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NDREA Mission & Vision

Mission

NDREA is a network of Regional Education Associations (REAs) that promotes collaboration in order to produce higher degrees of statewide resource efficiency and program and service effectiveness than might otherwise be achieved by individual REAs operating independently.

Vision

The NDREA is a network of eight regional education associations (REAs) in North Dakota. The primary members are the REA directors. Other members include REA lead administrators and representatives from other organizations interested in advancing NDREA’s mission.

NDREA achieves its mission of resource efficiency in the following ways:

• Human, material, and financial resources available through the individual REAs are reviewed and recommendations are made for collaboration to avoid unnecessary duplication and to maximize the efficiency of those resources.

• Some REAs have developed specialized expertise or services. Other REAs achieve higher degrees of efficiency by utilizing that expertise or services.

• All REAs use a common system to document achievement. The system enables meaningful and useful reporting to local stakeholders. The system allows for the merging of regional achievement data and enables meaningful and useful statewide reporting to state stakeholders, particularly the demonstration of the higher degrees of resource efficiency achieved through collaboration within the NDREA Network.

NDREA achieves its mission of program and service effectiveness in the following ways:

• Each REA develops, implements, and measures high quality programs and services to meet the unique needs and interests of its region, as directed by their local Board.

• All REAs have a common core of high quality programs and services in the following areas:

1. Professional Development (Learning): REAs are leaders and models in coordinating, facilitating, and marketing high quality professional development (learning) opportunities to schools (e.g., in partnership with organizations such as DPI, ESPB, ND University System, ND LEAD Center, Teacher Learning Centers, and schools).

2. Technology and Technology Support: REAs fill gaps for schools that lack the human and financial resources to adequately meet their technology support needs. REAs help schools to meet their technology and technology support needs by supporting (not replacing) local technology coordinators.

3. Data Systems: REAs help schools to effectively collect, analyze, and interpret student achievement data. REAs help schools to effectively use data to monitor and measure student achievement and make decisions to appropriately adjust instruction to increase student achievement.

4. School Improvement: REAs support the Department of Public Instruction by helping schools to develop, implement, monitor, and measure their school improvement goals.

5. Curriculum Enrichment: REAs facilitate the expansion and enrichment of the curriculum in schools (e.g., particularly rural schools through online, ITV, hybrid, or other innovative approaches including systems that allow students to take courses of particular interest to them that are not offered in their respective REA but are offered in another REA in the state).

• NDREA members (i.e., REA directors and other leaders) use a systematic approach to effectively share methods and practices that research has found to produce the best performance and results. Members support each other to ensure such practices are modeled in the operation of each respective REA.

• NDREA models self-development. REA leaders regularly engage in focused professional development activities designed to develop or enrich their leadership and management abilities. Such development leads to: 1) better utilization of networking opportunities, 2) capitalizing on new ideas, 3) better awareness of new trends, best practices, and researched practices, and 4) enhanced abilities to exercise leadership to plan and implement high quality programs and services within each REA and statewide.