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NEBRASKA REVISIONS TO THE REVISED STATE PLAN
November 30, 2006
Requirement 1: The revised plan must provide a detailed analysis of the core
academic subject classes in the State that are currently not being taught by highly
qualified teachers. The analysis must, in particular, address schools that are not
making adequate yearly progress and whether or not these schools have more acute
needs than do other schools in attracting highly qualified teachers. The analysis
must also identify the districts and schools around the State where significant
numbers of teachers do not meet HQT standards, and examine whether or not there
are particular hard-to-staff courses frequently taught by non-highly qualified
teachers.
1) Does the revised plan include an analysis of classes taught by teachers who are
not highly qualified? Is the analysis based on accurate classroom level data?
The kind of information described in the following table can be found on the NDE
website at www.nde.ne.state.us under the State of the Schools Report section. The
information about non-HQ teachers has been added at the request of the review panel.
Table 1
NCLB Qualified Teachers
2004-05*
NCLB Content Number Number Percent Number of Percent taught
Areas of courses by HQ teachers
taught by taught by
Courses
nonHQ nonHQ taught by
teachers teachers HQ
teachers
ELEMENTARY 9030 96 1.06% 8934 98.94%
ENGLISH 10610 822 7.75% 9788 92.25%
LANGUAGE
ARTS
FOREIGN 3527 293 8.31% 3234 91.69%
LANGUAGES
MATHEMATICS 7673 252 3.28% 7421 96.72%
SCIENCES 7066 195 2.76% 6871 97.24%
CIVICS AND 1385 127 9.17% 1258 90.83%
GOVERNMENT
ECONOMICS 317 27 9.31% 290 91.48%
HISTORY AND 5064 480 9.48% 4584 90.52%
GEOGRAPHY
VISUAL AND 7054 149 2.11% 6905 97.89%
PERFORMING
NE revised version of the 2006 revised revised state plan – Nov 29, 2006 1
ARTS
TOTAL 51726 2441 4.72% 49285 95.28%
*These data do not include special education teachers because there was no data system
in place to collect the data in 2004-05, nor does the data include teachers who have
successfully completed the HOUSSE to become NCLB qualified.
Preliminary data are now available for the 05-06 school year and are presented in the
Revised Table 1 found on the following page. The Revised Table 1 includes courses
taught by Special Education teachers, but does not reflect the review of the HOUSSE
forms submitted for special education teachers. The results of the SPED HOUSSE
review will be included in the final version of this table which will be made public in
February 2007.
2004-05 and 2005-06*
NCLB Content Number Number Number Number Percent Percent Number Number Percent Percent
Areas of taught taught of of taught by taught
of taught taught
Courses courses HQ by
04-05 Courses by non by non by non by non courses taught teachers teachers
0506 HQ HQ HQ HQ taught by by HQ 04-05 05-06
teachers teachers teachers teachers HQ teachers
0405 0405 teachers 05-06
0506 0506
0405
ELEMENTARY 9030 10293 96 209 1.06% 2.03% 8934 10084 98.94% 97.97%
ENGLISH 10610 12089 822 834 7.75% 6.90% 9788 11255 92.25% 93.10%
LANGUAGE
ARTS
FOREIGN 3527 3742 293 126 8.31% 3.37% 3234 3616 91.69% 96.63%
LANGUAGES
MATHEMATICS 7673 8719 252 606 3.28% 6.95% 7421 8113 96.72% 93.05%
SCIENCES 7066 7546 195 198 2.76% 2.62% 6871 7348 97.24% 97.38%
CIVICS AND 1385 1428 127 22 9.17% 1.54% 1258 1406 90.83% 98.46%
GOVERNMENT
ECONOMICS 317 330 27 18 9.31% 5.45% 290 312 91.48% 94.55%
HISTORY AND 5064 5554 480 378 9.48% 6.81% 4584 5176 90.52% 93.19%
GEOGRAPHY
VISUAL AND 7054 7223 149 189 2.11% 2.62% 6905 7034 97.89% 97.38%
PERFORMING
ARTS
TOTAL 51726 56924 2441 2580 4.72% 4.53% 49285 54344 95.28% 95.47%
* preliminary data which does not include Special Education HOUSSE data but does include all Special Education teachers
responsible for teaching content and assigning grades to students with disabilities during the 05-06 school year and HOUSSE for
general education teachers.
The data on the website identifies the percentage of NCLB core academic area courses
that are taught by Highly Qualified Teachers. We believe that the website should present
data in a positive manner, not a negative one. For purposes of this report, we have
incorporated the information about courses taught by nonHighly Qualified Teachers.
The data system consists of a Fall Personnel Report that identifies all licensed employees
of each school district. All personnel who are identified as teachers are reported in the
Curriculum Report system on February 15th in which all teaching assignments are
identified by course name and number. The Nebraska Department of Education’s
Personnel/Curriculum System matches the curriculum report data with the teacher
certification system to determine the percentage of courses that each teacher is teaching
for which s/he is qualified.
Information about the qualifications of all teachers has been provided to all school
districts for all general education teachers for many years. Reports are created which
identify the courses in a district/building that are being taught by teachers who are not
endorsed to teach that subject. These reports are identified as the “non-endorsed reports”
and are provided to the school districts at the end of the school year so that assignment
changes can be made when possible and to assist in the hiring decisions when there is an
opportunity to correct the assignments. Continuing accreditation for the school district is
dependent upon the district meeting the percentages required in NDE’s Rule 10,
Accreditation of Schools. This system and the programming that support it have
undergone major revisions to enable collection and analysis of HQ data. Unless
additional modifications are required, the data and analyses should be more timely in
06-07.
Two new, but similar reports have been prepared that address the NCLB courses that are
being taught by non-HQ teachers. These NCLB reports, one for general education and
one for special education were provided to the school districts in October so they can
determine who needs to complete the HOUSSE or participate in appropriate professional
development that would assist in meeting the HOUSSE requirements. This information
is used by the district to correct assignments where possible and to develop the
professional development plan for each teacher who is not Highly Qualified in all NCLB
subjects which s/he teaches. These reports did not include those who are HQ through
successful completion of the HOUSSE.
These reports are not placed on the public website because they represent preliminary
data and are used to identify computer or reporting errors that are corrected before the
HQT data are made public.
The 2005-06 State of the Schools report will be completed in the same manner as the
2004-05 report card, with the addition of data reflecting HOUSSE qualified regular and
special education teachers and academic courses taught by special education teachers.
Special education teachers will complete HOUSSE forms by December 1, 2006 and the
results will be reflected in the final 05-06 data. A significant number of special
education teachers completed the HOUSSE for the 05-06 year, and it will be used for any
who need it in 06-07. Preliminary data on special education teachers in 05-06 suggests
that approximately 75% of these teachers possess both a special education and a content
certification. The degree to which the content certification matches the teaching
assignment will be known when the 05-06 data are finalized. These data were sent to
administrators in October, 2006 and they were available for use in modifying
assignments and establishing professional development plans.
It is important to understand that historically and nationally, special education teachers

have not been prepared with a content major in addition to their special education
preparation. There is a serious shortage of special education teachers in this country and
the impact is felt throughout the state, but especially in the small rural schools.
The data provided in Table 1, 2004-05 NCLB Qualified Teachers, identifies the subject
areas and the percentages of courses taught by teachers who are HQ and those who are
not HQ. This information is provided though the Curriculum Report system and linked
to the Teacher Certification system, and is very accurate since these data impact on the
accreditation of the schools.
In the smallest K-12 schools (classified as Class II schools and defined as districts
having a population of one thousand inhabitants or less that maintains both
elementary and high school grades under the direction of a single school board), it is
difficult to find a social studies teacher who is qualified to teach history, geography,
economics, civics and government. Most of them are prepared to teach history, but are
not endorsed in the other subjects. There are 18 school districts in this classification.
(See Table 9 on page 25 for the data on Class II schools as compared to the remainder
of the kinds of school districts.)
Foreign language teachers are also very difficult to find throughout the state even though
a significant number of international teachers are recruited to teach foreign languages in
Nebraska schools each year. A recent review of the foreign language teacher/course
data revealed a computer program problem that resulted in inflated data on non-HQ
teachers in 04-05 foreign language classrooms. We believe that this has been corrected
for the preparation of the 05-06 data and preliminary data indicate a significant
reduction in the number and percentage of non-HQ teachers of foreign language.
(See Revised Table 1.).
2) Does the analysis focus on the staffing needs of schools that are not making AYP?
Do these schools have high percentages of classes taught by teachers who are not
highly qualified?
Nebraska is a very rural state, with a large number of school districts and buildings.
There were 467 school districts with 1,138 buildings in Nebraska during the 04-05
school year. Of the 1,138 buildings in the state, 657 elementary buildings were 100%
HQT and 84 were not. There were 71 secondary buildings that were 100% HQT and 326
that were not. A total of 410 buildings out of 1,138 were not 100% HQT in 04-05.
In 04-05, of the 1138 buildings in the state, 99 elementary buildings were identified as
not making AYP. Of these 99 buildings, only five are not 100% HQ. The average HQ
of these five buildings is 93.99% HQ. The 85 AYP buildings that are secondary buildings
include fifteen buildings that are 100% HQT. There were 70 AYP secondary buildings
in 04-05 that were not 100% HQT.
In 06-07, all districts (including the AYP buildings) will be required to submit a plan that
describes the strategies they will use to increase the percentage of classes taught by
teachers who are NCLB qualified. The requirements for these plans have been added to
the NCLB Consolidated Application and will be reviewed and approved prior to district
use of any NCLB formula grant funds. On-site monitoring of the districts’ progress will
occur as part of the monitoring of the NCLB Consolidated Application which includes all
8 NCLB programs that generate funding to each of these schools.
A new list of AYP schools has been developed based on the 05-06 data. For 06-07, the
list includes one Title I elementary building that is in School Improvement and 65
elementary buildings that did not meet AYP. In Non-Title I buildings, there are 18
secondary schools in School Improvement and 48 buildings that did not meet AYP.
The AYP buildings will be compared with HQT percentages and specific technical
assistance will be provided as warranted, based on the analysis of those two factors.
Based on review of the data, including poverty, diversity, geographic location, and size, it
does not appear that there is any significant difference in the staffing needs of the AYP
schools as compared to the rest of Nebraska’s schools. A careful review of the 05-06
data will either confirm or reject the hypothesis that the AYP schools are not
significantly different than the non-AYP schools.
3) Does the analysis identify particular groups of teachers to which the State’s plan
must pay particular attention, such as special education teachers, mathematics or
science teachers, or multi-subject teachers in rural schools?
Nebraska’s State of the Schools Report (SOSR) reports annually on the number of
courses that are taught by Highly Qualified teachers. Data for the 2004-05 year, which
did not include utilization of the HOUSSE, (as shown in Table 2 below) and preliminary
data for 2005-06 was available to districts in October. All data, except the Special
Education HOUSSE data are currently available as preliminary data. A revised Table
2 is included that represents the preliminary data for 05-06. When the HOUSSE data
for special education teachers is included in the calculations, the data will be finalized
and will be accessible at www.nde.state.ne.us/SOSRpts.html and available for analysis.
It is anticipated that this will occur in February of 2007.
Preliminary analysis of the 05-06 data suggests that English/Language Arts,

Mathematics, and History/Geography are the three areas of greatest concern. Because
Reading and Math are the two content areas that impact AYP, and with the addition of
the special education teachers, significant efforts will be needed to address these two
content areas.
Table 2 has been revised to reflect the preliminary data for 05-06 without the inclusion
of the HOUSSE forms for special education teachers.
The 05-06 data reflect significant increases in the number of courses in

English/Language Arts and Mathematics. This is probably a reflection of the addition
of special education courses that are being taught by special education teachers. It is
also presumed that the high percentage of these courses taught by non-HQ teachers is
a reflection of the addition of special education to the data base. When the HOUSSE
data are included, a review of these data will occur and appropriate emphasis will be
given to professional development opportunities in these two areas.
Revised Table 2 NCLB Qualified Teachers (2004-05* and preliminary 2005-06)

NCLB Content Areas 05-06 04-05 05-06 Percent 04-05 Percent
non-HQ non- HQ taught by non- taught by non-HQ
Courses Courses HQ teachers teachers
Elementary 209 96 2.03% 1.06%
English Language Arts 834 822 6.90 7.75%
Foreign Languages 126 293 3.37% 8.31%
Mathematics 606 252 6.95% 3.28%
Sciences 198 195 2.62% 2.76%
Civics and Government 22 27 1.54% 9.17%
Economics 18 27 5.45% 9.31%
History and Geography 378 480 6.81% 9.48%
Visual and Perf. Arts 189 149 2.62% 2.11%
Total 2580 2441 4.53% 4.72%
*The 2004-05 data do not include special education teachers because there was no data
system in place to collect the data in 2004-05, nor does the data include teachers who
have successfully completed the HOUSSE to become NCLB qualified. The 05-06
preliminary data include special education teachers and the general education
teachers who have successfully completed the HOUSSE. Special Education teachers’
HOUSSE data are not included in this revised table.
In 2004-05, it was apparent that the courses in history and geography, civics and
government, and foreign language are most problematic. Further analysis of the data
indicates that the majority of these courses are problems for the rural schools where
social studies courses are frequently taught by teachers with a history endorsement, not a
social studies endorsement. History teachers have significant coursework in history
and some coursework in other areas of social studies, but are not considered HQ for
economics, geography, civics and government.
Foreign language teachers are in very short supply nationwide, and Nebraska is facing
the same dilemma. However, the 05-06 data substantiate the probable errors in the 04-
05 Foreign Language data as the percentage of those courses taught by non-HQ
teachers has decreased significantly and there has not been a significant change in the
foreign language teaching force within the state. Language arts courses are
frequently taught by teachers who are endorsed in English, not Language Arts. This
means that they are not HQ for courses such as Advanced Speech.
The Nebraska Department of Education contracts for a teacher shortage survey each year
to determine which content areas are in greatest demand. Special education teachers have
historically been the largest area of shortage, followed by foreign languages, science, and
music. That survey also shows consistently that schools with less than 500 students
report the greatest number of unfilled vacancies.
The Nebraska Department of Education provides a website for applicants and schools to
post their vacancies and candidate availability. This website,
www.nebraskaeducationjobs.com is used heavily by smaller school districts that do not
have the personnel to recruit teachers. Last year, more than 1,000 positions were posted
and 50% of the positions were filled through assistance from the website.
4) Does the analysis identify districts and schools around the State where significant
numbers of teachers do not meet HQT standards?
There are 1,138 buildings in Nebraska school districts. Of these buildings, 728 (64%) are
currently meeting the HQT objective with 100% of their core academic content teachers
highly qualified. This does not include those teachers who have successfully completed
HOUSSE during the 05-06 school year.
As stated earlier, the smaller school districts (and usually the most rural) have the greatest
difficulties finding teachers who are qualified to teach multiple subjects. This accounts
for the disparity in percentages of HQT teachers in the 93 smallest school districts, each
with a graduating class of 30 or fewer students. The following chart compares their
percentages with the state as a whole.
Table 3
2004-05*
NCLB Content Areas % taught by HQ % taught by HQ % taught by HQ
teachers in 93 smallest teachers in REAP teachers statewide
districts districts
Elementary 97.51% 97.76% 98.94%
English language arts 92.69% 92.21% 92.25%
Foreign languages 74.17% 78.35% 91.69%
Mathematics 95.05% 95.16% 96.72%
Sciences 96.02% 96.45% 97.24%
Civics and Govt. 87.89% 88.65% 90.83%
Economics 86.00% 91.67% 91.48%
History and Geog. 91.87% 92.34% 90.52%
Visual and perf. arts 93.04% 94.45% 97.89%
Total 90.47% 91.89% 94.17%
*These data do not include special education teachers because there was no data system
in place to collect the data in 2004-05, nor does the data include teachers who have
successfully completed the HOUSSE to become NCLB qualified. The cells that are
shaded in gray indicate lower percentages than the statewide percentage. Those that
are also identified in red are the content areas with the greatest needs to become HQ.
The REAP data added to the chart above demonstrates that there is some, but not
significant difference between the statewide data and the smallest school districts or
the REAP districts. The problem areas for the smallest districts and the REAP districts
are in the areas of foreign languages, the social science areas, and visual and
performing arts. These districts hire fewer teachers and expect them to teach a larger
variety of classes. The HOUSSE will be very important to them.
To identify districts and schools where significant numbers of teachers do not meet
HQT standards, Nebraska has defined “significant” as more than 10%. Analysis of the
LEA data indicates that this will include 45 districts, including 11 that are elementary
only districts. These districts will be a major focus for technical assistance by NDE,
teacher education institutions, our regional service centers (Education Service Units),
and SAHE project coordinators. The following chart provides information about the
34 districts that are not elementary-only districts (which are excluded since they have
become part of K-12 districts for the 06-07 school year.
When the 05-06 data are finalized, a comparative analysis of the 04-05 and the 05-06
data will be conducted. Technical assistance will focus on those districts that are not
making progress towards 100% HQT in any/all content areas.
All districts and buildings will receive on-site monitoring by NDE staff who will be
prepared to provide technical assistance on all segments of their Consolidated Plan.
The staff members involved in this process meet regularly and are scheduled for a
training session in January of 2007.
Table 4, on the following page, provides comprehensive data for 04-05 concerning HQ
teachers in the 34 districts that will be the major focus for technical assistance. The
data includes not only HQ status but the equity of distribution of experienced teachers.
The 05-06 data for these same districts will be carefully analyzed to determine progress
and needed technical assistance.
Table 4
District K12 Districts with less than 90% HQ Teachers in 0405
ELEMENTARY
Minority %_
Class of District
Population
Avg Yrs. Total Exp

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS
MATHEMATICS
SCIENCES
ECONOMICS
VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS
Experience % of Teachers w/ > 3 yrs.

Ave. % HQT
CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT
FRL %
HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY
FOREIGN LANGUAGES
1 43 0 50 100 100 100 100 100 42.8 0.00 0 16.6 62.1 VI 90.9
6 6 1
2 339 100 88.8 0 83.3 100 100 80 100 9.27 34.8 13.4 87.6 III 82.0
9 3 3 6 9 5
3 106 100 90 28.5 100 100 100 100 100 4.00 52 17.3 87.2 III 94.1
7 8 3 1
4 279 100 84.2 50 81.2 100 100 100 58.8 1.93 47.9 18.8 84.9 III 100
1 5 2 1 6 5
5 184 100 75 0 87.5 100 100 100 66.6 5.95 31.5 13.4 82.0 II 75
7 5 5
6 321 93.7 100 100 91.6 50 100 100 62.5 0.00 21.1 16.9 87.9 III 89.2
5 7 2 6 5 8
7 1 96.7 62.3 81.8 100 100 100 94.5 100 7.54 35.5 11.1 88.5 III 78.5
774 7 4 2 9 6 2 0 7
8 151 71.4 66.6 0 100 87.5 100 100 100 66.6 0.00 52.9 14.2 70.4 III 85.7
3 7 7 8 9 1
9 412 100 100 63.6 100 50 100 100 100 6.74 34.7 16.3 88.8 VI 86.9
4 5 9 5
10 420 78.9 92.8 100 100 100 100 38.4 50.0 52.8 16.4 86.9 VI 91.4
5 6 6 0 6 7 2 2
11 185 100 77.7 0 100 85.7 66.6 100 100 66.6 5.24 38.2 17.6 78.1 III 95
8 1 7 7 2 8 8
12 117 80 100 100 100 75 100 75 5.83 36.6 16.4 88.8 VI 100
7 6 9
13 200 88.8 100 0 100 100 50 75 100 2.42 29.9 14.5 88.6 II 94.7
9 5 3 8 3
14 1 100 67.6 100 97.3 83.3 100 100 100 100 4.35 25.7 18.9 88.9 III 96.6
315 1 3 3 8 7 6
15 166 100 100 83.3 100 0 42.8 100 2.34 22.2 18.7 82.1 VI 94.4
3 6 2 6 4 4
16 154 100 88.8 100 100 100 100 100 100 33.3 3.82 63.0 15.8 88.6 III 94.4
9 3 6 3 4 4
17 191 100 100 0 100 100 50 100 50 0.51 36.0 20.3 84.9 II 100
4 5 1
18 267 100 77.2 0 75 100 100 75 100 0.33 28.2 16.8 86.6 III 100
7 9 5 7
19 161 81.8 68.7 50 100 100 0 100 100 55.5 97.7 81.0 12.5 78.1 II 76
2 5 6 3 6 6 3
20 241 100 100 0 87.5 100 100 0 75 100 1.73 43.2 19.0 89.8 III 79.1
9 8 3 6
21 35 20 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 2.70 0 26.7 86.6 VI 100
5 7
22 523 100 75 25 100 100 100 100 100 3.33 30.9 18.5 88.5 III 95.5
2 6 2 5
23 760 100 78.2 100 50 100 100 100 100 100 22.1 33.5 20.0 89.4 III 96.8
6 2 1 6 7 7
24 75 80 100 100 83.3 100 100 66.6 1.33 37.3 16.2 88.4 VI 87.5
3 7 3 9 6
25 500 100 100 100 81.2 53.8 66.6 81.8 100 3.11 27.9 12.6 87.5 III 82.5
5 5 7 2 5 0
26 142 87.5 88.8 100 100 100 0 80 80 11.4 38.1 14 88.8 III 72.2
9 5 7 9 2
27 396 100 68.1 15.3 100 100 100 100 100 2.39 34.1 22.7 84.3 III 100
8 8 3 4 5
28 46 100 0 100 16.6 100 80 60 4.48 56.7 10.7 70.7 VI 60
7 2 3
29 280 100 80 100 100 100 100 80 75 99.6 81.3 15.3 88.8 III 96.7
2 7 9 7
30 391 100 91.6 0 100 100 100 100 80 100. 98.4 14.8 87.1 III 97.7
7 00 1 0 7
31 242 90 90 100 100 87.5 100 40 100 3.61 50.6 17.2 89.6 III 88.4
8 6 6
32 390 92.3 100 25 100 100 100 100 52.6 2.04 27.7 13.3 86.1 III 90.3
1 3 4 7 7 2
33 139 87.5 100 0 20 100 0 100 100 0.00 60.4 15.4 80.9 III 89.4
5 2 5 7
34 336 100 66.6 50 100 100 100 100 100 100 4.79 23.6 20.6 89.8 III 95
7 5 9 9
Tot 1 95.7 80.7 52.7 89.1 92.5 81.1 91.6 91.3 80.3 13.8 40.2 16.6 84.9 89.9
128 7 4 3 3 9 3 7 0 2 4 6 0 7 1
These 34 districts vary in size from a student population of 35 to 1,774. The average
percentage of HQ teachers is lower than any other grouping of districts, but the
average percentage of experienced teachers is high. These 34 districts have a total
enrollment of 11,281 students, which represents 4% of the state’s K-12 public school
enrollment. This list will also be used to address Requirement 3, Question #1.
5) Does the analysis identify particular courses that are often taught by non-highly
qualified teachers?
The courses that are most frequently taught by non-highly qualified teachers are
economics, civics and government, geography, and foreign languages.
If a teacher has a History endorsement, not a Social Sciences endorsement, then the
Geography classes that s/he teaches are considered as courses taught by a non-HQ
teacher. Professional development, additional college courses or the HOUSSE are the
only options for teachers in these circumstances. Language arts courses, other than
English, are also problematic. This includes Advanced Speech and other courses
commonly taught by Language Arts teachers.
Foreign language teachers are in very short supply. However, a recent review of the
teacher quality data indicates that the computer program that provides the data for
determining HQ teachers contained an error that makes the 04-05 foreign language
data suspect. The problem will be corrected in the 05-06 data.
The Nebraska Legislature provided funds to strengthen the state’s distance learning
network so that school districts will be able to offer courses being taught elsewhere in the
state. This system will allow existing HQ teachers of foreign language to reach students
in buildings where there is no HQ teacher of foreign language on staff. The only other
option currently available to schools is to utilize on-line courses that are taught by a
HQ teacher. Current distance learning teachers of foreign language were not
appropriately recognized in the 04-05 computer program protocol. The data will be
more accurate in the 05-06 data.
Nebraska is working on two specific strategies to assist schools in increasing their

percentage of HQ teachers. The first strategy is the Transitional Teaching certificate
program which was developed through a federal Transition to Teaching grant (which is
Nebraska’s alternative certification route). Even though there are 93 districts with 30 or
fewer graduates annually, many of them did not meet the census data criteria for
qualification as a high-need school, as required by the Transition to Teaching grant. In
spite of that, the program has been instrumental in placing 65 Transitional Teaching
certificated teachers in approximately 42 settings over the past three years. Many of
these settings are represented in the list of 93 very small districts.
Another strategy is the Attracting Excellence to Teaching program which was approved
by the Nebraska Legislature in 2001 but was not funded due to the budget crises that
were being faced in most states. Funding for this program has been reinstated for the
2006-07 school year and will fund 100 scholarships in the first year, 200 in year two, 300
in year three, and 400 in years four and after.
This program addresses two HQ issues: 1) the program gives priority for
scholarships/loans to prospective teachers who are preparing to work in the shortage
areas, and 2) the loans are forgiven on a year for year basis if the graduates teach in
Nebraska, but are forgiven on 2:1 ratio if they teach in the schools that are considered
“most sparsely populated” in the state aid formula.
Requirement 2: The revised plan must provide information on HQT in each LEA
and the steps the SEA will take to ensure that each LEA has plans in place to assist
teachers who are not highly qualified to attain HQT status as quickly as possible.
1) Does the plan identify LEAs that have not met annual measurable objectives for
HQT?
There were 467 LEAs in the State of Nebraska in 2004-05. Those LEAs operate 1,138
buildings. Of those buildings, 728 are already 100% HQT. More accurate data will be
available when the 05-06 data are available in October. The new data will include
teachers who have been identified as HQ as a result of the HOUSSE process and will
give some indication of the number of special education teachers who will be required to
meet Highly Qualified Teacher requirements. We have no trend data to assist us since our
HQT definition changed in 2005 following the monitoring visit that caused our HQT
process to be revised.
Effective June 15, 2006, 211 LEAs (which were elementary-only districts) were
consolidated under major school consolidation legislation. As a result, there will be only
254 LEAs in the 2006-07 school year. This reorganization of the districts will
significantly impact our ability to provide trend data in the future, but will also lessen the
data analysis burden. NDE will need to create new baseline data and monitor schools
from the new baseline. New Annual Measurable Objectives will be established to
reflect the reorganization of school districts that occurred. The goal for each building
and district will be 100% HQT, but the annual measurable objectives will be progress
towards the goal if it is not already met.
2) Does the plan include specific steps that will be taken by LEAs that have not met
annual measurable objectives?
The NCLB Consolidated Application, which is completed annually by each district, now
requires a district plan that identifies the steps that will be taken to reach HQT status as
soon as possible, if not already at 100%. See the response to Requirement 1, Question 2.
3) Does the plan delineate specific steps the SEA will take to ensure that all LEAs
have plans in place to assist all non-HQ teachers to become HQ as quickly as
possible?
These plans are part of the NCLB Consolidated Application and will be reviewed
annually by the NDE staff responsible for monitoring each LEA. Technical assistance
will be provided as needed. No NCLB formula grant funds will be available to an LEA
until their plan is approved.
Requirement 3: The revised plan must include information on the technical

assistance, programs, and services that the SEA will offer to assist LEAs in
successfully completing their HQT plans, particularly where large groups of
teachers are not highly qualified, and the resources the LEAs will use to meet their
HQT goals.
1) Does the plan include a description of the technical assistance the SEA will
provide to assist LEAs in successfully carrying out their HQT plans?
LEAs with significant needs (more than 10% of their courses taught by non-HQ teachers)
will be placed on a list that will be distributed to the colleges and universities that offer
college courses either on-line or during the summer so that teachers can participate. The
Educational Service Units (regional service agencies in Nebraska that provide staff
development opportunities for schools in their regions) will receive the same list. The
Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education (Nebraska’s SAHE)
will also receive the list and will encourage the targeted schools to participate in
appropriate projects, particularly those funded with Title IIA monies. The Commission
will be encouraged to ask funded projects to give priority for participation to teachers
from the targeted schools. Data about these schools can be found on page 10 of this
plan. Schools that did not meet AYP and have less than 90% HQT will be targeted for
focused technical assistance and will be encouraged to use their Title II funds for that
purpose.
The Math and Science Partnership program has initiated statewide professional
development grants in Science and Math and specifically targeted teachers needing to
meet NCLB requirements for HQT in schools and districts that did not make AYP. This
should be helpful to the small percentage of math and science teachers who are assigned
to teach areas for which they are not appropriately endorsed or HOUSSE qualified.
Special education teachers will be a focus for professional development in math and
science.
NDE will be providing training for principals over the next two years that focuses on
creation of an environment that improves achievement of students. That training is
“Balanced Leadership” which is provided by the North Central Comprehensive Center
(NCCC) and McREL. Eighty-five principals began their training in October, 2006.
From that group, 20 have been identified to become Professional Developers and will
provide the same training to principals in their geographic areas. Principals in targeted
schools will be strongly encouraged to participate and will be given priority in the
selection of the participants in the geographic area trainings.
NDE’s curriculum consultants provide numerous content workshops during the summer
months that are designed to address K-12 content standards and teaching strategies. The
list of schools will also be provided to them so that they can provide technical assistance
as well.
The list of districts on page 10, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 28 will be a focus for targeted
recruitment for a variety of professional development activities, including college
courses.
2) Does the plan indicate that the staffing and professional development needs of
schools that are not making AYP will be given high priority?
The same processes described previously will be utilized to assist the schools that are not
making AYP. Schools not making AYP receive additional funding and submit an
improvement plan. There are 99 elementary and 85 secondary buildings that did not
make AYP. Of those 184, 99 were 100% HQ. Schools that have teachers needing to
meet HQT status will be required to include professional development for the non-HQ
teachers as part of their improvement plan.
Although the NDE cannot influence the hiring practices of schools, special efforts will be
made to ensure that the AYP schools and those schools with the greatest percentages of
non-HQT teachers are utilizing the services of the department, and are posting vacant
teaching positions on our website which has been highly successful in helping schools
find teachers to fill vacant positions.
3) Does the plan include a description of programs and services the SEA will provide
to assist teachers and LEAs in successfully meeting HQT goals?
In addition to the previous statements, NDE has been instrumental in creating the
Transition to Teaching program and the Transitional Teaching Certificate which has
significantly lessened the number of teachers who were teaching out-of-field. Other
activities initiated/supported by NDE include:
• Assistance with the development and receipt of federal grants to create a career
ladder program for Natives who wish to become teachers and teach in Nebraska’s
schools with high percentages of Native students.
• Travel by the NDE foreign language consultant to Spain and Germany to recruit
teachers to Nebraska for a period of three years as a means of lessening our severe
shortage of foreign language teachers. This is an ongoing process.
• Strong emphasis on management of the federal loan forgiveness program
emanating from Perkins and Stafford loans, in order for recipients to pay off their
loans or take advantage of the forgiveness provisions. This is an ongoing process.
• Emphasis by the State Board’s advisory committee on teacher education and
teacher certification to address the recruitment, retention, and renewal issues
surrounding the teaching profession and supporting legislative proposals that
address these issues. It is anticipated that a legislative proposal will be developed
for introduction in January, 2007.
• Development of a task force on professional development as a new requirement
for license/certificate renewal. This task force has been working to strengthen the
requirements for certificate renewal in a manner that is consistent with the
expectations of NCLB and HQT. This may also be a part of the legislative
package.
• Utilization of Teacher Quality Grant funds to develop and support a Teacher
World experience for high school students who expressed interest in becoming
teachers. This one-week, on-campus experience focused on attracting minority
students to the teaching profession. This camp was held for four years, and some
of the participants are now enrolled in teacher education programs. Funding has
expired for this activity.
• Provide presentations in a variety of settings to assist school administrators,
teacher educators, and teachers in understanding the HQT requirements and
strategies for meeting those requirements.
• Encourage teacher education programs to recruit diverse candidates to increase
the pool of teachers who can work effectively in our most diverse schools. Assist
those programs that have funding available to recruit diverse candidates and
provide support services to assure that they are successful.
• Future Educators Clubs are being sponsored by a number of school districts and
assisted by teacher education programs. Efforts are underway to develop a
statewide conference for these local organizations as a way to enhance the
recruitment of quality candidates to the teaching profession.
• Teacher education programs are recruiting individuals with baccalaureate
degrees into preparation programs as a method of increasing the availability of
HQ teachers. Fast-track programs and programs to assist existing teachers in
becoming HQ special education teachers are being offered in a number of
Nebraska teacher education programs.
4) Does the plan specifically address the needs of any subgroups of teachers
identified in Requirement 1?
The subgroups of teachers identified in Requirement 1 (English/language arts, history

and geography, civics and government, economics, foreign language, and mathematics)
will be suggested as priorities for the SAHE when the next round of Title IIA proposals
are received. A representative of NDE sits on the review panel when the proposals are
evaluated and provides support for the funding of those projects which best address the
HQT needs of schools.
5) Does the plan include a description of how the State will use its available funds
(e.g., Title I, Part A; Title II, Part A, including the portion that goes to the State
agency for higher education; other Federal and State funds, as appropriate) to
address the needs of teachers who are not highly qualified?
In addition to all of the activities identified in #3, Title IIA funds are being used to
support Balanced Leadership for principals. The Math and Science Partnership money is
supporting professional development for math and science teachers. SAHE monies are
supporting projects for math teachers, social science teachers, teachers who are working
on Spanish endorsements, and reading/writing professional development for elementary
teachers.
Federal funds for Special Education are being used to develop the data bases that will
allow NDE to include Special Education HQT data on the State of the Schools Report.
6) Does the plan for the use of available funds indicate that priority will be given to
the staffing and professional development needs of schools that are not making
AYP?
NDE believes that HQT and AYP are equal priorities for all available funds. As a result,
the projects and activities that are funded are designed to serve both audiences and all of
the schools in either category. For example, priority is given to math and science
teachers who are not HQ when the Math and Science Partnership grantees provide
professional development opportunities for teachers.
Requirement 4: The revised plan must describe how the SEA will work with LEAs
that fail to reach the 100 percent HQT by the end of the 2006-07 school year.
1) Does the plan indicate how the SEA will monitor LEA compliance with the LEAs
HQT plans described in Requirement 2 and hold LEAs accountable for fulfilling
their plans?
Each district will submit a plan for meeting HQT goals as part of their NCLB
Consolidated Application each year. The NCLB Consolidated Application includes Titles
I-A, II-A, II-D, III-LEP, III-IA, IV-A, V and Migrant. Monitoring of the NCLB
Consolidated Application and all eight programs includes an on-site visit at least once
every three years. NCLB’s HQT requirements and the HQT plans will be reviewed
during these on-site visits.
Nebraska will continue to annually monitor and distribute to schools the Personnel,
Curriculum, and “non-endorsed” reports to determine if teachers of NCLB’s core
academic areas, including Special Education teachers, are meeting the HQT
requirements.
Nebraska did not receive a decision on its January, 2005 monitoring visit until March,
2006. That decision addressed the issue of new elementary teachers and changed
Nebraska’s process from a statewide assessment to passage of a content/skills
standardized test. The testing process began with the Fall, 2006 semester.
The Special Education section of NDE began collecting teacher qualification data during
the 2005-06 school year and is utilizing the HOUSSE for the 05-06 school year. Until
the 05-06 data are analyzed, there is no substantive data concerning the number of
secondary special education teachers who are subject to HQT.
Even with the consolidation of districts noted earlier, there are 136 districts eligible for
the REAP program. NDE will work with these schools so they use the HOUSSE
procedure effectively. That process will continue in the fall, following discussion with
school administrators at their annual fall conference in early August.
NDE has developed a tracking mechanism for analyzing all buildings’ progress and
tracking their AYP and HQT data over time. Once the data are public, analysis will
occur to determine progress or non-progress on their annual measurable objectives for
HQT and the information will be reviewed with NDE staff members designated as
monitors for these buildings. These actions will occur following the establishment of
new baseline data. Any building that does not make progress for two consecutive years
will receive technical assistance from NDE and will be subject to the provisions of
Section 2141 of the ESEA.
2) Does the plan show how technical assistance from the SEA to help LEAs meet the
100 percent HQT goal will be targeted toward LEAs and schools that are not
making AYP?
All Title I schools and districts not making AYP receive an on-site visit from the Title I
office to determine areas of need and the technical assistance needed. These needs are
then reviewed with NDE staff to provide a support team to work with them. NDE staff
will provide assistance in targeting professional development and other school
improvement activities as part of our technical assistance.
NDE utilizes a variety of methods to provide information to LEAs regarding HQT and
AYP. The Administrator of Federal Programs broadcasts a monthly update to all schools
on NCLB. Regular email bulletins are sent to school administrators as well. Staff
members provide technical assistance in person, by telephone, mail and email as needed.
Each LEA is assigned an NDE staff person who acts as the liaison between NDE and the
LEA.
State staff members with responsibilities for NCLB meet twice monthly to assure that
regulations are being addressed and problems are being resolved.
3) Does the plan describe how the SEA will monitor whether LEAs attain 100
percent HQT in each LEA and school:
• In the percentage of highly qualified teachers at each LEA and school; and
• In the percentage of teachers who are receiving high-quality professional
development to enable such teachers to become highly qualified and
successful classroom teachers?
Both of these issues are addressed in the NCLB Consolidated Application that the LEA
must submit electronically at the beginning of the year in order to receive funds. The
LEA plan must show how the district will support and help non-HQ teachers gain content
knowledge, including the following:
• Provide professional development opportunities
• Use Title I and Title II-A funds
• Provide funds for college courses, if appropriate.
In order to be accredited in Nebraska, all LEAs must have a professional development

plan on file for every teacher employed by the district. The state statute governing this
requirement stipulates that all teachers who are not probationary teachers must complete
at least six hours of approved coursework every six years or participate in an equivalent
amount of approved professional development. It is the responsibility of the district to
approve the work, maintain the records, and assure that the statute is being met. The
information is kept at the local level and is reviewed during an on-site monitoring visit.
This requirement and the related documentation will be an avenue to insure that HQT is a
primary consideration in the professional development planning.
4) Consistent with ESEA 2141, does the plan include technical assistance or
corrective actions that the SEA will apply if LEAs fail to meet HQT and AYP goals?
When an LEA fails to make progress towards meeting the objective of 100% HQT for
two consecutive years, the LEA will be required to develop an improvement plan that
will enable the LEA to meet its objectives. This plan will address the issues that have
been identified by the LEA that are preventing it from meeting the goal of 100% HQT.
NDE will provide technical assistance to the LEA in the development of the plan, provide
information on strategies that can be used to implement the plan and meet the objectives,
and monitor their progress.
Requirement 5: The revised plan must explain how and when the SEA will
complete the HOUSSE process for teachers not new to the profession who were
hired prior to the end of the 2005-06 school year, and how the SEA will discontinue
the use of HOUSSE procedures for teachers hired after the end of the 2005-06
school year (except for the situations described below).
1) Does the plan describe how and when the SEA will complete the HOUSSE process
for all teachers not new to the profession who were hired before the end of the 2005-
06 school year?
It is anticipated that all veteran teachers hired before the end of the 2005-06 school year,
whose assignments do not change, will have completed the HOUSSE process by the end
of the 06-07 school year. However, it is unlikely that all of the special education teachers
can meet the HOUSSE requirements by that time since content knowledge has not been a
requirement for them until IDEA was revised in 2005.
Nebraska will continue to use the HOUSSE process on a case-by-case basis for special
education teachers with core content teaching assignments. Beyond that group of
educators, the HOUSSE will be continued as needed for the following circumstances:
• Teachers of core academic subjects who are given new assignments for which
they are not HQ;
• Teachers coming to Nebraska from other states and are not already considered
HQ;
• Teachers returning to the profession who have not had the opportunity or need
to be HQ;
• Teachers in REAP schools who are qualified in one core academic area and
have two additional years to become qualified in the other areas.
2) Does the plan describe how the State will discontinue the use of HOUSSE after
the end of the 2005-06 school year, except in the following situations:
• Multi-subject secondary teachers in rural schools who, if HQ in one subject
at the time of hire, may use HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in
additional subjects within three years of the date of hire; or
• Multi-subject special education teachers who are new to the profession, if HQ
in language arts, mathematics, or science at the time of hire, may use
HOUSSE to demonstrate competence in additional subjects within two years
of the date of hire.
Nebraska has 136 rural school districts that will be eligible to use HOUSSE to
demonstrate competence of teachers who teach in multiple subject areas, as long as they
are already NCLB qualified in one core academic subject area. A specific data analysis
process is being established to identify which teachers are eligible for this flexibility and
technical assistance will be provided to the LEAs to assure that this requirement can be
met as needed.
The same process will be utilized to identify multi-subject special education teachers who
can benefit from the HOUSSE provisions, as long as they are already HQ in one of the
core academic areas.
Nebraska will make every effort to limit the use of the HOUSSE to these circumstances.
Use of the HOUSSE will be limited to the following circumstances, on a case-by-case
basis:
• when a teacher returns to the profession,
• When the assignments get changed to address local needs, or
• When a teacher comes from another state and needs the HOUSSE to be
approved in Nebraska , and
• When special education teachers are assigned to teach content and assign
grades to students with disabilities.
Nebraska is a rural state and, as a result, professional development and college

coursework are not easily accessible to teachers in the rural schools of Nebraska. The
state is developing a new distance learning infrastructure that, in time, will ease this
burden significantly. However, it is going to be several years before the infrastructure is
in place throughout the state.
Requirement 6: The revised plan must include a copy of the State’s written “equity
plan” for ensuring that poor or minority children are not taught by inexperienced,
unqualified, or out-of-field teachers at higher rates than other children.
1) Does the revised plan include a written equity plan?
The equity plan can be found on pages 21-31 of this document.
2) Does the plan identify where inequities in teacher assignment exist?
Inequities in teacher assignments are addressed on pages 22-26.
3) Does the plan delineate specific strategies for addressing inequities in teacher
assignment?
Specific strategies are addressed on pages 27-28.
4) Does the plan provide evidence for the probable success of the strategies it
includes?
Probable success is addressed on page 28.
5) Does the plan indicate that the SEA will examine the issue of equitable teacher
assignment when it monitors LEAs, and how this will be done?
Plans for monitoring equitable teacher assignment are addressed on pages 28-31.
NEBRASKA’S EQUITY PLAN
The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has had a comprehensive curriculum

and personnel data system for more than 10 years. This system provides data on all
personnel employed by each district who work in a professional capacity. The data is
currently provided on pre-printed forms which reflect the previous year’s data and
school personnel are expected to update the data to reflect the current year. The
system is currently labor-intensive because all of the data submitted to NDE is
reviewed and manually entered in the statewide data system. During the 05-06 year, a
pilot of the new Nebraska Staff and Student Reporting System (NSSRS) was conducted
with 15 school districts representative of all sizes and geographic locations of schools
across the state. The new system will provide for data entry by the school districts
through a portal. Following entry, the data will be reviewed for accuracy and the
districts will have an opportunity to correct data errors. Based on the pilot year,
modifications have been made and the schools will provide data on parallel systems
during the 06-07 school year to ensure that quality data are provided.
Both of the systems provide the following:

• Unique identifiers of teachers and all other professional employees of the
districts. The old system is based on Social Security numbers. The new system
will provide unique identification numbers that mask the social security
numbers.
• Data about the professionals such as highest degree earned and course
assignments for those who are identified as teachers. (Special education
teacher assignments have been added to the system in 05-06. All other
teachers have been providing assignment data for many years.)
• Years of experience, both in the profession and in the school district
Data from the Personnel/Curriculum system is linked to the Teacher Certification

system by the unique identifier numbers of the employees so that reports can be
generated by district and building that describe the following:
• Certification status, including types of certificates held, previous certificates,
content preparation, and expiration dates of all current certificates
• Employment experience in Nebraska schools
• Highest degree earned, when earned, and from what institution
• The courses being taught by each teacher and whether the teacher is
appropriately prepared to teach each course, and
• Scores on Praxis tests, if required.
The new system will provide comprehensive information about students that have not
been available previously. The student data system will allow for tracking students
from building to building, district to district, to employment and to postsecondary
education.
An addition to the Teacher Certification system has been made which allows
administrators and the public to “look-up” teachers who have been deemed HQ by
completing the statewide assessment for “new to the profession” elementary teachers
in 05-06 and those teachers who have successfully completed the HOUSSE and the
academic area(s) completed. Beginning in the 06-07 year, look-up data will also be
available for the “new to the profession” elementary education graduates who have
successfully completed the Praxis II test and are considered HQ
1) Inequities in teacher assignment
Nebraska Department of Education Rule 10, Accreditation of Public Schools, has for
many years required each school district, regardless of student demographics, to meet the
following requirements in terms of teacher assignments:
• 95% of all courses taught to elementary students must be taught by appropriately
endorsed teachers;
• 90% of all courses taught to middle school students must be taught by
appropriately endorsed teachers;
• 80% of all courses taught to students in grades 9-12 must be taught by
appropriately endorsed teachers;
This requirement is broader than the core academic areas identified in NCLB. As a
result, school districts are very careful in their assignment of teachers to match courses
appropriately.
A report is provided to each school district identifying the courses that are not taught by
appropriately prepared teachers. This report is calculated by comparing the courses
identified on the Curriculum Report completed by each teacher and the endorsements on
that teacher’s certificate based on the Teacher Certification data base. This report is
provided to the school district during the summer so that every effort can be made to
assign courses appropriately or to arrange for professional development for the teacher to
assist him/her in gaining the necessary knowledge and skill to teach the course(s)
inappropriately assigned.
The Approval and Accreditation Section of the Nebraska Department of Education

(NDE) reviews each school district’s data annually to assure that the Rule 10
requirements are being met. If they are not, corrections must be made or the district will
be recommended for probationary status the following year. It is very seldom that a
school district is not able to make the corrections for the following year.
The same process is completed for NCLB core academic areas, although the focus for
these courses and teachers is the goal of 100% HQT. Beginning with the 06-07 school
year, the data report for HQT will be provided to each school district on an annual basis.
This report assists the administrators with assignment of teachers, planning for
professional development in the needed content area(s), and completion of the HOUSSE
as appropriate. This information is also placed on the State of the Schools Report and is
available for each public school district and building. The 2005-06 data will incorporate
data from the 2005-06 HOUSSE process and the new data gathered on special education
teachers.
The same process is also completed (starting with 05-06) for special education teachers
who were totally excluded from the 04-05 data. The 05-06 finalized data will include
all courses taught by special education teachers that are part of the HQ reporting
process.
NDE has developed a system to query school district information, including student
characteristics (minority population, low-income population, experience of teachers, and
percentage of courses taught by HQT) so that it is relatively easy to identify districts and
buildings that are not distributing quality teachers appropriately. Information from this
system will be provided to NDE staff members who are responsible for monitoring the
LEAs and approving the NCLB consolidated application annually.
2) Inequities in assignments currently exist in the following settings:
Data from the Personnel/Curriculum Report system facilitates an analysis of potential

inequities in assignments of teachers in a variety of settings. A comprehensive data set
of school district information provided the following summary information concerning
district demographics and personnel assignments.
The data system contains comprehensive data on every public school building in the
state. Data elements include: student demographics, minority percentage, poverty
percentage, percentage of HQ courses by content area, and percentage of teachers with
more than 3 years of experience in the building. The NDE Data Center combines all
of these data elements (which are found on the State of the Schools Report website)
into an Excel file which is utilized by the Federal Programs section and the Teacher
Quality section to determine which schools are not meeting expectations.
Data provided in this plan is representative of the data system, but does not identify
individual buildings. That information is examined by NDE staff and technical
assistance is provided by the staff members that are monitoring those buildings.
Inequities that are identified by the analyses are addressed in a variety of ways that
have been described in other parts of this plan.
Table 5
District Data 04-05
Type of # of Ave. % of Ave. % Ave.% Ave. years Ave. % of
District District HQ Minorit Poverty Teaching Teachers
s Courses y Student Experienc w/
Student s e +3 years
s Experience
All Districts 467 95.81 8.34 28.99 16.09 89.38
Class I Dist. 211 97.93 6.82 19.90 15.01 88.68
Class II 18 92.51 9.55 44.21 15.06 87.13
Dist.
High 75 94.65 18.32 64.70 15.32 86.26
Poverty
High 15 92.77 71.61 53.31 14.03 80.59
Minority
REAP Dist. 347 95.56 6.50 28.88 16.12 88.74
Class I school districts are elementary-only districts (K-6 or K-8) under the direction of
a single school board.
Class II districts represent a area having a population of one thousand inhabitants or
less and maintain both elementary and secondary grades under the direction of a
single school board.
High Poverty districts are those with a student population that is more than 50%
eligible for Free or Reduced Lunch.
High Minority districts are those with a student population that is more than 50% non-
Caucasian.
Rural schools
A review of the HQT data from the 347 school districts that are eligible for the Small
Rural School Achievement Program (REAP) illustrate the difficulties that many of these
schools have in assigning NCLB qualified teachers in all subjects. Of the 347 districts,
162 are elementary only (Class I) school districts. There are 185 REAP districts that
contain both elementary and secondary education programs. Only 20 of these districts
were able to achieve 100% HQT in their elementary and secondary schools. The
remaining 165 districts had percentages of HQT ranging from 99.43% to 60%. The
districts with the smallest enrollment have the greatest difficulty because they cannot
afford to hire enough teachers or attract those with the broadest qualifications. The 162
Class I (elementary only) districts will not exist following the 05-06 school year
because they have been assimilated into the K-12 districts. The remaining rural
districts that will rely heavily on HOUSSE are in sparsely populated areas where there
are fewer professional development opportunities.
The percentages of HQ teachers at the elementary and secondary levels for the REAP
districts are shown in the following table.
Table 6
Comparison of the percentages of courses taught by HQ teachers in the 347 REAP
districts, Class II districts and All districts
Elem Eng/L For.Lan M Science Civ. Econ Hist. Perf.

. A g ath s & . & Arts
Govt. Geog
Class 98.37 91.19 50.00 97.3 99.38 80.56 75.00 96.71 90.8
II 5 2
R 97.76 92.21 78.35 95.1 96.45 88.65 91.67 92.34 94.4
EAP 6 5
All 98.19 92.20 81.44 95.4 96.96 88.75 91.43 92.01 95.3
3 7
The Class II districts have the greatest difficulty in meeting HQ requirements because
of the small populations they serve in very sparsely populated areas. HOUSSE will be
critical for many of the REAP districts, but especially important for the Class II
districts.
Urban schools
Nebraska’s two largest school districts, Omaha and Lincoln, with student populations of
46,686 and 32,505, are considered by Nebraskans to be urban schools. Nationally, urban
schools are usually considered as fraught with problems of inequity across the district.
Nebraska’s urban schools, according to the data, have few inequities in assignments
because there are more opportunities for teachers to teach in the areas for which they are
prepared. Nebraska’s two largest districts, Omaha and Lincoln, do not have problems
with turn-over. The majority of teachers in all schools in both districts have many years
of experience. That is true in all buildings, regardless of the poverty level of the building
or the racial composition of the student body. The following table illustrates the level of
experience in teachers that are employed in the urban buildings with the highest
percentages of minority and poverty students (defined as more than 50% in each of the
two categories). Lincoln has only three buildings out of 56 with high levels of both
minority and poverty. None of those buildings has less than 90% of the courses being
taught by HQ teachers. Omaha has 42 buildings out of the 85 with high levels of both
minority and poverty. There are four buildings in the Omaha district with less than
90% of the courses being taught by HQ teachers and all of them are middle schools.
Table 7
Data on Urban buildings with >50% Minority and Poverty
Type of Popul # of Ave. % Ave. % Ave.% Ave. years Ave. % of
District ation Bldg of HQ Minority Poverty Teaching Teachers w/
s Courses Students Students Experience +3 years
Experience
Lincol 32,305 56 96.8 19.24 30.24 16.05 90.80
n
Bldg. A 480 1 100 54.11 86.00 15.58 95.35
B 360 1 100 62.22 75.28 13.33 85.00
C 450 1 96.43 63.33 76.00 16.66 95.833
Omaha 46,686 85 93.93 54.02 54.75 11.12 73.06

Bldg. A 870 1 87.92 52.64 53.45 9.93 68.42
B 743 1 89.15 54.51 61.51 12.18 72.55
C 411 1 88.89 67.88 65.45 10.49 56.41
D 902 1 87.74 73.42 61.84 9.02 58.54
Native schools
There are four districts in northeast Nebraska where the students are primarily native.
These districts’ HQT percentages are lower than the average for the state and their
poverty level (FRL) is higher. NDE has two full time staff members who are working
directly with these schools to improve student achievement. The University of Nebraska
– Lincoln has a new federal grant (Indigenous Roots teacher education program) to
prepare Native teachers so they can improve their HQT percentages. This program
was preceded by another federal grant (the Native American Career Ladder Program)
which prepared 20 Native students for teaching careers. The University of Nebraska-
Lincoln has also developed a class for future teachers, focused on understanding
Native students and their culture so that the instructional processes will be successful
when working with Natives. Significant efforts are being made at the state and local
level to improve the educational experiences for the students and families in these
districts. These districts will continue to be a focus for NDE and HQT. Data concerning
these four districts is illustrated in the following table.
Table 8
Native American School District Data
Type of Popul # of Ave. % Ave. % Ave.% Ave. years Ave. % of

District ation Bldg of HQ Minority Poverty Teaching Teachers w/
Courses Students Students Experience +3 years
Experience
A 161 2 78.13 97.73 81.06 12.56 76.0
B 371 3 87.10 100.0 98.4 14.81 97.73
C 280 2 88.89 99.62 81.3 15.37 96.77
D 457 2 92.59 98.70 80.95 12.16 80.00
High Poverty schools

There are 7 districts in Nebraska schools where both poverty and minority population
exceed 50%. Analysis of these districts was performed to determine the level of poverty,
minority population, and HQT. This analysis resulted in a list of three school districts
where the HQT was below 90% and the minority and poverty percentages were 50% or
higher.
Two of the districts are Class I school districts that have been dissolved for the 06-07
year and students are now in K-12 school districts. The percentage of HQ in those two
districts was 100%.
Three of the districts are Native districts and are represented in the Native Schools
District Table above. For this analysis, high poverty was defined as 50%, high minority
was defined as 50% of the school population, and low HQT was defined as 90% or less
of the courses taught by a Highly Qualified Teacher. The remaining two districts with
high poverty and minority populations had district-wide HQ percentages that exceeded
90%.
It is apparent from this analysis that inequitable distribution of HQ teachers in the
districts is not based solely on poverty, minority population, or lack of NCLB qualified
teachers.
3) Specific strategies that will be used to address inequities in assignments include:
The following strategies will be utilized specifically to assist the rural schools
• A comparison of the data from 2004-05 to 05-06 will be completed to determine
the impact of HOUSSE data on the rural schools and technical assistance will be
provided to schools in completing the HOUSSE.
• Professional development opportunities will be identified and advertised to school
districts in the area where the need appears to be the greatest. Teacher education
programs will be encouraged to share this information with teacher education
candidates so that new graduates can help to alleviate the shortages faced in some
of the content areas.
• The Attracting Excellence to Teaching program, which is designed to attract
candidates to shortage areas and then provide loan forgiveness for teaching in
sparsely populated areas should provide some improvement in the distribution of
teachers to rural areas. The program begins in the 2006-07 school year and is
designed to support 100 scholarships during the first year, 200 in the following
year, 300 in the third year, and 400 per year thereafter.
Strategies that will assist all districts in the state include:

• Increasing the availability of quality professional development for teachers
through the Educational Service Units (ESUs) in collaboration with higher
education institutions throughout the state.
• Encouraging public schools to support college courses for movement on the
salary schedule, regardless of whether the courses are undergraduate or graduate
courses. This will make it more feasible for experienced teachers to pick up
additional endorsements in the areas which they are teaching, but are not
endorsed.
• Encouraging teacher education programs to offer summer programs in special
education for already certified content teachers and content courses for already
certified special education teachers.
• Replicate programs like the program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha that
provides an opportunity for mid-career changers to complete a teacher education
program that includes an NCLB content area and a special education endorsement
in an 18-month time frame, with significant involvement in the public schools as a
part of the program.
• Work will continue by the Professional Development Task Force to create a
change in the renewal requirements for certification as an educator. The changes
will require professional development or college credit in order to renew a
certificate. (Nebraska’s renewal standards currently allow renewal on the basis of
experience, without a requirement for any professional development.)
• A legislative proposal will be refined and submitted for the 2007 legislative
session that would require schools to have a mentoring/induction program and
would fund the development of quality mentoring in all school districts.
• The state is beginning a series of professional development opportunities for
building principals that is designed to increase the skill of building leaders and
ultimately faculty, to improve student achievement. The program, Balanced
Leadership, is being provided by McREL and will take place over the next two
years for approximately 80 building principals. Educational Leadership faculty in
the teacher preparation programs will also participate in order to infuse the
relevant principles into the principal preparation programs.
• A look-up system for identification of HQ teachers has been developed and
placed on the Teacher Certification website so that employers can confirm the
status of applicants before hiring and assigning classes. This system is being
very well received by the district and building administrators.
4) Evidence for the probable success of these strategies include:
All of these strategies have the potential to be successful. Many of them are already
underway. The strategy that will be the most difficult to implement is the
mentoring/induction program. The Legislature supported the development of a
mentoring program several years ago, using the state’s lottery money. When the budget
crisis occurred, the funds were transferred to the general obligations, and are now slowly
being returned to support education initiatives. A quality mentoring program requires
financial resources and commitment by the entire population of educators and policy
makers. NDE and Nebraska schools are committed to providing quality teachers for all
students and NDE is preparing legislative proposals that would provide resources to
assist schools in their efforts to provide NCLB qualified teachers for all students.
However, an evaluation of Nebraska’s previous mentoring/induction program did not
provide substantive data that the programs increased retention of teachers, improved
their quality, or increased student achievement.
The State of the Schools Report (SOSR) already provides evidence of student
achievement for each building. This trend data is used by schools and NDE to identify
problems and solutions. Teacher data also exists on the SOSR and includes trend data
on teacher count, teacher race/ethnicity, master’s degrees, experience, teacher
qualifications, and salaries. A data base has been built that will reflect HQT. The data
base is already in place and currently reflects the 04-05 year. However, with the
massive changes that have occurred because of the legislated consolidation of school
districts, this data base will be different for the 06-07 school year. However, the data
base is already prepared to incorporate 05-06 data to begin the development of trend
data related to all of the elements and all of the schools. When the 05-06 HQT data
are finalized, they will be incorporated into the data base and trends can be
established. These trends will be revised because of the consolidation for 06-07 and
beyond. All of the trend data will be analyzed and used to identify the success of the
strategies that are in place and to develop new strategies where it is apparent that the
existing ones are not successful.
5) NDE will examine the issue of equitable teacher assignment when it monitors
LEAs in the following ways:
Nebraska’s data system includes information about the experience of teachers in all of
the public school districts and buildings. This information has been added to the
system queries used to prepare Title IIA HQ reports. The experience of teachers is
reported on the State of the Schools Reports (S0SR) by building and at the district
level. The following chart provides an overview of the percentages of courses being
taught by HQ teachers in the district as well as the average number of years of
experience of all the teachers in the district and the percentage of teachers with more
than three years of experience in the district.
Monitoring visits to districts and buildings will include a review of the teacher
assignment and HQ information.
Table 9
An Overview of the Equity of Teacher Assignments in Nebraska School Districts
Dist. n % of % % of % of % of % of % of % of % of Ave Exp

Type HQ of HQ HQ HQ HQ HQ HQ HQ Year >3
Ele. HQ For. Math Sci. Civi Ec Hist.& Perf. Exp Year
Eng/ L cs Geo Arts
LA ang &
Gov
All 467 98.2 92.2 81.4 95.4 96.9 88.7 91.4 92.0 95.4 16.1 89.3
Cl.1 211 98.0 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA 15.0 88.7
Cl.2 18 98.4 91.2 50.0 97.4 99.4 80.6 75.0 96.7 90.8 15.1 87.1
REAP 347 97.8 92.2 78.4 95.2 96.4 88.7 91.7 92.3 94.5 16.1 88.7
Minorit 15 97.7 84.7 82.0 99.2 92.6 66.8 63.0 88.7 83.1 14.0 80.6
y
Poverty 75 97.6 91.3 75.3 94.1 95.2 80.8 86.8 92.2 89.7 15.3 86.3
Omaha 85 99.2 79.8 94.4 93.0 92.4 83.6 89.9 78.8 95.0 11.1 73.1
Lincol 56 99.5 96.0 91.4 97.7 96.9 98.5 88.5 96.0 100. 16.1 90.8
n
The shaded cells represent averages that are lower than the statewide averages for HQ.
Definitions for the first column are found on the next page.
All = All public school districts in Nebraska. This includes all classes of districts from
Class 1 through Class 5.
Cl.1 = Class 1 school districts which serve only elementary students in multi-grade
settings and have been assimilated into K-12 districts for the 06-07 school year.
CL2 = Class 2 school districts serve an area with a population of one thousand
inhabitants or less but maintains a school district with both elementary and secondary
grades under the direction of a single school board.
REAP= Districts that are considered rural and are eligible for funds from the Small
Rural School Achievement Program.
Minority = Districts with a minority student population that equals 50 percent or more.
Poverty = Districts with a Free or Reduced Lunch percentage of the population that
exceeds 50%/.
Omaha = The largest and most urban school district in the state with a student
population of 46,686 in 05-06. Omaha is the only Class 5 district in the state and has
85 school buildings.
Lincoln = The second largest school district in the state with a student population of
32,505 in 05-06. Lincoln is the only Class 4 district in the state and has 56 school
buildings.
The last two columns describe the teacher experience data. These data are available
on the Nebraska State of the Schools Report by district and by building. Summary
data for the entire state is provided in the table.
The last column describes the average percentage of teachers in the category who have
more than 3 years of teaching and, as a result, are considered experienced teachers.
The next to the last column is the average number of years of teaching for all teachers
in that category.
It is clear from the data that the majority of teachers in the state and in the various
settings have at least 10 years of experience. Both Lincoln and Omaha have strong
relationships with the teacher preparation programs in their communities which create
opportunities for teacher education candidates to work in urban settings with
experienced and highly qualified cooperating teachers. As a result, the average years
of experience in those two districts will be lower because they hire new teachers to
work in the settings with which they are already familiar. Both districts also have
quality mentoring programs for their new teachers.
Ongoing review of the Personnel and Curriculum reports from all districts will occur.
The non-endorsed reports, which are distributed to the LEAs will be analyzed to see
which schools need the most HQT assistance. NCLB Consolidated Application (HQT
Plan) and on-site monitoring will occur on a regular basis. NDE staff doing the
monitoring will have copies of the non-endorsed reports to use during their monitoring
visit. During the monitoring visit, staff will review and document the progress made on
the activities identified in the LEA plan.
In addition to these regular review processes, NDE staff are in constant communication
with school administrators and teachers in a variety of settings as well as electronically.
Technical assistance is requested and provided on a regular basis.
The data that have been presented in this plan indicate that Nebraska, as a whole, has
no significant differences in teacher distribution in high poverty and high minority
settings. However, monitoring processes are in place that will allow NDE to monitor
all settings for adverse changes and employ interventions as necessary.
A review of student achievement data on the NDE State of the Schools Report will be
utilized to evaluate the progress of students in high poverty and high minority
buildings to further identify the impact of teacher distribution. Student achievement
data is also found on the State of the Schools Report and is available for each building
in the state.
The NDE monitors’ responsibilities include a review of the data for their buildings and
technical assistance in the areas of concern. NDE has developed a toolkit on the
Continuous Improvement Process that is required of all districts. This toolkit and
personal assistance from the monitors is intended to assist all districts in their efforts to
improve the quality of instruction and the achievement of their students.

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NEBRASKA REVISIONS TO THE REVISED STATE PLAN

It is important to understand that historically and nationally, special education teachers

Preliminary analysis of the 05-06 data suggests that English/Language Arts,

The 05-06 data reflect significant increases in the number of courses in

Revised Table 2 NCLB Qualified Teachers (2004-05* and preliminary 2005-06)

Avg Yrs. Total Exp

VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS

Experience % of Teachers w/ > 3 yrs.

Nebraska is working on two specific strategies to assist schools in increasing their

Requirement 3: The revised plan must include information on the technical

The subgroups of teachers identified in Requirement 1 (English/language arts, history

In order to be accredited in Nebraska, all LEAs must have a professional development

Nebraska is a rural state and, as a result, professional development and college

1) Does the revised plan include a written equity plan?

The equity plan can be found on pages 21-31 of this document.

2) Does the plan identify where inequities in teacher assignment exist?

Inequities in teacher assignments are addressed on pages 22-26.

Specific strategies are addressed on pages 27-28.

Probable success is addressed on page 28.

The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has had a comprehensive curriculum

Both of the systems provide the following:

Data from the Personnel/Curriculum system is linked to the Teacher Certification

1) Inequities in teacher assignment

The Approval and Accreditation Section of the Nebraska Department of Education

2) Inequities in assignments currently exist in the following settings:

Data from the Personnel/Curriculum Report system facilitates an analysis of potential

Elem Eng/L For.Lan M Science Civ. Econ Hist. Perf.

Omaha 46,686 85 93.93 54.02 54.75 11.12 73.06

Type of Popul # of Ave. % Ave. % Ave.% Ave. years Ave. % of

High Poverty schools

3) Specific strategies that will be used to address inequities in assignments include:

Strategies that will assist all districts in the state include:

4) Evidence for the probable success of these strategies include:

Dist. n % of % % of % of % of % of % of % of % of Ave Exp

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