Nebraska’s College & Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts Approved

Nebraska Statute requires the State Board of Education to develop a plan to review and update standards for reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies every seven years. A group of Nebraska educators, led by the Nebraska Department of Education, revised the standards, “Nebraska’s College and Career Ready Standards for English Language Arts.” Board members voted to approve the standards that create the framework for English Language Arts instruction in Nebraska.

ELA STANDARDS

Proposed Accountability, Accreditation, and Approval Rules Suspended

Board members voted to suspend the rule revision and extend the Approval, Accreditation, and Accountability timeline to allow for additional stakeholder and practitioner engagement, implement new rules no sooner than the 2023-24 school year, and allow at least a full academic year between the adoption of new rules and the implementation of the rules.

Approval of Air Quality Study

LB630 passed on May 26, 2021 and requires the NDE, in consultation with University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), to develop and implement a pilot program to study the correlation between air quality and the impact on academic and behavioral performance. UNL will design the study to examine the efficacy of commercial air filters in classrooms to remove common pollutants and particulate matter and their impacts on academic, learning, and behavioral outcomes. The study will utilize an experiment to randomly assign third- through eighth-grade classrooms into treatment and control conditions over two consecutive school years in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Approval of Social-Emotional Learning Strategies  for 21st Century Community Learning Centers Programs

Board members approved a two-year project designed to build capacity and enhance the quality of out-of-school programming across the state of Nebraska while providing evidence about what works in afterschool/summer settings for promoting academic, social-emotional, and well-being outcomes for children and staff.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROJECT RATIONALE

School Safety and Security Program Grant Renewed

The School Safety and Security Program plans to expand the capacity of the NDE to provide training and technical assistance to local educational agencies so they may produce and maintain high-quality Emergency Operations Plans, violence prevention education, and threat assessment processes.

SCHOOL SAFETY AND SECURITY PROGRAM

Statement on Health Education Standards

The State Board of Education voted to postpone the development of the Health Education Standards. The Board received substantial input on the draft Health Education Standards and recognizes that now is not the time to continue the process. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed varied demands on school districts, parents, families, and communities. The intent of the State Board of Education is to determine the most appropriate time to address Health Education Standards after taking into consideration the state of the pandemic; the needs of children, schools, and communities; and the readiness of local school stakeholders. The decision to continue the process of developing Health Education Standards must be supported by a majority vote of the State Board of Education.

STATEMENT ON THE HEALTH EDUCATION STANDARDS