a sizable Bush Foundation Grant. The three-year grant gives the district $859,000 to improve student achievement and dropout rates among Indian students.

The Bush grant supports seven staff members working with programs such as the Lakolkiciyapi Room for at-risk freshman at Rapid City Central High School and the Oyate Education Center at Lakota Homes, where students and former students can work independently to complete high school.

Having Stone and Haas in the office frees the director, Art Zimega, to pursue grants and other funding opportunities for Indian education, Wharton said.

Zimega currently serves on state and national Indian-education advisory committees. He plans to retire next June.

Red Stone will help select and train Zimega's replacement, Wharton said.

Haas, an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, has more than 25 years of experience as a teacher and administrator in Indian schools. He is a former vice president for academic affairs at Oglala Lakota College.

Stone has had administrative appointments at OLC, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and was an associate professor and director of the Institute for Ethnic and Racial Studies at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse.

The school district, Wharton said, has used Red Stone as independent evaluators of Indian-education programs in the district.

"They have noticed some glaring shortfalls in how our students are performing," Wharton said. "We want to take that data to craft strategies to improve attendance and student achievement."

Throughout the next year, Red Stone will develop a strategic plan for Indian education in Rapid City, Stone said.

"To try to figure out what can we do to help Indian kids in the Rapid City School District," Stone said.

The goal is to improve Indian students' literacy and math skills, and keep Indian children in school and improve graduation rates.

Emphasis will also be placed on improving communication between the office and parents. Stone and Haas also want to increase parental involvement in the Title VII parent-advisory committee.

According to the 2006 state Report Card, 60 percent of the district's Indian students tested proficient or advanced in reading and 39 percent tested proficient or advanced in math. Students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 were tested last spring. Rapid City's Indian graduation rate is reported as 89 percent.

"It's vital the kids see themselves in the teaching and instruction," Stone said. "They already feel alienated in Rapid City. They don't see themselves, and they don't see their culture being embraced."

Wharton said Red Stone will help improve cultural competence in the district by training teachers and staff in awareness and respect for culture.

With funding from Bush and a state Department of Corrections grant, the school district plans to focus on helping eighth-grade students become successful when they take the next big step in education and move on to high school.

"We feel a lot of urgency," Stone said. "Every week that goes by, we're losing kids."

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com