February 2024

Education Spotlight

Paving a New Path to Graduation: Innovation at Northern Cass

This month’s Education Spotlight is centered on Northern Cass School District’s Innovation Fund project, Alternative Graduation Pathways. This project combines funding from SEEC’s Innovation Fund and a district-established initiative to create an educational system for learners that focuses on Personalized Competency-Based Learning (PCBL).

Personalized Competency-Based Learning is defined as "creating engaging learning experiences customized to each student's strengths, needs, and interests" (the Aurora Institute). We met with Dr. Cory Steiner, the Superintendent of Northern Cass, to learn more about this initiative.

Read the full blog post

PD, Programs, and Services

School-Based Medicaid Consortium

South East Education Cooperative's School-Based Medicaid Consortium works with Special Education (SPED) Units across North Dakota to access financial reimbursement for health care services delivered in schools. The goal of the Consortium is to help schools reduce healthcare-related costs for Medicaid eligible students on IEPs in a sustainable way through Medicaid billing.

The School-Based Medicaid Consortium provides a Medicaid claiming software through Relay. The software is key to effectively and efficiently recording, submitting, and reviewing claims for reimbursement. SEEC provides training, technical assistance, resources, and tools to staff of participating Units. Beyond supporting and coordinating the program, the Consortium also advocates for school-based Medicaid at the state level in support of policies that may expand services or reduce barriers to billing and receiving Medicaid Reimbursements.

Growth in the School-Based Medicaid Consortium:

In the last 10 years, the Consortium has grown from 3 to 16 SPED Units.
During 2022-23 the Consortium billed for services for 2,461 students.
In 2022-23, the Consortium helped school districts obtain approximately $3.7 million in federal Medicaid dollars to assist ND schools in receiving sustainable funding that lowered district expenses.

The School-Based Medicaid Consortium continues to have state-wide collaboration between the ND Department of Health and Human Services State Medicaid Office, school districts, and special education units to ensure growth and expansion of Medicaid billable services and providers.

Areas the School-Based Medicaid Consortium is working with School Districts on:

Billing for non-IEP services
Billing for 1915i Amendment services
Durable Medical Equipment reimbursements

Additional projects happening at the state-level include:

Medicaid Administrative Claiming - an additional source of funding from the Federal government for any administrative work within the school district's Medicaid program.
School Psychologists waiting on CMS approval to be an approved Medicaid Provider.
BCBAs (Board Certified Behavior Analyst) waiting on CMS approval for eligibility to bill for services outside of ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Services.

If you want to learn more about School-Based Medicaid, please contact

Brooke Tayer at brooke.tayer@k12.nd.us OR visit our website!

Administrator Updates

Executive Director Retirement & Replacement Search

SEEC Executive Director Kyle Davison has officially announced his retirement from the organization. He submitted his resignation at the February 14th Governing Board meeting, making his final day June 30th, 2024.

After nearly two decades of leading the SEEC, Kyle feels the time is right to transition his focus to preparing for the 2025 Legislative Session. It will be a critical one for both education and our state.

"I am so grateful for the support of our member schools. The growth of the SEEC doesn't happen without leadership willing to take risks and drive change. The conversations aren't always easy, and they shouldn't be. There is still more work to accomplish, and I look forward to the opportunities ahead of us in the next five months."

The process of selecting a new Executive Director is underway! If you or someone you know are interested, visit the Job Opportunities page on the SEEC website for more information.

Coaches Corner

Coaching in Afterschool

Coaching is an effective strategy to support quality in education; however, it does not always look the same for every subject, grade level, or area of expertise. SEEC's Kristin Knorr, Lead of the ND Afterschool Network, discusses how small investments in coaching can support high-quality out of school time programming. Coaching supports a culture of continuous improvement, which directly impacts positive outcomes for youth attending programming. Afterschool settings are known for a high employee turnover rate. This article provides information on how coaching can improve employee retention and improve program quality.

Read the full blog post

Teaching Resources and Tools

Behavior Supports for ND Educators

FREE Live Webinar Series

SEEC is excited to again be partnering with Behavior Advantage to support the ongoing requests and needs for supporting and growing positive student behaviors (and decreasing negative behaviors!) in our schools.

If you are looking for some insight and an opportunity to wrap your head around how to get started, we have the following FREE Webinar series. You are invited to join us live for any or all of the sessions, but you must register ahead of time.

See the flyer below!

Session 1: Supporting Student Behavior at Tier 1

Presented by Charlie Hill from Behavior Advantage

February 28th, 2024 | 3:15 - 4:15 pm (CT)

Session 2: Using Check-In/Check-Out and Related

Interventions as Tier 2 Interventions

Presented by Aaron Stabel from Behavior Advantage

March 27th, 2024 | 3:15 - 4:15 pm (CT)

Session 3: Developing Simple Behavior Plans as Tier 2 Interventions

Presented by Aaron Stabel from Behavior Advantage

April 10th, 2024 | 3:15 - 4:15 pm (CT)

Session 4: Planning for Behavior Supports

Presented by Jennifer Glasheen, Cheryl Hoggarth, and Brandie Ulland - SEEC/NDMTSS

April 24th, 2024 | 3:15 - 4:15 pm (CT)

The first three sessions are for ANY educator; Session 4 will be for Administrators, PD Coordinators, MTSS team leads, Beginning Teacher Coordinators, mentors - anyone who is looking for ideas on designing a professional learning plan for those you support utilizing the Behavior Advantage PD series.

Our SEEC/NDMTSS team will be on hand to assist and support for all sessions.

If you have any questions, please reach out.

Cheryl Hoggarth | Brandie Ulland

See the Flyer

Valley City State University's Rural Teacher Support Program

The VCSU Graduate Program is excited to let administrators and teachers in the SEEC region know that we have tuition assistance waivers available for advanced degrees. The Rural Teacher Support Program is designed to create a financial support system to assist current and aspiring teachers in rural communities. VCSU is committed to providing rural teachers with graduate tuition waivers to pursue their initial license, certificates, endorsements, or full master’s degree in programs with a focus on student learning, professional development, and educator preparation.

For more information on program options, visit the website below:

Visit their Website

Staff Recommended Article

The Social Institute:

Instagram's Nighttime Nudges: The Reminders

Students Need That It's "Time For a Break"

Read The Social Institute's Article

Behavior Advantage Video:

Changing Behaviors with a Plan - A Team Based Approach

When we commit to changing behavior, we need a plan. Whether they’re lesson plans or behavior plans, plans help us come together, identify goals and strategies, establish motivation, and most importantly improve consistency so behaviors have a chance to change. The good news is that these interventions don’t need to be complicated and they don’t have to be implemented forever to be effective.

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