Strategic Plan

Final Strategic Plan

On December 5, 2025, the Nebraska State Board of Education unanimously approved the 2025-2030 Strategic Plan. This plan goes into effect January 1, 2026.

Overview

The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has begun the process of developing a new strategic plan with the current strategic plan ending at the close of 2025. This year-long process is comprised of a three-phase approach: Foundation Setting, Gather Input, & Refine and Implement. The NDE’s goal is to create and implement a strategic plan representing the desired goals and outcomes as determined by Nebraskans in consultation with the State Board of Education.

The presentation below was shared with the State Board during the March Work Session. This presentation walks through the entire timeline of the strategic planning process.

Strategic Plan Presentation

Strategic Planning Approach

With the conclusion of Phase II, NDE staff presented an initial text draft of the strategic plan to the Executive Committee and full State Board of Education. During this most recent session, Board members provided feedback on the plan as presented.

*Oct. 6, 2025 Update

To establish a contextual background of the current state of the educational landscape of Nebraska, and work of the NDE, the following documents share relevant statistics.

• Student Achievement
• Students at a Glance
• Teachers and Schools
• About Nebraska VR
• Nebraska VR Fact Sheet

For the purposes of Phase I, NDE staff have worked to gather input from a variety of internal and external stakeholders. This document was presented to the Executive Committee, which was presented to the Executive Committee of the State Board of Education, provides and overview of the work that had been completed as of June 5, 2025.  Since then, analyses of all data collected has been conducted. In the following documents, summaries of key findings of these analyses will be found.

As previously indicated, twelve statewide focus groups were conducted during the months of April and May. The purpose of these sessions was to give stakeholders the opportunity to inform the strategic planning process. After each session, the data gathered was compiled and analyzed based on the three core values and core issues presented during the focus groups. The following document is a summary of these focus groups, and the data collected.

Statewide Community Focus Group Key Findings

Similar to the statewide community focus groups, NDE staff conducted listening sessions with four student groups in different districts around the state. Additionally, the NDE held a listening session with the Nebraska Youth Leadership Council (NYLC). The purpose of these sessions was to give students a chance to inform the strategic plan based on their perspective within Nebraska’s educational system. During these sessions, the students were presented with a series of questions to facilitate the conversation. The following document is a summary of these listening sessions, and the data collected.

• Student Listening Session Summary
• NYLC Listening Session Summary

In addition to the focus groups, the NDE has conducted several SWOT analyses with varying partner groups. These groups included NDE staff and education partner and advisory groups. More than ten partner and advisory groups have been engaged in these SWOT analyses. Additional input will be gathered from more partner and advisory groups throughout the revisioning process. The following documents are summaries of each of the groups’ SWOT analyses.

• NDE Staff SWOT Summary
• Partner SWOT Summary

*Aug. 1, 2025 Update

In Phase II: Gather Input, the NDE worked diligently to collect the information from a variety of stakeholders to appropriately inform the strategic planning process. Several sources are being used to gather this information from Nebraskans including focus group sessions. Below is information on the focus group sessions that will be held throughout the state.

A component of Phase I was the distribution of three surveys for different stakeholder groups: citizens, education partners (e.g. teachers, administrators, businesses), and NDE staff. Since the closure of the surveys, the data collected has been analyzed and has been compiled into a summary. This is one of many tools being used to gather input from Nebraskans.

Focus Group Sessions

Nebraskans were invited to attend a focus group session to share their input to the vision and direction of the NDE under the new strategic plan. Focus group sessions are scheduled for 90 minutes.

*April 1, 2025 Update