The purpose of this announcement is to give advance notice and request your assistance in completing the 2025-26 Nebraska 1st and 3rd Year Teacher Survey which will be sent via email on March 9, 2026.

This survey will specifically be directed to teachers who are completing their 1st year of teaching on a regular teaching certificate in 2025-2026 (“initial” rank teaching certificates issued between 9/1/2024 and 8/31/2025) and teachers who are completing their 3rd year of teaching on a regular teaching certificate (issued between 9/1/2022 and 8/31/2023).

The purpose of this survey will be to gather perceptions regarding the extent to which these teachers were effectively prepared for teaching in the school system.

The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. Public reports will use only aggregated data and not identify individual teachers. Information gained will provide invaluable help to NDE and the respective educator preparation programs for their continuous improvement efforts related to preparing effective educators for Nebraska schools.

The survey will close on April 10, 2026.

Should you have any questions, please direct them to nde.research@nebraska.gov.

Contact Information: nde.research@nebraska.gov

Public, Nonpublic, ESU

Nebraska continues to lead in strengthening the educator workforce through Teacher Registered Apprenticeship.

The Nebraska Department of Education has officially released Round 4 of the Grow your Own Teacher Apprenticeship Competitive Grant Opportunity. Visit the Nebraska Teacher Apprenticeship Website to learn more.

District leaders are also encouraged to complete the Teacher Registered Apprenticeship District Interest Form to:

• Indicate interest in participating in a Grow Your Own Registered Apprenticeship model
• Express potential interest in collaborating with an EPP on a Round 4 grant application
• Signal readiness to explore funding to support Teacher Registered Apprenticeship Program (TRAP) design, launch, or expansion.

If your district is interested in building a sustainable, locally grown teacher pipeline, now is the time to act.

Complete the Interest Form TODAY!

Contact Information: NDE.TeacherApprenticeship@nebraska.gov

We are excited to announce that registration for the 2026 NDE Data Conference is now open! The conference will take place April 28-29 in Kearney, NE offering valuable opportunities to explore how others are improving literacy and accountability through data. Join us for over 30 engaging breakout sessions, inspiring keynote speakers, and numerous opportunities to network with peers in tailored sessions and discussions relevant to your role. Whether you’re a Data Steward, Administrator, or somewhere in between, there’s something for everyone!

Don’t miss out on this exciting event. Secure your spot and start preparing for a memorable experience at the 2026 NDE Data Conference. We can’t wait to see you there!

Register Today and Join Us for a Successful Event!

Contact Information: NDE.DataConferenceHelp@Nebraska.gov

Public Districts, Special Purpose Schools

The ADVISER Data Elements guidance document has been updated for the 2025-2026 school year, including two key changes for data being collected in 2025-2026 (see Appendix A for a list of all changes).

First, due to the recent adoption of the updated Rule 15 statute regarding regulations for English Learner programs, students may no longer be dismissed from English Learner testing via an IEP team review. As a result, the “Dismissed Via IEP” flag in ADVISER should no longer be used in the 2025-2026 school year. The NDE will conduct a check to identify any students with that flag set before the end of the year.

Second, the NDE is introducing a new data collection for instances of emergency exclusions (as defined in Nebraska Revised Statute 79-264), and several new data elements have been created in ADVISER to support this collection. The NDE would like to begin collecting emergency exclusion data for the 2025-2026 school year beginning 7/1/2025. However, please be aware that your Student Information System vendors will first need to make changes to their software to allow reporting of this data. The tentative goal for vendors to add support for the new emergency exclusion data elements in ADVISER is March 2026, so please watch for any communications from your vendors about their updates.

Contact Information: NDE Service Desk (NDE.ServiceDesk@Nebraska.gov)

Public Districts

The Future Ready District Technology Profile is now available to Public Districts only in the NDE Legacy Portal within the “Data Collections” tab. It opened February 2, 2026.

PLEASE NOTE: The 2025 – 2026 Future Ready District Technology Profile has been fully updated and redesigned. While a small number of questions remain the same, most of the questions are new. We strongly recommend reviewing and gathering your information using the PDF version of the profile before entering data in the portal.

In addition, the data collection has moved from Qualtrics to QuestionPro. The new system functions differently, particularly in how progress is saved, so advance preparation will help ensure a smoother experience.

Additional information and resources for the new Future Ready District Technology Profile are available on the Technology Plan website, which includes links to the following documents:

1. PDF version of the new profile instrument
2. PDF of the instructions to access the profile in the portal
3. PDF of frequently asked questions (FAQ’s)

If you have difficulty accessing any of these documents on the NDE Technology Plan website, please contact Dorann Avey, Digital Learning Director at dorann.avey@nebraska.gov to request that the materials be emailed to you. Thank you.

Contact Information: Dorann Avey - dorann.avey@nebraska.gov

The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) is aware of the continued shortage of substitute teachers in school systems this school year.

The Commissioner may authorize additional days for local substitute teaching permit holders upon request by a Nebraska school system that demonstrates a need for additional days, beyond the 90 full-time days per school year currently allowed. To authorize the additional days, the Department must receive a request from a Nebraska school system that demonstrates need.

To facilitate school system requests, the Department has created an online form. You or your school system staff can access that form here: Local Substitute Teaching Permit – Request for Additional Days Form. The form does allow for a single request that would cover all local substitute permit holders, which would eliminate the need for submission of multiple forms.

Once a request has been submitted, it will be reviewed, and the school system will be notified of the authorization. Please direct any questions about the process to the accreditation team by emailing nde.accreditation@nebraska.gov.

Contact Information: NDE Accreditation - nde.accreditation@nebraska.gov