NEBRASKA REVISED STATE PLAN

*February 13, 2008*

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](http://www.nde.ne.state.us/)
under the State of the Schools Report (SOSR) section. The information
about non-HQ teachers has been added to comply with NCLB requirements
and will be included in future SOSRs.

**Table 1**

**NCLB 2006-07 Qualified Teachers**

  ------------------ --------- ------------- ------------- ------------ --------------
  \*NCLB Content     Number of ***Number     ***Percent    *Number of   Percent taught
  Areas              Courses   taught by     taught by     courses      by HQ teachers
                               non-HQ        non-HQ        taught by HQ 
                               teachers***   teachers***   teachers*    

  ELEMENTARY         7618      ***27***      ***.35%***    *7591*       99.65%

  ENGLISH LANGUAGE   15395     ***558***     ***3.62%***   *14837*      96.38%
  ARTS                                                                  

  FOREIGN LANGUAGES  3879      ***63***      ***1.62%***   *3816*       98.38%

  MATHEMATICS        10001     ***389***     ***3.88%***   *9612*       96.11%

  SCIENCES           7628      ***198***     ***2.59%***   *7430*       97.40%

  CIVICS AND         1246      ***16***      ***1.28%***   *1230*       98.72%
  GOVERNMENT                                                            

  ECONOMICS          308       ***18***      ***5.84%***   *290*        94.16%

  HISTORY AND        5685      ***227***     ***3.99%***   *5458*       96.01%
  GEOGRAPHY                                                             

  VISUAL AND         14150     ***106***     ***.74%***    *14044*      99.25%
  PERFORMING ARTS                                                       

  TOTAL              65910     ***1602***    ***2.43%***   *64308*      ***97.57%***
  ------------------ --------- ------------- ------------- ------------ --------------

\*These data include special education teachers but do not include 390
classes that were reported as self-contained classroom for which no
content data were available.

**Table 2**

**NCLB Qualified Teachers**

**2005-06 and 2006-07\***

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 15%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 8%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td>NCLB Content Areas</td>
<td><p>Number of Courses</p>
<p>05-06</p></td>
<td><p><strong>Number of</strong></p>
<p><strong>Courses</strong></p>
<p><strong>06-07</strong></p></td>
<td>Number taught by non-HQ teachers 05-06</td>
<td><p><strong>Number taught by non-HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Teachers</strong></p>
<p><strong>06-07</strong></p></td>
<td><p>Percent taught by non-HQ teachers</p>
<p>05-06</p></td>
<td><p><strong>Percent taught by non-HQ teachers</strong></p>
<p><strong>06-07</strong></p></td>
<td>Number of courses taught by HQ teachers 05-06</td>
<td><p><strong>Number of</strong></p>
<p><strong>Courses</strong></p>
<p><strong>Taught by HQ teachers</strong></p>
<p><strong>06-07</strong></p></td>
<td>Percent taught by HQ teachers 05-06</td>
<td><strong>Percent taught by HQ teachers 06-07</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>ELEMENTARY</td>
<td>10293</td>
<td><strong>7618</strong></td>
<td>209</td>
<td><strong>27</strong></td>
<td>2.03%</td>
<td><strong>.35%</strong></td>
<td>10084</td>
<td><strong>7591</strong></td>
<td>97.97%</td>
<td><strong>99.65%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS</td>
<td>12089</td>
<td><strong>15395</strong></td>
<td>834</td>
<td><strong>558</strong></td>
<td>6.90%</td>
<td><strong>3.62%</strong></td>
<td>11255</td>
<td><strong>14837</strong></td>
<td>93.10%</td>
<td><strong>96.38%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>FOREIGN LANGUAGES</td>
<td>3742</td>
<td><strong>3879</strong></td>
<td>126</td>
<td><strong>63</strong></td>
<td>3.37%</td>
<td><strong>1.62%</strong></td>
<td>3616</td>
<td><strong>3816</strong></td>
<td>96.63%</td>
<td><strong>98.38%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>MATHEMATICS</td>
<td>8719</td>
<td><strong>10001</strong></td>
<td>606</td>
<td><strong>389</strong></td>
<td>6.95%</td>
<td><strong>3.88%</strong></td>
<td>8113</td>
<td><strong>9612</strong></td>
<td>93.05%</td>
<td><strong>96.11%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>SCIENCES</td>
<td>7546</td>
<td><strong>7628</strong></td>
<td>198</td>
<td><strong>198</strong></td>
<td>2.62%</td>
<td><strong>2.59%</strong></td>
<td>7348</td>
<td><strong>7430</strong></td>
<td>97.38%</td>
<td><strong>97.40%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT</td>
<td>1428</td>
<td><strong>1246</strong></td>
<td>22</td>
<td><strong>16</strong></td>
<td>1.54%</td>
<td><strong>1.28%</strong></td>
<td>1406</td>
<td><strong>1230</strong></td>
<td>98.46%</td>
<td><strong>98.72%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>ECONOMICS</td>
<td>330</td>
<td><strong>308</strong></td>
<td>18</td>
<td><strong>18</strong></td>
<td>5.45%</td>
<td><strong>5.84%</strong></td>
<td>312</td>
<td><strong>290</strong></td>
<td>94.55%</td>
<td><strong>94.16%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY</td>
<td>5554</td>
<td><strong>5685</strong></td>
<td>378</td>
<td><strong>227</strong></td>
<td>6.81%</td>
<td><strong>3.99%</strong></td>
<td>5176</td>
<td><strong>5458</strong></td>
<td>93.19%</td>
<td><strong>96.01%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS</td>
<td>7223</td>
<td><strong>14150</strong></td>
<td>189</td>
<td><strong>106</strong></td>
<td>2.62%</td>
<td><strong>.74%</strong></td>
<td>7034</td>
<td><strong>14044</strong></td>
<td>97.38%</td>
<td><strong>99.25%</strong></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>TOTAL</td>
<td>56924</td>
<td><strong>65910</strong></td>
<td>2580</td>
<td><strong>1602</strong></td>
<td>4.53%</td>
<td><strong>2.43%</strong></td>
<td>54344</td>
<td><strong>64308</strong></td>
<td>95.47%</td>
<td><strong>97.57%</strong></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

\* The 06-07 data includes Special Education courses but does not
include 390 classes taught in self-contained classrooms for which no
content information is available.

The data on the website identifies the percentage of NCLB core academic
area courses that are taught by Highly Qualified Teachers. Data for the
07-08 year will include data about courses taught by non-HQ teachers at
the building, district and state levels.

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 15^th^ 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 supports it have undergone major revisions to
enable collection and analysis of HQ data, including Special Education
teachers and courses taught on-line. Additional modifications were
required to incorporate these groups and the data and analyses were made
available in an improved system for 06-07.***

Similar reports are mailed to all districts that address the NCLB
courses that are being taught by non-HQ teachers. These NCLB report***s,
one for general education and one for special education,*** are 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.

The 2006-07 State of the Schools report was completed in the same manner
as the 2005-06 report card. The data include HOUSSE qualified regular
and special education teachers and academic courses taught by special
education teachers.

Data provided in ***Tables 1 and 2,*** 2006-07 NCLB Qualified Teachers,
identify 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.

For example, 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 often
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 field endorsement
of Social Studies. ***There are currently 20 school districts in this
classification.*** (See Table 9 on page 26 for the data on Class II
schools as compared to the other kinds of school districts.)

**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 254 school districts in 06-07 as compared to
the 467 school districts in Nebraska during the 04-05 school year. This
significant change is the result of legislative action that caused all
"elementary only"(Class I) school districts and their staff to be
assimilated into K-12 districts. As a result, some districts that are
now utilizing teachers from the former Class I districts are finding
their percentage of classes taught by HQ teachers different from
previous years.

An analysis of the data for LEAs that are not at 100% HQ and have not
made AYP for two consecutive years is provided in the following table.

**Table 3**

**AYP Districts**

  ---------- ------------ --------- ---------- --------- ---------- -------------
  **Agency   Population   Ave % HQT Minority % Poverty % Teachers   Avg. Years
  ID**                    06-07                          w/\> 3     Total
                                                         years Exp. Teaching Exp.
                                                         %          

  26-0001    454          87.22     8.59       20.7      8.59       14.69

  27-0001    4602         98.73     17.95      40.16     86.75      16

  27-0594    599          96.27     9.52       36.73     95.92      20.22

  28-0066    6124         98.43     15.86      20.48     78.79      12.68

  40-0002    8367         95.77     41.89      56.75     82.59      15.42

  53-0001    605          100       12.07      35.21     81.13      15.7

  55-0001    32934        98.8      21.21      33.06     87.7       15.92

  59-0001    569          96.55     59.58      52.55     94.23      15.82

  71-0001    3468         98.23     26.93      38.7      86.32      16.66

  77-0027    8854         99.93     13.97      16.47     82.61      13.69

  79-0016    2144         95.25     30.04      42.58     93.06      18.62

  79-0032    2777         98.04     40.26      43.64     87.68      17.35
  ---------- ------------ --------- ---------- --------- ---------- -------------

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.

**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 2006-07 year indicates that the largest percentages of courses being
taught by non-HQ teachers are special education teachers at the
elementary level who do not meet the content preparation requirements
and secondary teachers who are teaching courses for which they are not
appropriately endorsed. For example, the secondary teachers may be
located in smaller school districts where a social science teacher is
expected to teach all of the social studies courses and may not possess
a broad field social science endorsement. Data for all districts and
buildings are found on the website at
[www.nde.state.ne.us/SOSRpts.html](../www.nde.state.ne.us/SOSRpts.html%20)
and are available for review.

The Nebraska Department of Education contracts for a teacher shortage
survey each year to determine which content areas are in greatest
demand. The 06-07 survey identified special education, mathematics,
science, and English as the areas with the greatest needs. Special
education teachers have historically been the largest area of shortage.
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](http://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 more than 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 1,062 buildings in Nebraska school districts. Of these
buildings, 787 (74.11%) are currently meeting the HQT objective with
100% of their core academic content teachers highly qualified. This
includes those teachers who have successfully completed HOUSSE during
the 06-07 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 20 smallest school districts. The
chart below compares their percentages with the state as a whole.

**Table 4**

**NCLB Qualified Teachers**

**2006-07\***

  ------------------ ------------------- ---------------- ----------------
  NCLB Content Areas \% taught by HQ     *% taught by HQ  \% taught by HQ
                     teachers in 20      teachers in REAP teachers
                     smallest districts  districts*       statewide
                     (Class II)                           

  Elementary         100%                ***99.57%***     99.65%

  English language   **93.58%**          ***96.08%***     96.38%
  arts                                                    

  Foreign languages  **76.92%**          100%             98.38%

  Mathematics        **95.84%**          *96.28%*         96.11%

  Sciences           **92.62%**          ***97.24%***     97.40%

  Civics and Govt.   100%                *98.81%*         98.72%

  Economics          100%                *95.2%*          94.16%

  History and Geog.  **93.67%**          *96.24%*         96.01%

  Visual and perf.   100%                ***97.98%***     99.25%
  arts                                                    

  ***Total***        ***95.93%***        ***97.00%***     *97.29%*
  ------------------ ------------------- ---------------- ----------------

> ***\*The cells that are bolded indicate lower percentages than the
> statewide percentage.***

The REAP data included in the chart above demonstrate that there are
some, but not significant differences between the statewide data and the
smallest school districts or the REAP districts. The problem areas for
the smallest districts are in the areas of foreign language, science,
English/language arts, and History/Geography. The problem areas for REAP
districts are economics, English/language arts, History/Geography, and
mathematics. These districts hire fewer teachers and expect them to
teach a larger variety of classes. The HOUSSE is 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%. (Percentages of HQ teachers within a district can change with
different assignments for one teacher, with addition or subtraction of a
course or two, or with a change in personnel.) Analysis of the LEA data
indicates that this includes 17 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. Table 4 provides information about the 17
districts and their data for the 06-07 school year.

Table 4, on the following page, provides comprehensive data for 06-07
concerning HQ teachers in the 17 districts whose percentage of courses
taught by Highly Qualified teachers was less than 90 percent. As a point
of comparison, in the 04-05 school year, there were 34 districts with
less than 90% percent of the courses taught by HQ teachers. The data
includes not only HQ status but the equity of distribution of
experienced teachers. The 06-07 data for these districts will be
carefully analyzed to determine progress and needed technical
assistance***.***

All districts and buildings receive on-site monitoring by NDE staff
prepared to provide technical assistance on all segments of the LEA's
Consolidated Plan. The staff members involved in this process meet on a
regular schedule.

**Table 5**

**K-12 Districts with less than 90% HQ Teachers in 06-07**

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 13%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
<col style="width: 5%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>Population</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>ELEMENTARY</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>FOREIGN LANGUAGES</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>MATHEMATICS</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>SCIENCES</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>CIVICS AND GOVERNMENT</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>ECONOMICS</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>VISUAL AND PERFORMING ARTS</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>Minority %_</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>FRL %</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>Avg Yrs. Total Exp</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>Ave. % HQT</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
<td><blockquote>
<p><em><strong>% of Teachers w/ &gt; 3 yrs. Experience</strong></em></p>
</blockquote></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>05-0071-000</td>
<td>132</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>58.82</td>
<td></td>
<td>66.67</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>0.00</td>
<td>53.79</td>
<td>15</td>
<td>86.21</td>
<td>95.24</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>12-0032-000</td>
<td>157</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>62.5</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>90</td>
<td>83.33</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>60</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>3.82</td>
<td>45.86</td>
<td>11.87</td>
<td>84.44</td>
<td>68.75</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>14-0101-000</td>
<td>134</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>47.06</td>
<td>0.00</td>
<td>44.78</td>
<td>16.74</td>
<td>73.68</td>
<td>94.74</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>15-0010-000</td>
<td>546</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>71.43</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>93.75</td>
<td>75</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>69.2</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>14.65</td>
<td>27.84</td>
<td>20.94</td>
<td>86.90</td>
<td>97.96</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>15-0536-000</td>
<td>229</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>52.94</td>
<td>6.70</td>
<td>53.13</td>
<td>15.27</td>
<td>89.74</td>
<td>92.59</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>17-0003-000</td>
<td>257</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>86.67</td>
<td>66.67</td>
<td>86.67</td>
<td>68.75</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>93.75</td>
<td>2.72</td>
<td>25.29</td>
<td>16.82</td>
<td>85.37</td>
<td>89.29</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>26-0001-000</td>
<td>454</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>62.07</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>76.19</td>
<td>93.33</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>8.59</td>
<td>20.37</td>
<td>14.69</td>
<td>87.22</td>
<td>92.5</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>26-0024-000</td>
<td>165</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>57.14</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>87.5</td>
<td>7.27</td>
<td>40.61</td>
<td>23.74</td>
<td>85.96</td>
<td>90</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>26-0070-000</td>
<td>218</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>25</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>10.09</td>
<td>48.62</td>
<td>22</td>
<td>89.83</td>
<td>85.71</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>34-0001-000</td>
<td>474</td>
<td>83.33</td>
<td>87.88</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>83.33</td>
<td>75</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>72.7</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>10.13</td>
<td>46.2</td>
<td>18.18</td>
<td>86.39</td>
<td>86.67</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>49-0501-000</td>
<td>195</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>91.3</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>95.24</td>
<td>81.82</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>71.2</td>
<td>76.47</td>
<td>9.23</td>
<td>33.85</td>
<td>16.65</td>
<td>87.91</td>
<td>82.61</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>50-0001-000</td>
<td>265</td>
<td>83.33</td>
<td>85.71</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>81.82</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>2.64</td>
<td>33.96</td>
<td>15.59</td>
<td>87.93</td>
<td>75</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>56-0007-000</td>
<td>266</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>88.89</td>
<td>33.33</td>
<td>80.77</td>
<td>92.31</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>71.4</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>2.63</td>
<td>30.08</td>
<td>13.89</td>
<td>88.18</td>
<td>81.48</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>71-0005-000</td>
<td>777</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>77.46</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>65.22</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>24.45</td>
<td>36.81</td>
<td>20.38</td>
<td>87.76</td>
<td>91.18</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>79-0002-000</td>
<td>220</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>78.26</td>
<td></td>
<td>77.78</td>
<td>87.5</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>39.55</td>
<td>68.18</td>
<td>16.05</td>
<td>88.51</td>
<td>71.43</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>86-0001-000</td>
<td>109</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>63.64</td>
<td>0</td>
<td>69.23</td>
<td>14.29</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>66.7</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>3.67</td>
<td>44.95</td>
<td>11.53</td>
<td>69.49</td>
<td>70.59</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>87-0013-000</td>
<td>289</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>96</td>
<td></td>
<td>82.35</td>
<td>22.22</td>
<td>100</td>
<td></td>
<td>100</td>
<td>88</td>
<td>98.96</td>
<td>79.24</td>
<td>13.35</td>
<td>85.71</td>
<td>90.63</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Total</td>
<td>4427</td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><em><strong>Average</strong></em></td>
<td><strong>284</strong></td>
<td>98.04</td>
<td>80.46</td>
<td>71.43</td>
<td>80.82</td>
<td>81.97</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>75</td>
<td>88.91</td>
<td>90.92</td>
<td>14.42</td>
<td>43.17</td>
<td>16.63</td>
<td>85.37</td>
<td>85.67</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

***These 17 districts vary in size from a K-12 student population of 109
to 777. The average percentage of HQ teachers is lower than any other
grouping of districts, but the average percentage of experienced
teachers is high. These 17 districts have a total enrollment of 4,427
students, which represents 1.5% of the state's K-12 public school
enrollment of 287,135. 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 (94.16%), history and geography (96.01%),
mathematics (96.11) and English/language arts (96.38%). Professional
development, additional college courses or the HOUSSE are the only
options for teachers in these circumstances.

The Nebraska Legislature provided funds to strengthen the state's
distance learning network so that school districts would be able to
access courses being taught elsewhere in the state. This system allows
existing HQ teachers to reach students in buildings where there is a
lack of HQ teachers on staff***.*** The only other option currently
available to schools is to utilize on-line courses that are taught by a
HQ teacher.

Nebraska is utilizing 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). There are 75 teachers who are participants in the
Transition to Teaching program and are employed in Nebraska schools.

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 was reinstated for the 2006-07 school year and funded 100
scholarships in the first year. The number of scholarships is scheduled
to increase to 200 in year two, 300 in year three, and 400 in years four
and after. There is a bill in the Legislature that would limit these
scholarships to teacher education candidates who are preparing to teach
in shortage areas, but that bill is still in the Education Committee.

**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 254 LEAs in the State of Nebraska in 2006-07. Of those
districts, 91 are 100% HQT and 163 are not. The State Plan has
identified the goal of 100% of all applicable teachers meeting NCLB
requirements. The Annual Measurable Objective for each school and
district, that has not already attained 100% status, is to make progress
to improve the percentage of teachers who are HQ.

The 2006-07 analysis shows that 163 districts (64%) of 254 districts did
not reach the goal of 100% applicable teachers being Highly Qualified.
There were 91 districts (36%) that have reached the goal of 100% Highly
Qualified. The table below identifies the 163 districts and specific
data about each district.

**Table 6**

**Districts less than 100% HQT**

**2006-07**

  -------------- ------------ ------------ ---------- --------------- -------- ----------- ------------ -------
  AgencyID       District     Teacher\>3   Minority   FREE/REDLUNCH % Avg      **Ave HQT                CLASS
                 Population   years Exp %  PCT                        Total    COURSES**                
                                                                      Exp                               

  01-0018-000    3169         89.70        19.56      45.5            16.49    **99.88**                III

  01-0090-000    854          95.71        3.86       17.8            17.82    **99.15**                III

  01-0123-000    253          96.67        5.14       44.27           16.75    **92.68**                III

  02-2001-000    506          85.71        3.36       44.27           18.61    **93.28**                III

  03-0500-000    79           100.00       2.53       0               18.25    **97.67**                II

  05-0071-000    132          95.24        0.00       53.79           15       **86.21**                III

  06-0017-000    178          75.00        2.25       45.51           15.62    **96.97**                III

  07-0006-000    1722         95.49        28.05      38.68           18.63    **95.50**                III

  07-0010-000    339          91.43        10.32      43.66           14.43    **93.55**                III

  10-0007-000    4996         94.20        13.35      33.89           18.4     **99.06**                III

  10-0019-000    329          75.00        16.41      34.04           10.94    **96.94**                III

  10-0119-000    272          76.00        2.21       19.12           13.56    **97.00**                II

  11-0001-000    619          90.20        4.68       30.05           19.94    **96.08**                III

  12-0032-000    157          68.75        3.82       45.86           11.87    **84.44**                II

  12-0056-000    687          84.13        8.01       49.2            16.91    **99.55**                III

  13-0001-000    1774         87.50        7.55       38.39           12.91    **99.25**                III

  13-0032-000    520          90.48        3.27       11.24           14.29    **96.65**                III

  13-0056-000    621          67.35        4.19       25.28           12.69    **94.96**                III

  14-0101-000    134          94.74        0.00       44.78           16.74    **73.68**                III

  15-0010-000    546          97.96        14.65      27.84           20.94    **86.90**                III

  15-0536-000    224          92.59        6.70       53.13           15.27    **89.74**                III

  16-0006-000    730          92.11        12.74      34.79           15.55    **99.05**                III

  16-0030-000    147          85.71        8.84       59.18           13.05    **98.39**                II

  17-0001-000    1244         77.89        13.50      36.09           14.5     **98.58**                III

  17-0003-000    257          89.29        2.72       25.29           16.82    **85.37**                III

  17-0009-000    198          87.50        4.04       44.95           17.92    **97.33**                III

  18-0002-000    409          82.05        4.65       24.45           19.18    **99.32**                III

  18-0011-000    269          81.48        31.23      56.88           16.19    **94.19**                III

  18-0070-000    205          88.46        4.39       27.32           23.29    **96.77**                III

  19-0039-000    181          77.27        3.31       20.44           16.4     **97.56**                III

  19-0123-000    1503         85.48        65.14      59.48           16.11    **97.45**                III

  20-0001-000    721          80.30        32.59      52.29           18.31    **92.68**                III

  20-0030-000    498          97.37        4.82       32.53           19.79    **95.89**                III

  21-0015-000    251          86.21        4.38       43.43           16.52    **98.77**                III

  21-0084-000    176          85.00        10.23      39.2            17.21    **97.10**                III

  21-0180-000    225          92.59        1.78       35.11           17.31    **98.78**                III

  22-0011-000    3641         89.09        63.58      43.23           14.36    **95.99**                III

  23-0071-000    270          88.46        3.33       56.3            15.81    **97.33**                III

  24-0001-000    2829         84.69        78.83      68.08           14.21    **96.55**                III

  24-0004-000    318          92.31        12.58      48.43           15.73    **97.30**                III

  24-0011-000    1036         91.95        21.43      40.64           18.22    **98.25**                III

  24-0101-000    182          85.00        8.24       66.48           18.05    **98.97**                III

  25-0095-000    116          90.00        10.34      55.17           19.3     **97.30**                III

  26-0001-000    454          92.50        8.59       20.7            14.69    **87.22**                III

  26-0024-000    165          90.00        7.27       40.61           23.74    **85.96**                III

  26-0070-000    218          85.71        10.09      48.62           22       **89.83**                III

  26-0561-000    358          81.82        10.61      34.92           17.75    **94.90**                III

  27-0001-000    4602         86.75        17.95      40.16           16       **98.73**                III

  27-0594-000    599          95.92        9.52       36.73           20.22    **96.27**                III

  28-0001-000    47044        74.75        57.28      60.12           11.01    **96.98**                V

  28-0010-000    4281         81.29        5.61       7.83            13.27    **97.49**                III

  28-0015-000    666          88.14        7.96       37.99           15.16    **98.70**                III

  28-0017-000    21542        83.69        11.09      9.66            15.08    **99.87**                III

  28-0054-000    3271         78.40        25.16      34.95           14.92    **98.69**                III

  28-0059-000    838          81.67        6.68       7.64            13.75    **99.35**                III

  28-0066-000    6124         78.79        15.86      20.48           12.68    **98.43**                III

  30-0001-000    264          84.38        0.00       23.86           17.34    **98.88**                III

  30-0025-000    596          93.48        7.89       32.89           16.58    **97.85**                III

  30-0054-000    129          95.00        7.75       18.6            24.85    **94.67**                III

  31-0506-000    322          82.35        1.24       45.03           17.12    **98.33**                III

  32-0046-000    169          80.00        7.69       49.11           15.53    **97.06**                III

  32-0095-000    213          84.00        1.88       37.09           18.88    **98.06**                III

  32-0125-000    246          76.00        2.85       28.86           10.25    **95.59**                III

  33-0018-000    343          93.33        7.58       43.44           19.53    **97.67**                III

  33-0021-000    332          77.78        3.92       37.95           14.63    **95.83**                III

  33-0540-000    521          97.92        6.14       54.89           19.73    **98.48**                III

  34-0001-000    474          86.67        10.13      46.2            18.18    **86.39**                III

  34-0015-000    2211         92.11        5.25       32.52           18.25    **99.20**                III

  34-0034-000    325          78.13        0.62       11.08           14.77    **98.31**                III

  35-0001-000    275          86.21        5.09       60              14.83    **98.86**                III

  37-0030-000    261          91.30        7.66       40.61           19.91    **98.90**                III

  38-0011-000    150          75.00        2.00       41.33           14.57    **98.39**                III

  39-0501-000    188          88.89        5.32       54.79           17.56    **93.75**                III

  40-0002-000    8367         82.59        41.89      56.76           15.42    **95.77**                III

  40-0083-000    573          81.63        20.24      34.38           13.94    **98.41**                III

  41-0002-000    194          94.74        0.52       20.1            15.53    **95.08**                II

  41-0504-000    1246         95.79        3.37       27.05           18.97    **96.14**                III

  44-2001-000    302          88.57        5.63       53.31           20.47    **98.86**                III

  45-0007-000    794          87.65        8.56       42.57           17.85    **96.63**                III

  45-0044-000    174          95.24        2.87       60.92           17.48    **95.16**                III

  45-0239-000    336          88.10        3.27       43.15           16.28    **96.90**                III

  46-0001-000    186          80.95        2.69       44.09           12.76    **96.43**                III

  47-0100-000    549          88.10        4.92       35.15           16.33    **98.39**                III

  48-0008-000    907          86.96        3.97       38.26           16.8     **90.15**                III

  48-0300-000    393          88.89        5.34       32.06           20.41    **90.51**                III

  49-0033-000    223          90.91        1.35       25.56           19       **97.37**                III

  49-0501-000    195          82.61        9.23       33.85           16.65    **87.91**                III

  50-0001-000    265          75.00        2.64       33.96           15.59    **87.93**                III

  51-0001-000    1049         95.06        9.44       33.27           21.17    **99.18**                III

  54-0013-000    391          91.89        5.63       35.29           19.68    **99.22**                III

  54-0096-000    396          96.67        3.03       30.81           17.93    **98.43**                III

  54-0501-000    147          85.71        51.02      74.83           17.38    **91.30**                III

  54-0505-000    162          90.00        100.00     82.1            13.53    **97.53**                II

  54-0586-000    248          88.00        10.48      43.55           17.84    **98.90**                III

  55-0001-000    32934        87.70        21.21      33.06           15.92    **98.80**                IV

  55-0145-000    1671         89.60        2.69       17.89           15.7     **96.93**                III

  56-0001-000    4202         88.10        14.28      33.98           17.77    **97.78**                III

  56-0006-000    202          85.00        4.46       33.17           14.9     **93.10**                II

  56-0007-000    266          81.48        2.63       30.08           13.89    **88.18**                III

  56-0565-000    186          91.30        17.20      26.88           17.77    **94.37**                II

  58-0025-000    112          82.35        2.68       63.39           19.29    **98.00**                II

  59-0001-000    569          94.23        59.58      52.55           15.82    **96.55**                III

  59-0002-000    3941         92.68        27.05      41.66           17.57    **97.64**                III

  59-0013-000    252          96.15        18.65      50              20.15    **96.00**                III

  59-0080-000    289          90.32        10.03      35.64           13.53    **93.50**                III

  61-0004-000    791          86.89        5.56       38.81           17.8     **99.17**                III

  62-0063-000    566          95.74        25.09      47.53           17.3     **99.39**                III

  63-0030-000    506          82.22        4.94       26.88           16.15    **94.31**                III

  64-0023-000    242          85.71        4.55       31.82           15.65    **94.02**                III

  64-0029-000    859          85.71        7.92       29.57           19.49    **97.71**                III

  65-2005-000    1126         93.94        3.46       37.57           20.82    **99.02**                III

  66-0027-000    781          89.66        2.30       20.1            16.45    **99.00**                III

  66-0111-000    1362         87.76        14.17      36.12           17.15    **96.37**                III

  67-0001-000    271          83.87        4.06       43.54           16.5     **97.81**                III

  67-0069-000    186          90.91        3.23       58.06           15.59    **95.29**                III

  68-0020-000    393          95.35        6.11       35.88           18.16    **99.25**                III

  69-0044-000    1153         94.39        6.16       29.31           19.39    **96.26**                III

  70-0002-000    706          93.65        2.55       20.4            17.54    **99.49**                III

  70-0005-000    418          97.37        2.87       42.82           19.39    **92.00**                III

  70-0542-000    261          96.00        1.92       28.35           20.88    **91.86**                III

  71-0001-000    3468         86.32        26.93      38.7            16.66    **98.23**                III

  71-0005-000    777          91.18        24.45      36.81           20.38    **87.76**                III

  71-0067-000    237          83.33        3.38       33.33           13.85    **98.92**                III

  72-0015-000    394          90.00        1.78       32.23           18.59    **97.85**                III

  72-0075-000    306          97.06        2.61       42.48           21.41    **97.69**                III

  73-0017-000    1510         89.62        6.09       40.99           17.87    **96.63**                III

  73-0179-000    400          95.65        4.25       50.5            16.2     **95.80**                III

  74-0056-000    893          93.06        8.51       42.67           19.18    **99.61**                III

  74-0070-000    406          94.87        1.72       48.77           20.18    **94.12**                III

  74-0501-000    134          61.90        2.99       49.25           15.43    **95.45**                III

  76-0082-000    521          97.44        5.95       22.46           19.79    **98.65**                III

  77-0001-000    9261         79.41        22.00      23.23           12.16    **97.78**                III

  77-0027-000    8854         82.61        13.97      16.47           13.69    **99.93**                III

  77-0046-000    1104         82.93        3.99       12.95           16.98    **98.84**                III

  78-0039-000    929          84.06        7.43       34.23           14.76    **99.50**                III

  78-0072-000    229          81.48        2.62       15.28           14.85    **98.32**                III

  78-0107-000    257          90.91        3.89       37.35           16.77    **91.95**                III

  79-0002-000    220          71.43        39.55      68.18           16.05    **88.51**                III

  79-0016-000    2144         93.06        30.04      42.58           18.62    **95.25**                III

  79-0031-000    617          83.33        25.45      51.54           16.71    **98.17**                III

  79-0032-000    2777         87.68        40.26      43.64           17.35    **98.04**                III

  80-0567-000    521          78.57        2.50       26.49           18.15    **95.00**                III

  81-0003-000    217          63.33        22.58      58.06           11.93    **96.34**                III

  81-0010-000    836          81.18        28.35      47.73           13.9     **95.22**                III

  83-0500-000    110          73.91        0.00       2.73            14.86    **95.52**                III

  85-0060-000    250          95.65        5.20       42              20.09    **97.98**                III

  85-0070-000    386          89.74        3.89       35.23           20.76    **98.16**                III

  85-2001-000    166          92.31        5.42       33.13           18.65    **96.64**                II

  86-0001-000    109          70.59        3.67       44.95           11.53    **69.49**                II

  87-0001-000    345          80.77        6.38       31.3            19.31    **91.09**                III

  87-0013-000    289          90.63        98.96      79.24           13.35    **85.71**                III

  87-0016-000    377          87.76        99.73      88.86           14.43    **98.35**                III

  88-0005-000    541          98.00        6.84       36.78           22.78    **99.29**                III

  89-0001-000    2360         89.40        4.24       16.1            16.13    **99.02**                III

  90-0017-000    847          89.23        7.91       26.09           14.24    **96.81**                III

  90-0560-000    442          89.74        38.24      43.89           15       **97.74**                III

  90-0595-000    264          92.00        5.30       28.03           15.88    **95.19**                III

  91-0002-000    278          92.31        8.99       58.27           17.96                **94.81**    III

  91-0074-000    387          93.55        3.36       26.36           14.67                **99.06**    III

  92-0045-000    142          100.00       0.00       57.75           17.42                **98.15**    III

  93-0012-000    1212         92.86        10.81      28.88           20.01                **97.35**    III

  93-0083-000    243          68.18        0.82       41.15           13.05                **96.83**    II

  93-0096-000    341          97.14        4.69       29.62           22.91                **96.30**    III

                                                                                           ** **         

  TOTAL = 163    248141       87.321       12.616     38.45           16.863               **95.778**    
  -------------- ------------ ------------ ---------- --------------- -------- ----------- ------------ -------

**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, requires a district plan that identifies the steps that will
be taken to help all teachers 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 are
reviewed annually by the NDE staff responsible for monitoring each LEA.
Technical assistance is provided as needed. No NCLB formula grant funds
are 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 in Table 5, on pages 6-7 of this plan. Teachers in schools and
districts that did not meet AYP and have less than 90% HQT will be
targeted for focused technical assistance, statewide activities, and
will be encouraged to use their Title II funds for these purposes. The
information on AYP schools can be found in Table 3, page 4.***

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 also be a focus for
professional development in math and science.***

NDE has been providing training for principals over the last year that
focused 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 4, 6-7, 8-12, and 23*** 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?**

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 the NDE website <http://www.nebraskaeducationjobs.com/>
which has been highly successful in helping schools find teachers to
fill vacant positions. The technical assistance identified (1) above
will also be targeted to teachers in schools not making AYP.

**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, Germany and
    China 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. A
    legislative proposal may be developed for introduction in January,
    2009.

-   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.

-   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. ***However, a
    legislative proposal has been introduced by the Chair of the
    Education Committee to reinstate the Teacher World to focus on
    recruiting candidates for subject areas in which there is a shortage
    of teachers.***

-   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, economics, ***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 II-A 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 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 and are employed in schools that have not made AYP 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 must 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.

With the consolidation of districts noted earlier, there are now
***184*** districts eligible for the REAP program as compared to the
***136*** districts that were eligible in 2005. NDE will work with these
schools so they use the HOUSSE procedure effectively.

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 occurs to determine progress or non-progress on
their annual measurable objectives for HQT and the information is
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 bi-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?**

The SEA has required all districts to include a plan for reaching the
goal of 100%HQ in the annual NCLB Consolidated Application. Since the
State knew that the district consolidation in 2005-06 would make
comparison of consecutive years of data not valid, a new baseline data
was established in 2006-07. This plan must address how the district will
provide professional development and support to non-HQ teachers.

When an LEA fails to make progress towards meeting the objective of 100%
HQT and AYP goals for three consecutive years, the SEA and LEA will
enter into an agreement as required in Section 2141.

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?**

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 ***184*** 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 needed 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 19-27 of this document.

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

Inequities in teacher assignments are addressed on pages 19-27***.***

**3) Does the plan delineate specific strategies for addressing
inequities in teacher assignment?**

Specific strategies are addressed on pages 23-24***.***

**4) Does the plan provide evidence for the probable success of the
strategies it includes?**

Probable success is addressed on page 24-25.

**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
26-27***.***

**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 verified 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 was implemented in 06-07 and provides for data entry by the
school districts through a portal. Following entry, the data are
reviewed for accuracy and the districts have an opportunity to correct
data errors. Based on the pilot year, modifications were made and the
schools provided data on parallel systems during the 06-07 school year
to ensure that quality data are provided. The 07-08 data are being
provided through the new system, with no parallel system.

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 provides 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 were 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 provides comprehensive information about students that
have not been available previously. The student data system allows 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 through completion of 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 with the 06-07 year, look-up data became available for the
"new to the profession" elementary education graduates who 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 is 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 2006-07 data incorporates data from the HOUSSE process and
includes data about special education teachers.

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 experienced 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 generated by the data system. 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 7**

**District Data 06-07**

+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| Type of   | \# of | Ave. % of | Ave.  | Ave.% | Ave.    | Ave. %   |
|           |       | HQ        | %     |       | years   | of       |
| District  | Dist  |           |       | Po    |         |          |
|           | ricts | Courses   | Min   | verty | T       | Teachers |
|           |       |           | ority |       | eaching | w/       |
|           |       |           |       | Stu   |         |          |
|           |       |           | Stu   | dents | Exp     | +3 years |
|           |       |           | dents |       | erience |          |
|           |       |           |       |       |         | Ex       |
|           |       |           |       |       |         | perience |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| All       | 254   | 97.00\*   | 8.77  | 38.65 | 17.05   | 87.20    |
| Districts |       |           |       |       |         |          |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| Class II  | 20    | 95.93     | 8.75  | 41.70 | 15.48   | 84.39    |
| Dist.     |       |           |       |       |         |          |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| High      | 45    | 96.83     | 23.98 | 60.85 | 16.26   | 96.83    |
| Poverty   |       |           |       |       |         |          |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| High      | 10    | 95.64     | 77.28 | 69.34 | 14.21   | 85.68    |
| Minority  |       |           |       |       |         |          |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+
| REAP      | 184   | 95.56     | 6.50  | 28.88 | 16.12   | 88.74    |
| Dist.     |       |           |       |       |         |          |
+-----------+-------+-----------+-------+-------+---------+----------+

> \*Of the 254 districts, 91 districts are 100% HQ for the 2006-07 year

*All districts represents all of the public school districts in
Nebraska*

*Class II districts represent an 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 184 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. There are 184 REAP districts that
contain both elementary and secondary education programs. Only 76 of
these districts were able to achieve 100% HQT in their elementary and
secondary schools. Seventeen of the remaining districts had less than
90% of their courses taught by NCLB qualified teachers. The population
in these 17 districts averaged 284 students. The remaining 91 districts
had percentages of HQT ranging from 99.39% to 90%. 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 rural districts rely heavily on HOUSSE because many
of them 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 8**

**Comparison of the percentages of courses taught by HQ teachers in the
184 REAP districts, 20 Class II districts and 254Total districts**

**2006-07**

  ------- ------- -------- ---------- ------- ---------- ------- ------- -------- --------
          Elem.   Eng/LA   For.Lang   Math    Sciences   Civ.&   Econ.   Hist.&   Perf.
                                                         Govt.           Geog     Arts

  REAP    99.57   96.08    93.30      96.28   97.24      98.81   95.20   96.24    97.98

  Class   100     93.58    76.92      95.84   92.62      100     100     93.67    100
  II                                                                              

  All     100     96.28    95.07      96.41   97.57      99.05   95.44   96.60    98.39
  ------- ------- -------- ---------- ------- ---------- ------- ------- -------- --------

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 is 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 six buildings out of 53 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 49 buildings out
of the 81 with high levels of both minority and poverty. None of those
buildings in the Omaha district have less than 90% of the courses being
taught by HQ teachers.

**Table 9**

**Data on Urban buildings with \>50% Minority and Poverty**

2006-07

+------+-----+----+-------+--------+--------+----------+-----------+
| Type | P   | \# | Ave.  | Ave. % | Ave.%  | Ave.     | Ave. % of |
| of   | opu | of | % of  |        |        | years    |           |
|      | lat |    | HQ    | Mi     | P      |          | Teachers  |
| Dist | ion | B  |       | nority | overty | Teaching | w/        |
| rict |     | ld | Co    |        |        |          |           |
|      |     | gs | urses | St     | St     | Ex       | +3 years  |
|      |     |    |       | udents | udents | perience |           |
|      |     |    |       |        |        |          | E         |
|      |     |    |       |        |        |          | xperience |
+------+-----+----+-------+--------+--------+----------+-----------+
| Lin  | 32, | 53 | 99.46 | 23.96  | 39.20  | 15.89    | 87.01     |
| coln | 305 |    |       |        |        |          |           |
+------+-----+----+-------+--------+--------+----------+-----------+
| O    | 46, | 81 | 98.92 | 58.90  | 62.34  | 11.28    | 76.16     |
| maha | 686 |    |       |        |        |          |           |
+------+-----+----+-------+--------+--------+----------+-----------+

***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 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 10**

**Native American School District Data**

2006-07

+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+
| Type of | Po | \# | Ave.  | Ave. %   | Ave.%  | Ave.   | Ave. %   |
|         | pu | of | % of  |          |        | years  | of       |
| D       | la |    | HQ    | Minority | P      |        |          |
| istrict | ti | Bl |       |          | overty | Te     | Teachers |
|         | on | dg | Co    | Students |        | aching | w/       |
|         |    |    | urses |          | St     |        |          |
|         |    |    |       |          | udents | Expe   | +3 years |
|         |    |    |       |          |        | rience |          |
|         |    |    |       |          |        |        | Ex       |
|         |    |    |       |          |        |        | perience |
+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+
| Santee  |    | 2  | 97.53 | 100      | 82.10  | 13.53  | 90       |
+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+
| W       |    | 3  | 85.71 | 98.96    | 79.24  | 13.35  | 90.63    |
| althill |    |    |       |          |        |        |          |
+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+
| UMO N   |    | 2  | 98.35 | 99.73    | 88.86  | 14.43  | 87.76    |
| HO N    |    |    |       |          |        |        |          |
+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+
| Wi      |    | 2  | 100   | 98.66    | 84.86  | 11.91  | 74.47    |
| nnebago |    |    |       |          |        |        |          |
+---------+----+----+-------+----------+--------+--------+----------+

**High Poverty schools**

There are 9 *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 identification of one school district
where the HQT was below *9*0% and the minority and poverty percentages
were 50% or higher.

*The district is one of the Native districts and is 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 *9*0% or less of the courses
taught by a Highly Qualified Teacher.

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 hopes
to prepare 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. It is very difficult to convince the
Legislature and the Governor to support increased expenditures for
anything, and education is no exception.

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 06-07 year.

However, with the massive changes that have occurred because of the
legislated consolidation of school districts, this data base is
different for the 06-07 school year. The data base has incorporated
05-06 data to begin the development of trend data related to all of the
elements and all of the schools. 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 years of
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 chart on the following page provides an overview of the
percentages of courses being taught by HQ teachers in various kids of
districts 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 11***

***An Overview of the Equity of Teacher Assignments in Nebraska School
Districts***

***2006-07***

<table>
<colgroup>
<col style="width: 10%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 9%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
<col style="width: 7%" />
</colgroup>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><p><strong>Dist.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Type</strong></p></td>
<td><strong>n</strong></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ele.</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Eng/LA</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>For.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Lang</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Math</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Science</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ Civics</strong></p>
<p><strong>&amp; Gov</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Ec</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Hist.&amp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>Geo</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>% of</strong></p>
<p><strong>HQ</strong></p>
<p><strong>Perf.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Arts</strong></p></td>
<td><p><strong>Exp</strong></p>
<p><strong>&gt;3</strong></p>
<p><strong>Year</strong></p></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>All</td>
<td>254</td>
<td>99.7</td>
<td>96.4</td>
<td>98.4</td>
<td>96.1</td>
<td>97.4</td>
<td>98.7</td>
<td>94.2</td>
<td>96.0</td>
<td>99.3</td>
<td>87.3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Cl.2</td>
<td>20</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>93.6</td>
<td>76.9</td>
<td>95.8</td>
<td>99.4</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>93.7</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>84.4</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>REAP</td>
<td>184</td>
<td>99.6</td>
<td>96.1</td>
<td>93.3</td>
<td>96.3</td>
<td>97.2</td>
<td>98.8</td>
<td>95.2</td>
<td>96.2</td>
<td>98</td>
<td>87.2</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Minor.</td>
<td>10</td>
<td>99.8</td>
<td>95.7</td>
<td>99.6</td>
<td>95.1</td>
<td>85.7</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>97</td>
<td>92.8</td>
<td>98.7</td>
<td>85.7</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Poverty</td>
<td>45</td>
<td>99.5</td>
<td>95.6</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>96.3</td>
<td>95.6</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>99.5</td>
<td>96.4</td>
<td>96.3</td>
<td>87.3</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td>Omaha</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>99.3</td>
<td>95.1</td>
<td>99.5</td>
<td>94.0</td>
<td>95.8</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>94</td>
<td>94.2</td>
<td>100</td>
<td>74.8</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td>Lincoln</td>
<td>1</td>
<td>99.9</td>
<td>99</td>
<td>99.5</td>
<td>98.5</td>
<td>99.5</td>
<td>97.1</td>
<td>83.3</td>
<td>96.6</td>
<td>99.8</td>
<td>87.7</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

***The shaded cells in Table 9 represent averages that are lower than
the statewide averages for HQ.***

***All = All public school districts in Nebraska. This includes all
classes of districts from Class 2 through Class 5.***

***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 47,044 in 06-07. 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 32,934 in 06-07. Lincoln is the only Class 4
district in the state and has 56 school buildings.***

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. 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.

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 are analyzed to see which schools need the most HQT assistance.
NCLB Consolidated Application (HQT Plan) and on-site monitoring occur on
a regular basis. NDE staff who are responsible for monitoring schools
have copies of the non-endorsed reports to use during their monitoring
visit. During the monitoring visit, staff 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 Highly Qualified Teacher
distribution in high poverty and high minority settings. However,
monitoring processes are in place to 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.