NDE’s ESSER III Application and Statewide Investments
NDE’s Five Investment Priorities
After extensive feedback from stakeholders and reviewing preliminary data from the 2020-21 school year, the NDE developed the following five priority areas for statewide investments.
- Access to Comprehensive Mental Health Services
- Reimagined Family and Community Engagement
- High-Quality Professional Learning and Bolstering the Teacher Pipeline
- Focus on Unfinished Learning and Supporting Learning Acceleration
- Modernize Information, Data, Technology, and Process Systems
Learn more about NDE’s specific investments across these five areas here:
| Contractor/Project | Description | Amount |
| Mental Health Support Grant | Mental Health Support Staff, Equipment, Training | $14,577,140 |
| Kernals Afterschool SEL Research | Social-emotional learning Supports | $150,000 |
| SEL Framework Development | Social-emotional learning Supports | $100,000 |
| MOSAIC | Social-emotional learning Supports | $250,000 |
| Contractor/Project | Description | Amount |
| Nebraska Children and Families Foundation | Community Schools Pilot | $900,000 |
| CEDARS | Transitions Supports for Students | $460,000 |
| TransAct | Translation services; add on supports for schools, parents, and students | $226,650 |
| Nebraska Children and Families Foundation/ Nebraska Statewide Family Engagement Center | Nebraska Statewide Family Engagement Center | $500,000 |
| Ready Rosie | Early Childhood Family Engagement Software | $2.4 million |
| Nebraska Commission for Indian Affairs | Planning grant to support next steps and best practices in serving Native youth | $49,500 |
| Latino American Commission | Planning grant to support next steps and best practices in serving Latinx youth | $49,500 |
| Contractor/Project | Description | Amount |
| UNL | Diverse educator pilot project | $49,828 |
| Fixed-Term Positions | Educator Certification Capacity | $1.2 million |
| NAESP | Pre-K Leadership Academy | $350,000 |
| Contractor/Project | Description | Amount |
| Zearn Math | Provide access to Zearn Math (K-8 digital materials for mathematics) for all public and non-public elementary and middle schools, including the Zearn Math Summer Intensive Series | $1.4 million |
| Nebraska Children and Families Foundation | Expanded learning collaborative supports to districts | $805,000 |
| Various School Districts | Summer and afterschool supplements, expansion, or initial grants | $11 million |
| YRTC Supports under DHHS/NDE collaboration | YRTC Academic Investments (Materials and Interventions) | $501,000 |
| Funding to Five Districts Ineligible for ESSER funds | ESSER II & III distributed by formula; schools apply using GMS | $800,000 |
| Instruction Partners | Learning Acceleration for K-8 Math; Integration of NeMTSS, HQIM, and CIP (3 years) | $5.6 million |
| TNTP | Statewide Support for Learning Acceleration; Support for CSI Schools (3 years) | $2.7 million |
| Ha’hanna Consulting, LLC | Professional Learning to Strengthen School-Tribal Partnerships | $750,000 |
| NROC | Digital learning resources | $25,000 |
| Supplemental reVISION Funding | Additional coverage for schools applying for reVISION action grants | $395,000 |
| CEDARS | Focus on grade-level learning and acceleration for systems involved youth | $318,000 |
| Contractor/Project | Description | Amount |
| Nebraska Children and Families Foundation | Provide a contractor to support collaboration, evaluation of projects, and consistent presence in community collaboratives | $70,000 |
| Center for Assessment | Support for Redesigning Accountability System | $193,000 |
| Opportunity Labs | Continued Consultation for COVID-19 Safety Protocols | $150,000 |
| UNL – Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, & Schools | Research on impacts of COVID-19 on educators and students | $50,000 |
| Boys Town (Safe2Help) | School Safety and Security Reporting System | $1.7 million |
| OCIO; Various Contractors, Fixed Term Positions | Staffing Capacity | $2.5 million |
| Hanover Research | Customized projects for NDE and access to digital library | $250,000 |
| Hanover Research | Digital library access for interested ESUs | $840,000 |
| Children’s Hospital and Medical Center | Campaign support for Covid response | $500,000 |
| Children’s Hospital and Medical Center | Develop school nurse coordinator and provide professional learning to school nurses | $300,000 |
Unlike the previous ESSER allocations (ESSER I – CARES and ESSER II – CRSSA), the ESSER III- ARP requires the NDE to submit an application to the US Department of Education. The NDE collected input and reviewed qualitative and quantitative data in May 2021 to determine successes, priorities, and strategies for supporting and holding schools accountable and developing next steps for the use of funds.
Consultation
The NDE hosted 14 round table sessions with stakeholders including students, families, teachers, administrators, community leaders, tribes, youth serving-organizations, and other advocacy and civil rights groups. Additionally, the NDE fielded a survey to stakeholders seeking input on prioritization of strategies and investments of funds. Results from these two stakeholder outreach strategies can be found below.
Submission of Application/Plan
The NDE submitted the ESSER III – ARP state plan to the US Department of Education on June 21, 2021. The executive summary and the approved plan of the plan can be found below.