Researchers and journalists have documented the challenges confronting the nation's rural communities--dwindling populations, few employment opportunities, the opioid crisis, and a lack of public investment. However, there are many rural communities that are surmounting these obstacles and helping their young people build a brighter future. The…

The Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) has synthesized key data on English learners (ELs) into two-page PDF sheets, by topic, with graphics, plus key contacts. This document presents highlights relating to English learners and college and career readiness covering school-year (SY) 2011-2012. The topics for this report include: (1)…

National and regional trends mask important variation among states in the supply of high school graduates. This profile provides brief indicators for Nebraska related to: current levels of educational attainment, projections of high school graduates into the future, and two common barriers to student access and success--insufficient academic…

This paper captures the progress made by Nebraska in adopting both the common core state standards, subsequent work in ensuring those standards are accompanied by college- and career-ready assessments, and the potential benefits of preparing all students for success in college and a career. (Contains 11 endnotes.)

In grade 8 (the only grade in which subgroup trends were analyzed by achievement level), Nebraska made gains across the board at the proficient-and-above level for all major racial/ethnic subgroups and low-income students in reading and math. Achievement gaps also narrowed across the board for all subgroups analyzed at grades 4, 8, and 11.…

Reading First has been implemented in Nebraska since the 2004-5 academic year. In two rounds of funding and participation, schools have transformed the way they trained their teachers, measured student progress, and taught. This transformation is one of the hardest tasks in education and it has taken the considerable dedication of school personnel…

This article examines the efforts of a team of educators in a mid-western urban university in Omaha, Nebraska, to understand why so few persons of color enter the teaching profession and to identify actions that can be taken to attract them. The questions that were posed included the following: (1) What does past research say about recruiting…

The 7th edition of this publication provides updated projections of high school graduates for each year and each state (plus the District of Columbia) through 2022. The profile breaks down the projections by major racial and ethnic groups: (1) American Indian/Alaska Native; (2) Asian/Pacific Islander; (3) Black, non-Hispanic; (4) Hispanic; and (5)…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This report is derived from a community forum held in Scottsbluff (Nebraska) on April 28-29, 1993, by the Nebraska Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Views on race relations in selected areas of western Nebraska were expressed by concerned citizens; community leaders; government officials (federal, state, and…

Minority students made up approximately 25% of the student population at Central High School in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1995. The composition of Central's honors and challenge classes did not reflect this diversity, however, few minority students were taking challenge classes as underclassmen and even fewer were taking AP courses as seniors. In fall…

This document reports demographic data on children living in Nebraska for the year 1994. The report focuses on children living in households with low incomes, defined as below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Sources of information include census data and reports from Nebraska state agencies. Data indicate that 30 percent of Nebraskans…

This report compares Nebraska's reading and mathematics performance on the most recent administrations of the state assessment with performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). To indicate how Nebraska is doing in narrowing the academic achievement gap between African American and Latino students and their white, middle…