Frameworks and Toolkits Provided by the Office of Standards, Learning, and Leadership

South Dakota students thrive in learning environments that are supported by strong family-school partnerships, and educators play a vital role in rooting those meaningful connections. The Office of Standards, Learning, and Leadership collaborates with school administrators and teachers to ensure they are provided the necessary materials, resources, and toolkits to enhance family engagement outside of the classroom. The Standards, Learning, and Leadership Team is dedicated to designing tools that further enhance South Dakota students’ learning beyond the classroom.

To support the statewide literacy initiative, this office has worked hard on developing a one-stop shop with various resources to help move literacy forward in South Dakota. On the DOE Literacy page, you can access different guides, professional development opportunities, and more.

SD Literacy Framework: Family Guide for Implementation The purpose of the framework is to assist families in supporting literacy growth in their children as part of the Literacy Framework used by schools in South Dakota. It will support families in providing a solid foundation for supporting children’s reading success.

Literacy Family Engagement Suite
This is a printable collection of digital literacy resources for schools and families designed to help schools plan, organize, and facilitate family literacy events.

Ways families can strengthen literacy at home:
    •Weekly Practice Question – Try a “question of the week” from the Sample Items website to stay familiar with grade-level reading and writing tasks.
    •Explore the Smarter Annotated Response Tool – Families can see real student writing samples and understand how writing is scored.
    •Read Together Daily – Even 10 minutes supports vocabulary, comprehension, and confidence.
    •Ask Thinking Questions – “What surprised you?” “What’s the main idea?” “Why did the character do that?”
    •Encourage Everyday Writing – Journals, notes, lists, or quick summaries help build writing fluency.
    •Talk About New Words – Pause when you encounter unfamiliar vocabulary and make connections to real life.
    •Celebrate All Reading – Graphic novels, magazines, informational texts, and books in home languages all count.