About Us
The North Dakota Curriculum Initiative (NDCI) is a long-term professional development program for North Dakota public and non-public school curriculum administrators and teachers. Funded by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and located on the campus of North Dakota State University, Fargo, this collaborative professional development project is in its eighth year and has committed educators from across the state involved in the programs. An advisory group, represented by curriculum experts from every region in North Dakota, along with the North Central Comprehensive Center (NCCC) at McREL, have worked diligently in offering quality professional development to North Dakota educators.
The purpose of the NDCI is to
- help assure that all North Dakota students receive equitable educational classroom opportunities,
- assist students in acquiring the knowledge, skills, and shared values essential to our civic culture, and
- support students in attaining critical work and management skills essential to be productive and responsible citizens.
These purposes are sought through the creation and implementation of solid standards-based curricula in all North Dakota classrooms.
By regularly bringing together key curricular leaders and professional organizations, the NDCI continues to build a consensus on what is expected of all North Dakota students in essential academic content areas. Accordingly, the NDCI agenda focuses on
- Teacher quality - helping districts and schools assist teachers in meeting the requirements of being highly qualified
- Assessments - developing new annual assessment systems aligned to standards, curricula, and instructional materials for measuring progress toward standards and for improving instruction
- Best practices - identifying and sharing research-based pedagogy, content, and assessment theory
- Networking - promoting communication and collaboration through institutions of higher education, professional organizations, Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning, and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development
- Professional development - providing sustained, intensive, and high-quality conferences and programs
- Technology - establishing electronic clearinghouse activities that connect the NDCI participants with professional listservs and association websites
- Public relations - disseminating timely and useful information for parents, teachers, policy makers, and the public