Lana DeCoteau

DeCoteau's "Dunseith Chugach Model/Reinventing Schools" project focuses on student learning at the academic level, not age level. Dunseith is located in the service area of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Reservation and Rolette County; the county has the highest unemployment rate in North Dakota, and students have struggled to make adequate yearly progress in reading as required by the state. For this project, students are assessed in word identification, word attack, reading comprehension and passage comprehension and then placed according to their level. Skills then are reinforced at the students' reading academic level. There are 27 reading classes in kindergarten through sixth grade. Dunseith Public Schools has teamed up with the Chugach School District of Anchorage, Alaska, for this program.