{"id":130,"date":"2022-03-15T14:21:05","date_gmt":"2022-03-15T18:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/?page_id=130"},"modified":"2022-05-09T12:25:43","modified_gmt":"2022-05-09T16:25:43","slug":"nebraska","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/state\/nebraska\/","title":{"rendered":"Nebraska"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nebraska Data<\/a><\/h3>\n

Data Analysis:<\/h3>\n

There are several factors that contribute to persistent inequalities in the Nebraska public education system.\u00a0 One of these factors is lack of diversity, particularly racial diversity.\u00a0 Nebraska is a state with a predominantly white population, and this translates to its public schools – 65.9% of male public school students are white, as well as 81.5% of female public school students (Nebraska Department of Education, 2021).\u00a0 Lack of diversity in schools creates issues because of the isolation it causes students belonging to minority groups to feel.\u00a0 This can have a negative effect on retention rates, as well as general student performance.\u00a0 The negative effects lack of diversity have on students is visible in data from the Nebraska Department of Education, which shows that minority students have lower graduation rates than white students, and while the graduation rates of white students have remained consistently high across the years, those of minority students have seen much more fluctuation (Nebraska Department of Education, 2021).\u00a0 In addition, the persistence of students living in poverty contributes to inequalities persisting across Nebraska.\u00a0 Although the state\u2019s student poverty rates are low, they still adversely affect a student\u2019s ability to perform at their highest level, and maximize their learning potential.\u00a0 Furthermore, the divide between urban and rural districts could also be a factor contributing to inequalities across the state.\u00a0 This divide is largely reflected in funding disparities, with rural schools receiving less funding from property taxes than their urban counterparts.\u00a0 Such funding disparities create unequal opportunities for students, and have the potential to inhibit the ability of rural students to reach their highest potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

Several of the steps Nebraska is taking to address or overcome these inequities are apparent in their plans to address under-performing schools.\u00a0 These measures are rehabilitory and remedial rather than punitive, and thus appear to help address inequalities rather than penalizing students and teachers as a result of them.\u00a0 A particular initiative that appears to help address the inequities persisting in the Nebraska public education system is designating schools as \u2018needs improvement\u2019 or CSI (Comprehensive Support and Improvement).\u00a0 There is also a TSI subcategory (Targeted Support and Improvement) intended for schools that primarily serve students that are English Language Learners (ELL) (Nebraska Department of Education, 2021).\u00a0 One of these designations makes a school a targeted priority school.\u00a0 It gives them access to a variety of resources intended to help them improve their quality of education such as professional development coaching, and new instructional materials.\u00a0 Measures such as these, that are rooted in striving for improvement rather than punishing struggling students and schools, attempt to both address and overcome inequities that persist in Nebraska\u2019s public education system.<\/span><\/p>\n

– – –<\/p>\n

A notable facet of Nebraska\u2019s public education system is its different options for school choice.\u00a0 Although discourse surrounding charter schools dominates much of America\u2019s public education landscape, Nebraska remains one of five states in the US that has not enacted laws allowing for the creation of charter schools (Nebraska School Choice Roadmap, 2022).\u00a0 In terms of school choice, the state offers traditional public schools, private schools, homeschooling, and online school options.\u00a0 The lack of charter schools in Nebraska gives a unique character to its educational landscape, and also gives the state a unique situation in America\u2019s larger public education landscape.\u00a0 While the absence of charter schools in Nebraska separates the state\u2019s students from the inequalities and instances of racial and economic segregation that often occur as a result of charter schools and school voucher problems, the lack of charter schools in Nebraska doesn\u2019t entirely eliminate educational inequities in the state.\u00a0 Nebraska schools still suffer from a lack of diversity and the persistence of student poverty, and the state\u2019s large rural population brings funding disparities between urban and rural schools to the forefront of issues facing the state\u2019s public schools.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lack of Common Core or Next Generation Science Standards present in the Nebraska public school curriculum feeds into this in a fascinating way as well.\u00a0 At first glance, a state deciding not to adhere to Common Core standards may seem like cause for concern.\u00a0 However, Nebraska\u2019s curriculum standards aren\u2019t entirely dissimilar to the Common Core ones.\u00a0 For example, a study by EdCount found that 417 of the 546 Common Core math standards were addressed by Nebraska\u2019s math standards, and that the standards were \u201csimplified and shorter, and yet they retained that rigor the common core has set as the new bar\u201d (Education Week, 2015).\u00a0 While the Common Core standards provide needed consistency across state lines in terms of curriculum development, it\u2019s worth noting that Nebraska\u2019s standards don\u2019t depart from the Common Core entirely.\u00a0 State-level standards have the opportunity to give teachers more flexibility to better adapt their curriculum to fit the needs of their students, and shifts attention away from performing well on national standardized testing.\u00a0 However, high-stakes testing doesn\u2019t disappear from view entirely, as Nebraska public schools will likely still be under pressure to perform well on state tests.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s possible that Nebraska\u2019s state-specific standards create extra pressure to achieve high scores on state-wide standardized tests when their curriculum doesn\u2019t follow the same standards as those in the rest of the nation. \u00a0As education becomes more and more politicized, and public and private education continue to intersect in the form of charter schools, Nebraska’s place in America’s education landscape will continue to evolve in fascinating ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Consulted:<\/p>\n

AQuESTT. \u201cAccountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow\u201d (web page), AQuESTT for Nebraska (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/aquestt.com\/about\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Education Commission of the States. \u201cEnglish Language Learners – State Profiel – Nebraska\u201d (web page), the Education Commission of the States (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/ecs.secure.force.com\/mbdata\/mbstcprofexc?Rep=ELP14&st=Nebraska<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

EducationWeek. \u201cNebraska\u2019s New Math Standards: A Comparison to the Common Core\u201d (web page), Editorial Projects in Education, Inc (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/teaching-learning\/nebraskas-new-math-standards-a-comparison-to-the-common-core\/2015\/09<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

National SchoolChoice Week. \u201cNebraska School Choice Roadmap\u201d (web page), National School Choice Week (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/schoolchoiceweek.com\/guide-school-choice-nebraska\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska Department of Education, <\/span>Rule 27: Regulations and Standards for Professional Practices Criteria<\/span><\/i>, effective November 12, 2003 (revised)<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska Department of Education. \u201cNebraska Schools Show Growth, Improvement on Assessment and Accountability Measures\u201d (web page), Nebraska.gov (website), accessed May 8, 2022, <\/span>https:\/\/www.education.ne.gov\/press_release\/nebraska-schools-show-growth-improvement-on-assessment-and-accountability-measures\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska Department of Education. \u201cAccountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow\u201d (web page), Nebraska.gov (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/www.education.ne.gov\/aquestt\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska Department of Education, <\/span>Statistics and Facts About Nebraska Schools 2021-2022<\/span><\/i>, 2021<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska\u2019s Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education. \u201cHigher Education Progress Report\u201d (web page), Nebraska.gov (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/ccpe.nebraska.gov\/higher-education-progress-report<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska Department of Education. \u201cContent Area Standards\u201d (web page), Nebraska.gov (website), accessed May 8, 2022 <\/span>https:\/\/www.education.ne.gov\/contentareastandards\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Nebraska State Education Association. “What We Do” (web page), Nebraska State Education Association (website), accessed May 9, 2022 https:\/\/www.nsea.org\/about-us<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nebraska Data Data Analysis: There are several factors that contribute to persistent inequalities in the Nebraska public education system.\u00a0 One of these factors is lack of diversity, particularly racial diversity.\u00a0 Nebraska is a state with a predominantly white population, and this translates to its public schools – 65.9% of male public school students are white, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-130","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/130\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/education-1101-spring-2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}