State and tribal agencies are working to address the achievement gap between Native and non-Native students in South Dakota.
Sixteen percent of Native American students are rated as “college ready,” compared to 61 percent of white students.
Frederick Osborn is the Indian education director with the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations.
He says using the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings is a key strategy. The understandings are culturally-based content standards.
“I believe we need to listen to them. I believe we need to support the essential understandings so that – we have to remember that we have native students in public schools off tribal land and those students also need to be given the opportunity to understand their culture and history.”
South Dakota’s office of Indian Education was moved to the Department of Tribal Relations from the Department of Education in 2019.
Osborn says he supported the move.
“It allows me to be a little more flexible responding to needs of all schools – for both native and non-native students – and it also allows both the Department of education and the Office of Indian Education to take different paths to achieving these standards.”
Osborn says tribal schools often have different needs than public schools.