North Dakota

News, analysis, and opinion about K-12 education in North Dakota
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the First day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Tacy Fridrych, 11, with her friends on the first day of school at Lisbon Middle School in Lisbon, North Dakota on August 31, 2026.
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Video ‘You’ll Make New Friends’: What Happens to Students When Their School Closes
How two middle schoolers managed uncertainty as their rural school closed its doors.
Elizabeth Rich & Marvin Joseph, September 8, 2026
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1 min read
Collage-style illustration with a photo looking down a road surrounded by fields on either side, with squares of other images on top. The squares show two signs: one that reads "Lisbon" and another that reads "Fort Ransom." Pieces of these signs are coming together in the squares and stacking on top of each other in the center of the frame. Some squares off to the edges are blank.
Illustration by Emily Wright for Education Week + Photos by Natalie Behring for Education Week.
School & District Management Two Districts Pave a Road Toward a Shared Future and Survival
A rural school district was facing the urgent threat of dissolution. Its leaders found another way.
Elizabeth Rich, September 8, 2026
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2 min read
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Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Special Report Big Ideas 2026: Building Bridges So Students Can Thrive
How can you create strong partnerships and manage conflict? A roadmap for education leaders.
September 8, 2026
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School & District Management Opinion For This School Board President, Leadership Starts With Humility
Amid a big transition, active communication helped this leader hold the community together.
Mark Qual, September 8, 2026
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4 min read
big ideas johnson
Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion ‘Our School Leaves Town Every Day’: A Story of Rural Resilience and Survival
For more than a year, this town’s only school has stood empty. The spirit of community endures.
Steven L. Johnson, September 8, 2026
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7 min read
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Natalie Behring for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion When Your District Goes Through Big Changes, Relationships Are Critical
A neighboring school closed. His district embraced a reorganization. It was a lesson in leadership.
Justin Fryer, September 8, 2026
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4 min read
big ideas jones
School & District Management Opinion The Question That Guided This School District Through an Impossible Decision
Declining enrollment reshaped her district. This school board member has lessons for other leaders.
Chelsey Jones, September 8, 2026
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5 min read
Principal and apprentice having a conversation in school courtyard.
E+
School & District Management How These 3 States Are Building a Principal Pipeline
Principal apprenticeship programs aim to remove barriers to school leadership.
Olina Banerji, January 14, 2026
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5 min read
Robert Hill, Head of School at Alice M. Harte Charter School, talks with students in New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2018. Charter schools, which are publicly funded and privately operated, are often located in urban areas with large back populations, intended as alternatives to struggling city schools.
Robert Hill, Head of School at Alice M. Harte Charter School, talks with students in New Orleans on Dec. 18, 2018. Charter schools tend to be more popular in urban rather than rural areas.
Gerald Herbert/AP
School Choice & Charters The 3 States That Don't Allow Charter Schools—and Why
Rural states were historically resistant to charter schools, but that has changed in recent years.
Ciara Meyer, August 4, 2025
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7 min read
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D.
North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction Kirsten Baesler announces the gathering of a task force to look into future options the state has for the assessment of students during a press conference May 8, 2015, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D. President Donald Trump has tapped Baesler to serve as assistant secretary of elementary and secondary education.
Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
Federal Trump Picks Long-Serving State Chief With Bipartisan Fans for Top Ed. Dept. Role
Trump nominated North Dakota State Superintendent Kirsten Baesler to a key post overseeing K-12 policy at the U.S. Department of Education.
Alyson Klein, February 14, 2025
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5 min read
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iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters Private School Choice Will Keep Expanding in 2025. Here's Where and How
The conditions are ripe in at least a dozen states for proposals to invest public dollars in private educational options for families.
Mark Lieberman, January 10, 2025
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12 min read
A collage of two faceless students sitting on an open book with a notebook and laptop. All around them are numbers, math symbols and pieces of an actual student transcript.
Nadia Radic for Education Week
Assessment Explainer What Is Standards-Based Grading, and How Does It Work?
Schools can retool to make instruction more personalized and student-centered. But grading is a common sticking point.
Matthew Stone, September 16, 2024
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11 min read
Houses made out of 100 dollar bills and lined up in a row.
iStock/Getty
Budget & Finance The Future of Property Taxes Is on Ballots This Fall. Why It Matters for Schools
Several states are considering reforms that would lower property taxes—or ask voters to approve eliminating them altogether.
Mark Lieberman, August 30, 2024
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4 min read
Photo of principals walking in school hallway.
E+/Getty
School & District Management New Principals Have a Steep Learning Curve. Could Apprenticeships Help?
North Dakota's leaders share what they've learned about creating a principal apprenticeship in a playbook aimed at other states
Olina Banerji, July 2, 2024
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5 min read