The gap in academic scoring for Native American and other students continues to widen, and Rapid City school district administrators say they have revamped the district's Title VII goals to try to curb the trend.

District Title VII director Dolores Riley presented information to the Rapid City school board members last week to show changes that were made in this year's grant application for more than $400,000 from the federal government.

The district's new strategic plan includes spending $25,000 for teacher training and supplies to help develop lesson plans that would include Native American history in the curriculum. The district also plans to collaborate with Oglala Lakota College to recruit and train Native American teachers and to work more closely with the courts and families to prevent truancy.

Board members expressed concerns over math and reading scores that show a widening gap between Native and non-Native students. Scores for Native students also continue to drop over the years, at a more significant rate than among other students.

Board member Bret Swanson asked why Native American student scores for reading started near the 70th percentile in proficiency in third and fourth grades but dropped to the 35th percentile by 11th grade.

"I think we need to find out why that fallout is there," board president Sheryl Kirkeby said.

The Dakota State Test of Educational Progress is given to students in third through eighth grades and in the 11th grade.

There are a number of reasons why last year's Dakota STEP test results show Native American students consistently scoring below non-Native students in math and reading, Riley said.

Sometimes, Native parents are moving to and from a reservation, some Native students don't feel connected to the school or curriculum, and many drop out.

"Oftentimes, it's a matter of poverty, transience, parents moving and looking for work," Riley said.

Central High School principal Mike Talley asked board members to remember that the numbers presented are percentages. If only 30 Native American 11th graders are tested, their results are very weighted, he said.

"If we're going to talk percentages, talk sample sizes, as well," he said.

But that highlights another problem, Riley said. If only 30 students are tested in the 11th grade, that means the other students have dropped out.

"We're working with a small number of students there - but that means we've lost those students," she said.

Riley referred to a question Swanson asked during the board meeting about what an education would look like for a Native student in an ideal world.

"That's a wonderful question," Riley said later.

Parental involvement, more time for teachers to prepare and smaller class sizes all play a role in success, she said.

"We can't do much about poverty, and sometimes parents are doing everything they can," she said.

Native parental involvement drops off from elementary school into middle and then high school.

"All the research indicates that all parents of all groups of students need to be involved," she said. "And when they are, you see test scores go up and dropout rates reduced."

The plan to train teachers to create lesson plans that include relevant history to all students could help, Riley said. The district has encouraged teachers to do it before but never offered support or resources.

"The training is not about blame," she said. "It's not 'your culture is better than mine.' It's respecting ethnic and cultural heritage."

The new compulsory age attendance law that requires students to be in school until they are 18 will create new challenges for the district, she said.

"We're going to be pushed to our utmost creativity and ability to engage the students who come back or who stay."

When applying for funds in previous years, 1,846 students reported being enrolled members of a tribe. But this year, 2,144 students reported tribal membership, but the grant money is the same.

This year's Title VII funds equal $406,000, which is the same as last year, Riley said.

"That's discouraging. We have more students to serve," she said. "We're hoping to leverage all of funds to do the best of ability."

Riley told the board that the effort to keep Native students in school and help them become successful has to be a district-wide and community-wide effort.

"This is not an Indian education problem," Riley said. "This is everyone's problem."

Contact Kayla Gahagan at kayla.gahagan@rapidcityjournal.com or 394-8410.