Our Plans
Our Main Goal:
The Lower Brule Education Initiative is working with a range of partners to develop and test alternative educational approaches for improving K-12 education in Lower Brule and across South Dakota.
Our 2020 Objectives:
By March 1st, recruit at least 20 initiative partners. (Objective Met - See Our Impact for more info)
By May 31st, finalize with initiative partners the alternative educational approaches to be tested and the specific tools for measuring their impact.
By June 1st, recruit up to 40 students and 5 adult teachers to test alternative educational approaches this summer.
By August 15th, measure the impacts these alternative educational approaches had on students and teachers.
By September 1st, evaluate which alternative approaches are best for improving K-12 education in Lower Brule and make suggestions for school changes to Lower Brule Tribal Council and Lower Brule Schools.
By December 1st, share major findings with other educational leaders and stakeholders across the state of South Dakota.
What are "alternative educational approaches?"
When we say "alternative educational approaches," we are talking about any educational policies, programs, or procedures that are not currently implemented at Lower Brule Schools. We are interested in working with partners to develop and test several alternative educational approaches this summer, during Lower Brule Research's 2020 educational programs.
Please take some time to explore the 3 different programs LBR runs over the summer, to help us think about the best ways to implement and assess alternative educational approaches this June and July!
How do we measure impact?
It's not easy to understand whether a new educational approach is successful or not. However, there are some indicators like attendance, test scores, interest surveys, behavior reports, student feedback, grades, college enrollment interest, and classroom observations that can help us figure out what works. Although these tools are not perfect, they can help guide our efforts as we try to develop better classrooms and better schools.
What's the point of doing all this?
We want to develop and assess alternative educational approaches each summer, so that we can better understand which approaches work best for students and think about how those tactics could be incorporated into local school policies, programs, and procedures. We hope this process can help us better support Lower Brule Schools and ultimately improve K-12 education in Lower Brule and across South Dakota!
