Program Benefits

The goal of Dakota ASSETS is to recruit, prepare, certify and retain excellent candidates to fill shortages for teaching positions in South Dakota’s high-need districts and schools.  The Dakota ASSETS Program responds to existing and predicted teacher shortages, particularly in high poverty, school districts in South Dakota. The name “ASSETS” is derived from the grant’s over-arching goal which is All Students will be Served by Exceptional TeacherS.

Oglala Lakota College

Partner Interview Data:

Dakota ASSESTS funds facilitated systems changes in the College of Education during the second year of the grant in regard to how students are prepared to take the Praxis Exam and when they are required to take it.  In addition to Dakota ASSETS funding for Praxis system changes, scholarship money for students in their final semester of the teacher program were altered slightly as an incentive to stay in school. 

·         “OLC has wanted to put the Praxis PLT and Praxis Content exams as requirements to get into the teacher education program.  We have facilitated that process.  Now we have a sub-contract that will offer to cover the cost and preparation for Praxis so that should help establish the Praxis as a requirement.”

·         “When it was clear that OLC students were having trouble passing the Praxis, we developed a contract to provide additional help…hire tutors, pay for Praxis costs.”

·         “….(OLC) is developing a preparation course to help (students) pass the Praxis.”

“Students doing their student teaching signed contracts with Dakota ASSETS for (scholarship money to pay for) books and tuition and a stipend.  There is a payback agreement to serve in a high need school for three years.  Last year students received a larger amount in the first year and lesser amounts each year after that.  We were thinking that teachers drop out and might stay if 1^st year money was more.  We may be switching this for the next round…”  

Dakota Assets 2008-2009: The partnership between the tribal colleges and the Dakota ASSETS co-directors continues to deepen and expand.  In year two, the “Grow Your Own” model of preparing candidates for certification has emerged as a strong component of the Dakota ASSETS work as program leaders recognized the value of this approach in retaining teachers in Indian reservation schools.  The “Grow Your Own” model is a process by which high need school districts contract with either OLC or SGU and pay the tuition for paraprofessionals working in their schools to pursue a teaching degree.  Since these candidates are part of the communities in which the schools are located, once certified these teachers are more likely to remain in the teaching position than teachers who have not previously lived in the community.  Since the implementation of the Dakota ASSETS grant, Dakota ASSETS scholarships have been issued to candidates taking advantage of this process in their student teaching semester. The value of the “Grow Your Own” model was repeated not only in the principal interview data but also in the minutes of the Advisory Team Meetings.

BS Degree in K-8 Elementary Education

BS Degree in K-8 Elementary Education/K-12 Special Education

BS Degree in K-12 Indian Studies Education

BS Degree Secondary Education

 

o   $3000 available to offset tuition and related costs associated with their degree’s Student Teaching(Ed 473 and 489 or LakEd 473 and 416 or ScED 416 and 473)

o   After having successfully completed all of the Education Department’s prerequisites required to initiated this degree’s student teaching component, participants qualify for scholarship awarded by signing an agreement to teach in an eligible high need school. 

§  $ are paid directly to OLC on behalf of scholarship recipient to cover tuition and other costs.

§  $ are paid directly to scholarship recipient to cover costs associated with transportation, child care, books, and Praxis Exams ($1900 maximum)

o   $250 signing bonus available at the start of their 1^st year as a certified South Dakota teacher

o   If teaching in an eligible TTT South Dakota high need school

o   $750 signing bonus available at the start of their 2nd year as a certified South Dakota teacher

o   If teaching in an eligible TTT South Dakota high need school

o   $1000 signing bonus available at the start of their 3rd year as a certified South Dakota teacher

o   If teaching in an eligible TTT South Dakota high need school.


2007 Education (Art Fisher)___OLC Education Department Teacher Training Program.  Public Announcement of the NCATE Review:  Oglala Lakota College’s Education and Graduate Studies Departments is scheduled to be reviewed by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).  The site visit is schedule for March 8^th-12^th, 2008. Federal regulations require that accrediting agencies allow for public comment on the qualifications of institutions or programs under consideration for first accreditation.  Both NCATE and Oglala Lakota College recognize graduates, parents, schools, and community organizations have valuable perspectives on the quality of the programs that prepare teachers and other school personnel.  We invite interested parties to submit written testimony on the School of Education to;  Board of Examiners, NCATE, 2010 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036 or email to  callforcomments@ncate.org.  Letters of comment should be received no later than Sunday, December 31, 2007 for institutions with visits in Spring 2008.   Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered at Oglala Lakota College, and should specify the respondent’s relationship, if any, to the institution (i.e., graduate, present or former faculty member, employer of graduates). Copies of all correspondence received will be sent to Oglala Lakota College for comment prior to the review. No anonymous testimony will be considered.