Between Aug 15th and October 1st, LLC completed the pre-testing of over 5000 Lakota language students in thirty schools across North and South Dakota. All students grades K-12 took the Level I Pre-test Examination which consisted of twenty computer-based questions. Each question used four pictures and one audible word (in Lakota) transmitted through headphones. Students were asked to select the correct picture that corresponded to the word they heard. General results of the Pre-test indicated that the majority of the kids were testing far below adequate levels for this beginner-level test. Of course, Post-test results are expected to be higher when undertaken in Spring 2008.
In general, only a small handful of high schools such as Tiospaye Topa, Takini, Red Cloud, and Cheyenne Eagle-Butte High Schools were testing at a satisfactory level on the Pre-test. The ideal testing results would be to have the early elementary students achieve this same level of results. As a whole, elementary kids were testing at a slightly better level than chance. In addition, Lakota language levels improved only marginally as grade levels increased.
Schools of all types participated in the testing: both reservation and off-reservation schools; parochial; BIA; contract; and State-administered schools, including those in urban and rural settings. None of these school-type factors played any significant role in testing results. The only general correlation was evident among schools that took Lakota language teaching seriously and teachers who were trained and used the curriculum materials correctly had greater success than those that made less effort. The top performing school was Tiospaye Topa in La Plante, SD, whose teacher Les Ducheneaux is an enthusiastic user and champion of LLC materials. Three of the four top schools work on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.
On student response to the tests, all children clearly were very excited to be taking the test, and were enthusiastic about the challenge and were also anxious to achieve the best results. Unfortunately, after learning their results many ended up disappointed in finding how little Lakota they actually knew. They compared scores among themselves and those who did well were very proud of their achievements, finding themselves in the spotlight. Nevertheless it was obvious that almost all the children demonstrated a deep willingness to learn and know their language. And many look forward to learning over the school year, and doing better on the Post-test in the spring. So the tests served as a valuable boost for many and a great challenge in the future for all.
View Pictures from 2007 Testing 
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