English Language Arts Education – Nebraska Department of Education

The K-5 “student friendly” standards accompany Nebraska’s 2021 College- and Career-Ready Standards for English Language Arts. The standards reflect what students should know and be able to do by the end of each grade level. The standards are written in accessible language and can be used to communicate learning expectations with students and their families. The K-5 Student-Friendly ELA Standards were developed by Nebraska educators

Student-Friendly K-5 Standards (pdf)

*Additional formats coming soon*

2021 ELA Standards - Other Formats

2021 K-12 ELA Standards -Horizontal (Excel file)

2021 K-5 ELA Standards – Horizontal (pdf)

2021 6-12 ELA Standards – Horizontal (pdf)

2021 ELA Standards – Importable File for Management Systems (Excel file)

2021 ELA Standards Rollout Resources

Overview of ELA Standards

An Overview of ELA Standards:

Standards establish what students should know and be able to do by the end of a specified grade level. English Language Arts (ELA) standards are created and revised by stakeholders across the state, and are adopted by the Nebraska State Board of Education at the end of a 7-year cycle. The standards challenge students to develop the essential literacy skills needed to succeed in college, career, and life. They cover a broad array of core knowledge and proficiencies in areas such as reading, writing, and listening and speaking.

Nebraska’s standards are organized with three levels of specificity:

K-12 Comprehensive Statements – Identify broad, general statements that are not grade-level specific and cover big ides in English Language Arts (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Multiple Literacies.)
Grade-Level Expectations – Statements that identify what students should know and be able to do by the end of each identified grade/band. These are organized into categories, but not course specific.
Curricular Indicators – Specific information to distinguish expectations between grade levels. They are no longer simply examples, but are considered an integral part of the standard to be taught.

Nebraska has historically been a local control state with no mandated curriculum or textbooks. The standards are not meant to be a curriculum. Rather, districts are expected to align their local curriculum to the Nebraska Standards to add more specificity. Nebraska’s draft standards are written using verbiage that describes the knowledge and skills students are expected to master at the various grade levels rather than using performance expectation language. Districts also have the choice to adopt their own standards only if they are more rigorous than the state standards.

ELA Revision Process

Overview of ELA Revision Process

ELA Rollout Session 1: The Standards in Instruction

Presented by Marissa Payzant (ELA Specialist), Abby Burke (Reading Specialist), Angela Dubuc (Early Literacy Education Specialist)

Session 1: The Standards in Instruction (PowerPoint)

Session 1: Notecatcher (Doc)

ELA Unit Internalization

Unit Internalization Resource

In January 2022, the NDE, ESU staff developers, and Instruction Partners collaborated to provide a learning experience on the successful and sustained implementation of high-quality instructional materials. Participants engaged in a unit internalization study in Mathematics and English Language Arts content areas and explored the phases of Instruction Partners’ Curriculum Support Guide & Curriculum Support Guide Workbook along with resources from the Nebraska Instructional Materials Collaborative. Session materials are linked below. For questions, please contact becky.michael@nebraska.gov.

ELA Vignette

Grade 5 Module 3

Assessment Overview

Performance Task

Unit 1 Mid-Unit Assessment

Unit 1 End of Unit Assessment

Unit 1 – Lesson 10

Text Analysis of Esperanza Rising

ELA Unit and Module Internalization Slides

Key Instructional Shifts for Quality Implementation CCR Standards

Academic standards provide a framework for ensuring quality teaching and learning. Recent revisions and updates to Nebraska content standards, per Nebraska Revised Statute 79-760.01, require a number of key shifts that are essential to fulfill the vision of Nebraska’s College and Career Readiness (CCR) Standards for English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science. These shifts require thoughtful changes in instruction. Practitioners must develop a deep understanding of the CCR standards as well as their implications for teaching and learning. By doing so, they equip students with the body of knowledge and skills that prepares them for success in college, career, and civic life. This document provides an overview of the key instructional shifts in the subject areas of English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science.

2021 Key Instructional Shifts for ELA (pdf)

Walk to Unlock Nebraska

Creativity is a necessity when working with youth. Walk 2 Unlock Nebraska allows classrooms and out-of-school clubs the opportunity to engage youth to learn about agriculture, nature, historical, and science-based content along one of four Nebraska trails. Two trails are currently open. The next two will be built over the 2023-2024 school year.

Walk 2 Unlock supports the whole child, working to provide activities to support body and mind. The program features an interactive map of Nebraska that allows users to track their locally achieved physical activity miles to make progress on virtual trails across the state. As students travel across the virtual trails, they will encounter checkpoints to learn more about the state through STEAM lessons appropriate for grades K-8th. Check out for Walk to Unlock Nebraska for more information.

Walk to Unlock Nebraska is a program of the Nebraska Department of Education Healthy Schools Program in partnership with Nebraska Farm Bureau Foundation’s Agriculture in the Classroom, Nebraska Game and Parks, Nebraska Tourism, Midwest Dairy, History Nebraska, and Nebraska Public Media.

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