Historical public education information in North Dakota

in  North Dakota

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## Contents

* 1 State agencies
* 2 Regional comparison
* 3 Demographics
* 3.1 Enrollments by region type
* 4 Academic performance
* 4.1 NAEP scores
* 4.2 Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
* 4.3 Dropout rate
* 5 Educational choice options
* 6 Education funding and expenditures
* 6.1 Revenue breakdowns
* 6.2 Expenditure breakdowns
* 6.3 Personnel salaries
* 7 Organizations
* 7.1 Unions
* 8 Taxpayer-funded lobbying
* 9 Transparency
* 10 Studies and reports
* 10.1 State Budget Solutions education study
* 11 See also
* 12 Footnotes

This page contains archived information on North Dakota's public education system, primarily from 2011-2012, but also from other years due to the availability of data at the time it was written. For more recent information, view North Dakota's public education page.

The North Dakota public school system (prekindergarten through grade 12) operates within districts governed by locally elected school boards and superintendents. In 2012 North Dakota had 97,646 students enrolled in a total of 513 schools in 223 school districts. There were 8,525 teachers in the public schools, or roughly one teacher for every 12 students, compared to the national average of 1:16. There was roughly one administrator for every 216 students, compared to the national average of one administrator for every 295 students. On average North Dakota spent $11,420 per pupil in 2011, which ranked it 18th highest in the nation. The state's graduation rate was 87 percent in 2012.[1][2]

## State agencies[edit]

See also: North Dakota Department of Education

The mission statement of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction reads:[3]

“  | DPI will partner with schools and communities to provide a statewide system of excellent service and support to ensure a healthy school environment that fosters student success.[4] |  ”

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The Superintendent of Public Instruction is the chief administrator of the Department of Public Instruction. The Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected to four-year terms. As of June 2015, the current officeholder was Kirsten Baesler.[5][6]

The State Board of Public School Education is responsible for "final approval of all school district reorganizations, annexations and dissolution plans." Board members serve six-year terms. The board is composed of seven members, six of whom are appointed by the governor. The composition of the board is as follows:[7][8]

* The Superintendent of Public Instruction
* A representative for Barnes, Cass, Grand Forks, Griggs, Nelson, Steele, and Trail Counties
* A representative for Benson, Bottineau, Cavalier, McHenry, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Renville, Rolette, Towner, and Walsh Counties
* A representative for Dickey, Emmons, LaMoure, Logan, McIntosh, Ransom, Richland, and Sargent Counties
* A representative for Burleigh, Eddy, Foster, Kidder, McLean, Sheridan, Stutsman, and Wells Counties
* A representative for Burke, Divide, McKenzie, Mountrail, Ward, and Williams Counties
* A representative for Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Golden Valley, Grant, Hettinger, Mercer, Morton, Oliver, Sioux, Slope, and Stark Counties

## Regional comparison[edit]

See also: General comparison table for education statistics in the 50 states and Education spending per pupil in all 50 states

The following chart shows how North Dakota compared to three neighboring states in school year 2011-2012 with respect to number of students, schools, the number of teachers per pupil, and the number of administrators per pupil. Further comparisons between these states with respect to performance and financial information are given in other sections of this page.

Regional comparison, 2011-2012

State | Schools | Districts | Students | Teachers | Teacher/pupil ratio | Administrator/pupil ratio | Per pupil spending
North Dakota |  513 | 223 | 97,646 | 8,525 | 1:11.5 | 1:216.4 | $11,420
Montana | 826 | 500 | 142,349 | 10,153 | 1:14 | 1:274 | $10,639
South Dakota | 704 | 171 | 128,016 | 9,247 | 1:13.8 | 1:309.8 | $8,805
Wyoming | 354 | 61 | 90,099 | 7,847 | 1:11.5 | 1:248.3 | $15,849
United States | 98,328 | 17,992 | 49,521,669 | 3,103,263 | 16 | 295.2 | $10,994
Sources: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey", 2011-12 v.1a.

National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 2. Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011–12"
U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

## Demographics[edit]

See also: Demographic information for all students in all 50 states

The following table displays the ethnic distribution of students in North Dakota as reported in the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data for school year 2011-2012.[9]

Demographic information for North Dakota's K-12 public school system, 2011-2012

Ethnicity  |  Students  |  State percentage  |  United States percentage**
American Indian  |  8,866 | 9.08% | 1.10%
Asian  |  1,134  |  1.16% | 4.68%
African American  |  2,549 |  2.61% | 15.68%
Hawaiian Nat./Pacific Isl.  |  220 | 0.23% | 0.42%
Hispanic |  2,783 |  2.85% | 24.37%
White |  81,237 | 83.20% | 51.21%
Two or more  |  857 | 0.88% | 2.54%
**Note: This is the percentage of all students in the United States that are reported to be of this ethnicity.

### Enrollments by region type[edit]

See also: Student distribution by region type in the United States

A plurality of students in North Dakota attended rural schools in school year 2011-2012. More than 65 percent of the state's students attended rural or town schools, compared to approximately 35 percent who attended city or suburban schools.

Student distribution by region type, 2011-2012 (as percents)

State  |  City schools  |  Suburban schools  |  Town schools  |  Rural schools
North Dakota |  26% |  8.9% |  20.2% |  45%
Montana |  23.8%  |  1.9%  |  35%  |  39.4%
South Dakota |  25.8%  |  0.8%  |  27%  |  46.5%
Wyoming |  22.8%  |  1.7%  |  42.3%  |  33.2%
U.S. average  |  28.9%  |  34%  |  11.6%  |  25.4%
Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD)

## Academic performance[edit]

Education terms

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For more information on education policy terms, see this article.

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School board elections portal
Glossary of education terms
School choice on the ballot
Education on the ballot

### NAEP scores[edit]

See also: NAEP scores by state

The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compared to three neighboring states (Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming), North Dakota had the highest share of eighth grade students who scored at or above proficient in math in school year 2012-2013.[10]

Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013

| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8
North Dakota | 48% | 41% | 34% | 34%
Montana | 45% | 40% | 35% | 40%
South Dakota | 40% | 38% | 32% | 36%
Wyoming | 48% | 38% | 37% | 38%
U.S. average |  41%  |  34%  |  34%  |  34%
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014

### Graduation, ACT and SAT scores[edit]

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for North Dakota and surrounding states for the years 2012 and 2013.[10][11][12]

Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores*

State  |  Graduation rate, 2012  |  Average ACT composite, 2012  |  Average SAT composite, 2013
Percent  |  Quintile ranking**  |  Score  |  Participation rate  |  Score  |  Participation rate
North Dakota |  87% |  First |  20.7 |  100% |  1,799 |  2%
Montana |  84%  |  Second  |  22  |  61%  |  1,595  |  25%
South Dakota |  83%  |  Second  |  21.8  |  81%  |  1,760  |  3%
Wyoming |  79%  |  Third  |  20.3  |  100%  |  1,757  |  4%
U.S. average  |  80%  |  21.1  |  1,498
*Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Rate (except for Idaho, Kentucky, Oklahoma, which did not report “Regulatory Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate,” but instead used their own method of calculation).
**Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally.
Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express

### Dropout rate[edit]

See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states

The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for North Dakota was on par with the national average at 3.3 percent in the 2010-2011 school year. The dropout rate was lower than the national average at 3 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[13]

## Educational choice options[edit]

See also: School choice in North Dakota

As of June 2015, school choice options in North Dakota included inter-district open enrollment and online learning programs. In addition, about 7.05 percent of school-age children in the state attended private schools in the 2011-2012 academic year, and an estimated 2.67 percent were homeschooled in school year 2012-2013.

## Education funding and expenditures[edit]

See also: North Dakota state budget and finances

Breakdown of expenditures by function in fiscal year 2012
Source: National Association of State Budget Officers

According to the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), North Dakota spent approximately 13.8 percent of its fiscal year 2012 budget on elementary and secondary education. As a share of the budget, this was down by 0.70 percentage points, or 4.8 percent, from fiscal year 2008, when the state spent 14.5 percent of its budget on elementary and secondary education.[14][15][16][17][18]

Comparison of financial figures for school systems

State | Percent of budget (2012)  | Per pupil spending (2011) | Revenue sources (2011)
Percent federal funds |  Percent state funds |  Percent local funds
North Dakota | 13.8% | $11,420 | 14.8% | 49.93% | 35.27%
Montana | 15.5% | $10,639 | 16.35% | 44.1% | 39.55%
South Dakota | 14.3% | $8,805 | 20.26% | 28.93% | 50.81%
Wyoming | 3.9% | $15,849 | 9.41% | 53.37% | 37.22%
Sources: NASBO, "State Expenditure Report," Table 8: Elementary and Secondary Education Expenditures As a Percent of Total Expenditures
U.S. Census Bureau, "Public Education Finances: 2011,Governments Division Reports," issued May 2013

### Revenue breakdowns[edit]

See also: Public school system revenues in the U.S.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system revenues in North Dakota totaled approximately $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including revenue sources, for North Dakota and surrounding states.[19]

Revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)

| Federal revenue | State revenue | Local revenue | Total revenue
North Dakota | $186,844 | $630,430 | $445,402 | $1,262,676
Montana | $264,594 | $713,886 | $640,138 | $1,618,618
South Dakota | $262,395 | $374,648 | $658,100 | $1,295,143
Wyoming | $154,955 | $878,979 | $612,931 | $1,646,865
U.S. total  | $74,943,767  | $267,762,416  | $264,550,594  | $607,256,777
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

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### Expenditure breakdowns[edit]

See also: Public school system expenditures in the United States

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, public school system expenditures in North Dakota totaled approximately $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2011. The table and chart below present further detail, including expenditure types, for North Dakota and surrounding states.[19]

Expenditures by type, fiscal year 2011 (amounts in thousands)

| General expenditures** | Capital outlay | Other*** | Total expenditures
North Dakota | $1,099,271 | $124,967 | $28,501 | $1,252,739
Montana | $1,506,467 | $103,728 | $25,691 | $1,635,886
South Dakota | $1,105,964 | $199,636 | $34,799 | $1,340,399
Wyoming | $1,397,339 | $234,408 | $10,504 | $1,642,251
U.S. total | $520,577,893  | $52,984,139  | $29,581,293  | $603,143,325
**Funds spent operating local public schools and local education agencies, including such expenses as salaries for school personnel, student transportation, school books and materials, and energy costs, but excluding capital outlay, interest on school debt, payments to private schools, and payments to public charter schools.
***Includes payments to state and local governments, payments to private schools, interest on school system indebtedness, and nonelementary-secondary expenditures, such as adult education and community services expenditures.
Source: National Center for Education Statistics
Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

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### Personnel salaries[edit]

See also: Public school teacher salaries in the United States

Note: Salaries given are averages for the state. Salaries may vary between a state's urban, suburban, and rural districts and should be adjusted for cost of living. For example, a MacIver Institute study of average teacher salaries in 60 metropolitan areas found that salaries in New York City were the third-highest in absolute figures but 59th-highest when adjusted for the cost of living.[20]

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average national salary for classroom teachers in public elementary and secondary schools declined by 1.3 percent from the 1999-2000 school year to the 2012-2013 school year. During the same period in North Dakota, the average salary increased by 16 percent.[21]

Estimated average salaries for teachers (in constant dollars**)

| 1999-2000 | 2009-2010 | 2011-2012 | 2012-2013 | Percent difference
North Dakota | $40,810 | $45,862 | $46,825 | $47,344 |  16%
Montana | $43,896  | $48,845  | $49,354  | $49,999  | 13.9%
South Dakota | $39,728  | $41,456  | $39,450  | $39,580  | -0.4%
Wyoming | $46,638  | $59,628  | $58,174  | $57,920  | 24.2%
U.S. average  | $57,133  | $58,925  | $56,340  | $56,383  | -1.3%
**"Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, adjusted to a school-year basis. The CPI does not account for differences in inflation rates from state to state."

## Organizations[edit]

### Unions[edit]

In 2012 the Fordham Institute and Education Reform Now assessed the power and influence of state teacher unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Their rankings were based on 37 different variables in five broad areas, including: resources and membership, involvement in politics, scope of bargaining, state policies and perceived influence. North Dakota ranked 24th overall, or "average," which was in the third of five tiers.[22]

The main union related to the North Dakota school system is the North Dakota Education Association (NDEA), an affiliate of the National Education Association (NEA). For the 2003 tax period NDEA had: $2.22 million in total revenue, $2.22 million in total expenses and $2.42 million in total assets.[23]

List of local North Dakota school unions:[24]

* North Dakota Education Association
* AFT Bismark
* West Fargo Education Association
* Bismarck Education Association

## Taxpayer-funded lobbying[edit]

See also: North Dakota government sector lobbying

The main education government sector lobbying organization is the North Dakota School Boards Association. Another statewide association is the North Dakota Retired Teachers Association.

## Transparency[edit]

In May 2009, legislation (Senate Bill 2018) passed that mandated the creation of a statewide spending transparency website by June 30, 2011.[25]

## Studies and reports[edit]

### State Budget Solutions education study[edit]

See also: State spending on education v. academic performance (2012)

State Budget Solutions examined national trends in education from 2009 to 2011, including state-by-state analysis of education spending, graduation rates and average ACT scores. The study showed that the states that spent the most did not have the highest average ACT test scores, nor did they have the highest average graduation rates. A summary of the study is available here. The full report can be accessed here.

## See also[edit]

* Public education in North Dakota
* North Dakota
* Education Policy in the U.S.

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD); Table 2.—Number of operating public schools and districts, state enrollment, teacher and pupil/teacher ratio by state: School year 2011-12," accessed May 12, 2014
2. ↑ United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express," accessed May 12, 2014
3. ↑ North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, "About DPI," accessed June 3, 2014
4. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
5. ↑ North Dakota Constitution, "Article V, Section 2," accessed June 3, 2014
6. ↑ North Dakota Department of Public Instruction, "State Superintendent," accessed June 3, 2014
7. ↑ North Dakota Century Code, "Title 15.1, Chapter 15.1-01-01," accessed June 3, 2014
8. ↑ North Dakota Office of the Governor, "Boards and Commissions, State Board of Public School Education," accessed June 3, 2014
9. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey, 2011-2012," accessed May 7, 2014
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
11. ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
12. ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
13. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
14. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2011-2013," accessed February 21, 2014
15. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2009-2011," accessed February 24, 2014
16. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditures Report, 2010-2012," accessed February 24, 2014
17. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2009," accessed February 24, 2014
18. ↑ National Association of State Budget Officers, "State Expenditure Report, 2008," accessed February 24, 2014
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Revenues and Expenditures for Public Elementary and Secondary School Districts: School Year 2010–11," accessed May 13, 2014
20. ↑ Maciver Institute, "REPORT: How much are teachers really paid?" accessed October 29, 2014
21. ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 211.60. Estimated average annual salary of teachers in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: Selected years, 1969-70 through 2012-13," accessed May 13, 2014
22. ↑ Thomas E Fordham Institute, " How Strong Are U.S. Teacher Unions? A State-By-State Comparison," October 29, 2012
23. ↑ Center for Union Facts, "North Dakota Education Association," accessed April 20, 2010
24. ↑ Center for Union Facts, "North Dakota teachers unions," accessed April 20, 2010 (dead link)
25. ↑ North Dakota Policy Council, "State to post expenditures online," May 10, 2009

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