District Assessment Contact (DAC)

District superintendents and ESU administrators designate ONE District Assessment Contact (DAC.) In some districts the official assessment contact is the superintendent, and in other districts the superintendent has designated a different person. The DAC will be the contact for ALL subject areas and ALL assessment-related communication within NSCAS. All official assessment notification, passwords, and required assessment decisions will be sent to that one district contact. The official district contact will receive materials for English language arts, mathematics, science, and all other assessment-related materials.

* The DAC retains the role each year unless the superintendent sends NDE an update. Superintendents are responsible for updating DAC contact information.

DAC FACTS

DAC updates are sent via email by the statewide assessment team.  Please make sure you are checking the updates and your email accepts emails coming from @Nebraska.gov.  Also please keep your DAC contact current as emails are sent frequently throughout the year.

The DAC Task Management Checklist is a tool for DAC use that includes monthly tasks to complete for all NSCAS and ELPA21 Assessments.

We also have the checklist in an excel version.

Updated 8/8/23

The NSCAS Summative assessment:

• Is built from Nebraska’s College and Career Ready standards with help from Nebraska educators.

• Yields deeper and more precise insights into students’ grade-level performance.

• Maximizes classroom time and enables timely intervention to support student learning.
• Provides a stable and secure testing experience, reducing stress for students and educators.
• Creates opportunity for students of all abilities to participate via accommodations and alternate assessments.

 The NSCAS Alternate assessment:

• Aligns to Nebraska’s College and Career Ready Standards with Extended Indicators.
• Provides meaningful access to grade-level content for students characterized by significant cognitive disabilities.
• Maximizes potential for direct student interaction with the alternate assessment via the new online administration procedure, which also reduces administration effort and leads to faster delivery of results.
  * An alternate exam is available for the one percent of students who qualify for having significant cognitive disabilities
•  The ACT College entrance exam:
• Is the summative assessment in English language arts, math, and science at the high school level and is administered in the spring to all high school juniors.*
• Provides more postsecondary opportunities for students in Nebraska.
• Brings increased rigor, relevance, and expectations for students.* Students in their third-year cohort of high school
  * Students in their third-year cohort of high school

A list of our commonly used Statewide Assessment Acronyms for new DACs and the new NSCAS Growth Assessment