February 14, 2019

Register Now

Champions for Equity in Education:  Better Data. Better Decisions

2019 NDE Data ConferenceApril 29-30, 2019 Younes Conference Center Kearney, Nebraska

Contact:  Debe Dockhorn (402-471-2748 or debe.dockhorn@nebraska.gov) Jeannie Chastain (402-471-2288 or jeannie.chastain@nebraska.gov)

 

The NDE Data Conference will be held April 29-30, 2019 at the Younes Conference Center – Kearney, Nebraska.

This conference will provide opportunities to learn about how to improve data quality in the first-year of ADVISER statewide implementation, as well as hear from experts about the latest policies and techniques in education data.  The conference is open to all Nebraska Public School Districts’ educators but the main audience are the people that input information into the Student Information System or those in charge of the Student Information System as well as the Administrators that “approve” the data.  This conference will help to get the teams on the same page and know who to contact at NDE if there are questions, issues or concerns.

 

To register, or for more information, visit the conference website at https://www.education.ne.gov/dataservices/events/.

 

 

Change to the Helpdesk Request Link on the NDE Portal Home Page

Contact:  NDE Helpdesk (888-285-0556 or ADVISERHelp@nebraskacloud.org)

 

There has been a change made to the “Helpdesk Request” link on the Home Page of the NDE Portal. It will now open the requester’s email to send their question to the NDE Helpdesk at the ADVISERHelp@nebraskacloud.org email address.  Please provide a brief description of your question and your full contact information.  NDE Portal users are no longer required to be logged onto their Portal accounts in order to have this link available.

 

 

Two New ADVISER Validation Errors:  Error 728 & 729

Contact:  NDE Helpdesk (888-285-0556 or ADVISERHelp@nebraskacloud.org)

ADVISER Validaton Errors are for Public, Special Purpose and ESU’s Only

 

Error #728:  Invalid Special Education Setting Code for IDEA Part C Participant

Invalid special education setting code reported for a student that is an IDEA Part C Participant.  Please correct either the student’s Level of Program Participation code or the Special Education Setting code.  IDEA Part C is for birth to age 3 children.

 

Error #729:  Invalid Special Education Setting Code for IDEA Part B Participant

Invalid special education setting code reported for a student that is an IDEA Part B Participant.  Please correct either the student’s Level of Program Participation code or the Special Education Setting code.  IDEA Part B is for children over age 3.

 

 

    2019-2020 Intent to Participate in Perkins FundingDUE DATE:  March 1

Contact:  Teri Sloup (402-471-4809 or teri.sloup@nebraska.gov)

 

The Perkins “intent to participate in Perkins funding” site is now open.

The purpose of this notification is to request your action in completing the intent to participate process for Perkins funding during the 2019-2020 program year. All school districts, even if participating in a consortium, career academy, or choosing not to participate, must complete this data collection.

This action is accomplished through the official submission of the intent and eligibility to participate in Perkins through the NDE Portal located at https://portal.education.ne.gov/ under the “Data Collections” tab. This specific data collection is entitled “Perkins Career and Technical Education.”

The online system asks District Officials to:

  • Determine Intent to Participate in Perkins with consortium identification if applicable;
  • Validate the existence of all Essential Career Education Components within the School District; and
  • Identify the Career & Technical Student Organizations offered within the School District

The deadline for completing the online submission is March 1. If you have questions, please contact Teri Sloup, 402-471-4809, or by email at teri.sloup@nebraska.gov.

 

 

2018-2019 AQuESTT Evidence-Based Analysis (EBA)DUE DATE:  June 30

Contact: nde.aquestt@nebraska.gov

This is required for Public School Districts only

 

All public school systems are required to complete the 2018-2019 AQuESTT Evidence-Based Analysis (EBA) as part of the Annual Statistical Summary as directed by the Commissioner pursuant to Section 79-528(2). The EBA for both public districts and schools will be web-based, as it was in the 2017-2018 school year, and is currently available on the NDE Portal. The EBA is designed to provide information in support of AQuESTT classification processes, which will inform continuous improvement efforts. School administrators should work with school staff to complete and submit the EBA by June 30, 2019.  Please review the 2017-2018 AQuESTT EBA instructions and AQuESTT FAQs regarding completion of the EBA through the Portal collection.  Additionally, these short videos walk you through retrieving the AQuESTT EBA district activation code(s), or school activation code(s).

 

 

DACs:  ELPA21 TESTING WINDOW OPEN

The Spring ELPA21 testing window is FEB. 4 – Mar. 15

Contact:  Terri Schuster (402-471-4694 or terri.schuster@nebraska.gov)

 

Testing must be completed within the six-week window.  All English learners are expected to take the ELPA21 Summative assessment.  Students who were identified as ELs on ADVISER at the time of the NDE testing label upload to AIR, the testing vendor, on January 9 will appear in the TIDE system as test-takers.  EL students enrolling in districts after that date will need to be entered manually into TIDE.  Former ELs do not test on the ELPA21.  Here is a link to the portal where you can find all the resources you need to administer the assessment:  https://ne.portal.airast.org/

 

 

Teacher Evaluation System Grant OpportunityApplications Due:  February 28

Contact:  Kim Snyder, Director of Teacher and Principal Support (402-471-4351 or kim.snyder@nebraska.gov)

 

A grant opportunity is now available at the following  link:  https://www.education.ne.gov/educatoreffectiveness/

 

This grant funding, through Solar and Wind Energy, is intended to improve equity of access to effective teachers by supporting districts as they develop an improved, data-informed, focus approach to strengthening current teachers and educational leaders in their schools.

 

This competitive grant supports the following objectives:

 

  1. Support local school districts in updating or enhancing existing educator evaluation systems and processes, with an emphasis on system alignment to the Nebraska Model of Evaluation.
  2. Establish a network of model evaluation system districts across the state.
  3. Continue to seek input related to support needs for Nebraska schools and districts.
  4. Continue responding to identified needs.

 

There will be a webinar on February 12 (see application for Zoom link) to answer any questions about the application process.  The submission due date for applications is Thursday, February 28, 2019.

 

 

Nonpublic Curriculum Reporting System 2018-2019OPENED:  January 15

DUE:  February 28

Contact:  NDE Helpdesk (888-285-0556 or ADVISERHelp@nebraskacloud.org)

This is required for Nonpublic Systems only.

 

The Nonpublic Curriculum Reporting System 2018-2019 will collect data on courses teachers teach for use in determining compliance with Rule 10 and Rule 14.  The Nonpublic Curriculum Reporting System is located under the “Data Collections” tab in the NDE Portal.  An activation code is required.  Due Date: February 28.  Audit Window close date:  March 15.

 

 

Data Collection Tool for Districts:  Perceptual Surveys

Contact: NDE.Research@nebraska.gov

 

Perceptual data is one of the four essential data types for informing continuous school improvement efforts.  As part of the Data Cadre’s initiative to equip staff with data analysis training, the Nebraska Department of Education, in collaboration with the ESU Coordinating Council, is providing a free service every school year to all Nebraska public school districts.  This service empowers districts with a data collection tool for collecting the perceptions of school staff, students, and parents on multiple dimensions of school climate.  This service includes the generation of survey links for every school building, and the development of reports on the survey data collected.  To begin, this service will need to be requested via an online form.  Note that this request may only be done once per school year for each district.  Upon request, survey links will automatically be sent to the designated district contact for distribution to key stakeholders.  The survey results are then accessible via the NEP Secure on the NDE Portal.  Any inquiries on this service may be directed to the contact information listed above.