Historical public education information in North Dakota, 2011-2015

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

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Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

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.

State agencies

See also: North Dakota Department of Education

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

“

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.

”

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.

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:

• 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

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

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.

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

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

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

NAEP scores

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.

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

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.

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

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.

Educational choice options

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

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.

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

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.

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

\| \n <pbars size=650x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Federal revenue,State revenue,Local revenue North Dakota,14.80,49.93,35.27 Montana,16.35,44.10,39.55 South Dakota,20.26,28.93,50.81 Wyoming,9.41,53.37,37.22 U.S. total,12.34,44.09,43.56 </pbars>

Public school revenues by source, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Expenditure breakdowns

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.

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

\| \n <pbars size=500x300 title="" grid=true ymin=0 ymax=100 legend colorscheme=excel> ,Current expenditures,Capital outlay,Other North Dakota,87.75,9.98,2.28 Montana,92.09,6.34,1.57 South Dakota,82.51,14.89,2.60 Wyoming,85.09,14.27,0.64 U.S. total,86.31,8.78,4.90 </pbars>

Public school expenditures, fiscal year 2011 (as percents)

Personnel salaries

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.

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.

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

Unions

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.

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.

List of local North Dakota school unions:

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

Government sector lobbying

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

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

Studies and reports

State Budget Solutions education study

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

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