The South Dakota Department of Education (SD-DOE) commissioned SDPB to develop programming that supports professional development for K-12 teachers on the history, geography, basic facts, and culture of the American Indian tribes in the state, and on how culture impacts student behavior, classroom dynamics, and other educational issues. SDPB convened an Advisory Board in 2006 for the development of two professional development videos to meet these needs.

Program 1, Oceti Sakowin: The People of the Seven Council Fires, offers a broad overview of the Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota people in South Dakota. Its purpose is to provide a brief introduction to and history of the tribes in the state and their traditional way of life from a tribal perspective. (60-minutes)

Program 2, Bridging the Gap: Native American Education, focuses specifically on issues related to education of the state's Indian youth. It will present some of the major challenges in educating Indian students as well as attempts to address these challenges. (30-minutes)

A relatively unique and important feature of the programs is that they aim to tell their story from the perspective of Native Americans. Almost all commentators and all sources for the programs are Native American residents of South Dakota.

The programs are meant to be used in in-service situations to promote strategic thinking about how to address the specific needs of Native American students as well as curriculum-level thinking and planning about when, where, and what to teach. Each public school was provided with a two DVD set of the two programs in August 2007. A downloadable Workshop Facilitator's Guide is available with a variety of options for using the programs in teacher workshops. The DVDs and guide are meant to help schools begin a process of understanding and action.

The Workshop Facilitator's Guide is available on the SDPB.org web site at: http://www.sdpb.org/TV/oto/Oceti/index.asp