Teacher of the Year Presentations

Nebraska’s 2018 Teacher of the Year Michelle Helt presented to the board for the last time as the 2019 Teacher of the Year Sydney Jensen officially introduced herself. Helt said it has been a busy year with trips to Washington D.C. and Nasa’s Space Camp.  She said she hopes to take what she learned this year and help her school and students continue to grow. Jensen said she is excited to get started on her big year and is ready to hit the ground running.

Business, Marketing, and Management Standards Revision

Nebraska Department of Education staff presented the Business, Marketing, and Management standards to the board with a scheduled vote in December. Career and Technical Education Program of Study standards provide a framework for teaching and learning in a given career field area. These standards ensure students acquire the knowledge and skills needed for success in today’s workforce. These recommendations were based on, and informed by, several focus groups with local business leaders. Following these recommendations, a group of educators met to identify programs of study and revise the standards based on preparation for careers in these career fields.

Business, Marketing, and Management Standards Process

Federal Deaf-Blind Grant to Fund NCECBVI Project

The board voted to accept the new five-year Federal Deaf-Blind Grant from the U.S. Department of Education that also funds the Nebraska Center for the Education of Children who are Blind/Visually Impaired (NCECBVI) Project. The grant provides funding for staff and statewide activities. The activities will focus on five goals including training and technical assistance,  implementing high-quality practices focusing on youth who are deaf-blind, providing training and supports for families , developing a seamless system of early identification, and increasing identification of all children who are deaf-blind through collaboration with the National Center on Deaf-Blindness.

Federal Deaf-Blind Grant

Update to the AT4ALL Website  Approved

The Nebraska website AT4ALL.com is used as an equipment database for Assistive Technology Partnership’s statewide technology loan program where Nebraskans can borrow and acquire assistive technology. Over the past 15 years the AT4All website has not kept up with changing technology and a redesign is necessary. The end goal of this update is to make the website easier to navigate, more intuitive, more visually appealing, and make the user experience simpler.

AT4ALL Website Contract

Education Partnership Approved

The board voted to grant the Commissioner the authority to enter into an interlocal agreement with the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges, and each of the six Nebraska Community Colleges establishing the Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Educational Reporting System (NSWERS). State statute required all of the educational agencies to adopt a policy to share student data in 2010. The purpose of this Agreement is to create a joint entity known as NSWERS. NSWERS will exist to provide access to accurate and reliable student information to analysts and researchers to discover policies, processes, and practices across students’ academic involvement that best improve student outcomes.

NSWERS Project Rationale