Review of Academic Achievement at the Flandreau Indian School

We performed this inspection of Flandreau Indian School, an off-reservation boarding school located in Flandreau, SD, to evaluate programs the school had in place to help close the educational achievement gap and increase graduation rates. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in January 2002, requires schools to complete a comprehensive needs assessment with which to develop a strategy aimed at meeting students’ academic development needs. We used the assessment to help evaluate progress at Flandreau Indian School.

 

We found that the school’s comprehensive needs assessment did not address all of the assessment areas. Systematic identification and prioritization of student needs can help decision makers develop school-wide reform strategies that offer increased academic achievement opportunities for school children. The needs assessment might also help decision makers allocate scarce resources wisely in support of students’ educational achievement.

 

The English language learner (ELL) assessment test is required of schools to help educators identify students who may have mastered conversational but not academic English. We found that Flandreau had administered the necessary test to identify its ELL students. School officials reported that during the past year the test identified 108 of their 210 students as ELL.

 

We provided one recommendation to help Flandreau Indian School improve its efforts to promote educational achievement among its students and close the achievement gap.