Accountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow

Great things happen when we work together.

A quality education system helps make our state and communities strong. By collaborating and focusing on AQuESTT’s six investment areas, we can help enhance the education system, positively impact our children and schools, and create a better Nebraska. So where do you fit in?

Leadership Domain

Leadership

Strong leaders, committed to achieving educational excellence, are critical to the processes of approval, accreditation, accountability, and continuous improvement. Leaders, from school boards to superintendents, principals to teacher leaders, set a vision for achieving educational excellence, offering students meaningful access to the educational resources they need at the right moment, at the right level, and with the right intensity to not only reach high expectations for learning, but also to discover and explore their passions and make meaningful connections within the context of their postsecondary interests, careers, and civic lives. Leaders must possess the knowledge, skills, and mindset to systematize educational excellence for all students.

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Instructional Leadership
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Instructional leadership development and support School leaders share leadership by identifying instructional leaders, providing ongoing training/professional learning, giving opportunities for practice, and providing feedback on the quality of their instructional leadership to support improvement.
Professional learning for instructional leadership School leaders work with their leadership teams to collaboratively implement a systematic and data-based process to determine, plan, and adjust professional learning opportunities for instructional leadership.
Student support implementation School leaders support MTSS implementation (NeMTSS Framework) in order to identify and respond to the needs of all students by exhibiting all of the following:

  • Facilitating shared leadership in decision-making.
  • Ensuring staff have access to relevant student data.
  • Building staff capacity for data-based problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Building the infrastructure for MTSS systems and structures, including meeting times.

Allocating resources to support evidence-based assessment, instruction, and intervention.

Community and Relationship Builder
Student and staff culture School leaders confront and take actions to eliminate institutional biases and student marginalization to promote a positive student and staff culture.
Collaboration to build capacity and sustainability School leaders create and sustain intentional collaboration time by sharing leadership to cultivate shared respect and collective responsibility for meeting student and staff personal learning goals.
Vision and mission of learning School leaders lead the education community in upholding and sharing the vision and mission for learning and ensure all the following align to them:

  • Culturally responsive practices.
  • Professional learning opportunities and established outcomes.
  • Student systems of support (e.g., MTSS).
  • Data-based decision-making and problem-solving processes.

Local school improvement goals.

Improvement and Resource Management Leader
Shared leadership School leaders implement shared leadership practices through all of the following:

  • Developing leadership capacity among staff.
  • Collecting perceptual data to give staff voice in decision-making.
  • Engaging staff in decision-making processes.
  • Tasking staff teams with planning and implementing school initiatives and processes.
  • Organizing leadership teams to facilitate critical school responsibilities (e.g., school budget, resource allocation, schedule).
Systems leadership School leaders use a systems approach that concentrates on how interconnected school components need to work together in order for the whole of the school to improve and function successfully by doing all of the following:

  • Facilitating systemic and ongoing coordination of curriculum design and implementation across content areas, grade levels (i.e., horizontal and vertical interconnections), instruction and assessment practices, and policy issues.
  • Facilitating collaborative learning among teachers so that they see themselves as active members of an integrated whole, working together to improve teaching and learning.
  • Enabling collaborative work toward establishing and accomplishing common goals.
  • Seeking to understand what data means with regard to the complex system in which the data exist and the many causes or factors that could influence the data.
  • Setting expectations that systems-level improvement efforts take time, and expectations of results should be tempered accordingly.
Connecting school improvement to district strategic planning and policymaking School leaders implement initiatives that align with district and school board strategic planning.
Staff recruitment, retention, and development School leaders use data to identify staffing needs and allocate resources to systematically recruit, retain, and develop staff.

Leadership Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Instructional Leadership and Community and Relationship Builder Coordinated School and District Support
Student Support Implementation Special Education
Improvement and Resource Management Leader Accreditation, Certification, and Approval

Success, Access, and Support Domain

Educational Opportunities and Access

Each student has access to effective, comprehensive, and continuous learning opportunities that prepare them for ongoing school success, postsecondary education, and career goals.

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Technological Infrastructure and Digital Learning
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Instructional technology acquisition School leaders systematically implement a data-informed process to identify and acquire necessary instructional technology to facilitate learning, improve student performance, and support families’ use of technology.
Technology infrastructure The school technology infrastructure meets the teaching and learning needs of almost all faculty, staff, and students (90–100%).
Digital learning opportunities Almost all students (90–100%) have access to appropriate technology resources (e.g., devices, software, learning management systems, digital content), either through a 1:1 program or through embedded classroom technology within the school building.
School technology plan and profile School leaders complete the Future Ready Technology profile as part of their annual technology plan.
Student technology learning School leaders and staff provide students with all of the following:

  • Technology integration in all content areas and skills.
  • Opportunities to gain technology skills for career readiness.
  • Opportunities to learn about digital citizenship.
Teacher technology learning School leaders ensure that all teachers have received training in all of the following:

  • Using and creating open education resources
  • Digital age pedagogy
  • Instructional design for online teaching
  • Using technology tools and apps in the classroom

Student Support Services
Provision of nutrition and health support School leaders and staff support the nutrition and health needs of all students through a layered continuum of support and consistently use a process for identifying students’ health issues and needs.

There is a process for intentional ongoing coordination with families to address the needs that arise.
Equitable access to school resources School leaders and staff provide almost all students (90–100%), including historically marginalized student groups, with equitable access to evidence-based practices and school resources that meet their needs, including effective instructional staff, academic and social support, and learning opportunities.
Special population groups in career and technical education (CTE) School leaders and staff ensure that all students have access to all CTE program areas and use a process to review special and subpopulation student membership across program areas.

School Culture and Climate
Positive behavior support system (PBIS) School leaders and staff fully implement a positive behavior support system (PBIS) with clearly and consistently communicated schoolwide expectations for classroom management procedures, and student discipline. Schools implemented a tiered system of positive behavior interventions and supports.
Tier I Core social, emotional, and behavioral learning (SEBL) support School leaders and staff consistently implement evidence-based and developmentally appropriate programs and practices that focus on concrete, observable SEBL skills such as cognitive regulation, emotional regulation, and social skills and awareness.
Social and emotional health of staff School leaders and staff fully establish a positive and supportive culture and climate for staff by consistently cultivating and integrating practices that strengthen the social and emotional health of all staff.
Use of perceptual data The school improvement team annually collects perceptual data (e.g., opinions, views, beliefs, convictions, sentiments), including data on school climate, school culture, and student engagement, from four or more stakeholder groups such as staff, parents, students, and community members, as appropriate. School leaders analyze the results using the problem solving model to inform and adjust practices, policies, and procedures.

Early Learning Opportunities
Early learning guidelines Instructional staff fully align (90–100%) high quality, evidence-based curriculum, instruction, intervention, and assessment with the standards from the Nebraska Early Learning Guidelines.
School readiness Schools fully implement a universal screening process (inclusive of social, emotional, behavioral and academic indicators) for determining the nature and extent of the early learning opportunities that each student has experienced prior to school entry.

Comprehensive Learning Opportunities
Evidence-based interventions School leaders and instructional staff prioritize the implementation of a layered continuum of support within the school day to ensure that all students at risk of not meeting grade-level benchmarks or graduation requirements in ELA and math are systematically placed in high-quality, evidence-based interventions. Additional intervention times can be scheduled before and after school to reinforce these efforts.

Instructional staff and school leaders regularly collect and use data to monitor student progress across all tiers of support.
Program evaluation School leaders evaluate the effectiveness of all student learning programs and opportunities and use all results to inform the continuous improvement process and goal setting.
Data-based problem-solving and decision-making School leaders and staff at all levels consistently use a data-based problem-solving model to drive decision-making and continuous improvement that results in personalized solutions for improving student outcomes.
Expanded learning opportunities School leaders and staff offer many school-based activities and programs of a wide variety to expand learning that is connected to Tier I instruction.

Education Opportunities and Access Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Technological Infrastructure and Digital Learning Education Technology
Student Support Services, Expanded Learning Opportunities, and Social and Emotional Health of Staff Coordinated Student Support Services
Special Population Groups in Career and Technical Education (CTE) Career, Technical and Adult Education
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support, Evidence-Based Interventions, and Data-based problem-solving and decision-making Special Education
Early Learning Opportunities Early Childhood Education
Use of Perceptual Data and Program Evaluation Accreditation, Certification, and Approval

Transitions

Quality educational opportunities focus on effective supports and high quality collaborations for each student transitioning within, into, and between grade levels, programs, schools, districts, postsecondary education, and careers.

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Personal Planning and Self-Reflection
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Personal learning opportunities Instructional staff develop instructional plans that provide appropriate, personal learning opportunities for almost all students (90–100%) based on a Layered Continuum of Support.
Student management of learning School staff provide frequent (at least quarterly) opportunities for almost all students (90–100%) to review their personal learning opportunities, set goals, reflect on their learning, analyze assessment results, and receive specific and timely feedback from teachers.
Postsecondary opportunities School staff discuss all postsecondary options (e.g., 2-year and 4-year colleges, technical colleges, apprenticeships, military, employment) with almost all students (90–100%) during the personalized learning plan (PLP) development and review process.

Grade-to-Grade, Level-to-Level, and Place-to-Place
Transition plan implementation: grade to grade and level to level School leaders and staff fully implement a data-based (e.g., transition and mobility rates, demographic shifts) transition plan to support the successful transition of students between grade levels and school levels (including from infant/toddler services to preschool to elementary school to middle school to high school to postsecondary options). 
Transition plan implementation: in and out of services School leaders and staff fully implement a data-based(e.g., assessment results) transition plan to support successful transition of students in and out of services/supports (e.g., EL, SPED, HAL services, tiered interventions).
Mobility plan implementation: place to place School leaders and staff fully implement a plan to support students transitioning from place to place (high-mobility or transient students) that includes comprehensive strategies for before student arrival at the school, during enrollment, and following student departure.
Family collaboration for transitions School leaders and staff regularly communicate, collaborate, and partner with families to support students as they transition from grade to grade, level to level, or place to place, or to postsecondary and employment opportunities.

Transitions Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Personal Planning and Self-Reflection and

Transition Plan Implementation: Grade to Grade and Level to Level, and Place to Place

 Career, Technical and Adult Education
Transition Plan Implementation: In and Out of Services Special Education
Family Collaboration for Transitions Coordinated Student Support Services

Positive Partnerships, Relationships, and Success

Schools and districts implement best practices in student, family, and community engagement to enhance experiences and opportunities that are culturally inclusive and relevant for each student. Student success and engagement relies on positive partnerships and relationships to fundamentally improve the outcomes for each student, school, district, and community.

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Student Attendance
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Attendance Monitoring School leaders and staff systematically monitor attendance, dropout rates, promotion/graduation rates, and risk factors that affect student attendance to identify trends, patterns, and students who are at risk for dropping out.
Attendance Tiered Intervention School leaders and staff implement a tiered approach (Layered Continuum of Support) to intervention through evidence-based intervention programs and practices based on trends and patterns in attendance, dropout rates, promotion/graduation rates, and risk factors to reduce absenteeism and prevent students from dropping out.

Family and Community Engagement
Family engagement School leaders and staff implement a caregiver and family engagement plan in partnership with caregivers and families that addresses all of the following:

  • Developed in partnership with families and caregivers.
  • Reflects the culturally diverse needs of all families.
  • Builds educators’ and families’ capacity to engage in partnership with the school.
  • Incorporates evidence-based programs and practices for engaging families/ caregivers.
  • Promotes partnerships through shared vision, authentic collaboration, and two-way communication with partners.
Community engagement School leaders and staff sustain established partnerships and seek new collaboration and partnerships with community groups and support services that are mutually beneficial, collaborative in nature, and aligned directly to the academic, career, physical, social, and emotional needs and supports for students.
Monitoring family, caregiver, and community engagement effectiveness School leaders and staff systematically monitor the effectiveness* (e.g., full community representation, shared vision, authentic collaboration, and two-way communication) of family, caregiver, and community engagement for the purpose of improving school and student success.
Valuing community resources School leaders and staff value community resources and take action to fully understand and employ the community’s cultural, social, linguistic, and intellectual resources to promote school improvement and student learning during school, after school, and in summer programs.

Positive Partnerships, Relationships, and Success Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Student Attendance Monitoring and Intervention Coordinated School and District Support
Family and Community Engagement Coordinated Student Support Services

Teaching, Learning, and Serving Domain

Educator Effectiveness

Each student is engaged by effective educators throughout their learning experiences, such that schools and districts develop effective teachers and school leaders who establish a culture of success.

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Teacher Effectiveness
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Planning and preparation To address each student’s unique needs, teachers involve students in the instructional planning and preparation process, which is informed by data from culturally responsive learning experiences.
The learning environment Through communication, collaboration, and partnership with students, caregivers/families, and the broader educational support team, teachers monitor and adjust routines and procedures to create a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment for all students.
Instructional strategies Teachers employ data-based decision making to monitor how well instructional strategies meet students’ unique needs, and differentiate instruction accordingly.
Assessment practices Teachers compare how they assess students to how individual students can best demonstrate their understanding, and when differences exist, teachers adjust their assessment approach to ensure assessment practices are free of bias.
Professionalism Teachers build positive relationships with students, caregivers, families, and the educational support team to cultivate a support system that upholds high expectations for each student in reaching their potential.

School Leader Effectiveness
Vision for learning  School leaders use data-based decision-making to identify patterns and trends to guide schoolwide decisions about high-quality evidence-based instructional programming as part of a vision for learning that prioritizes student and faculty growth.
Continuous improvement School leaders facilitate the continuous improvement process through all of the following skills:

  • Framing a safe environment for change that confronts reality.
  • Asking tough questions and drawing out issues.
  • Challenging current procedures.
  • Fostering collective responsibility for implementing the learning and change necessary to improve.

Engaging the educational support team in support of necessary changes.
Staff support and development School leaders facilitate ongoing dialogue with instructional staff members about specific, actionable, and timely feedback to improve instructional practice, and provide each instructional staff member with the necessary support and development.
Operations and management School leaders manage the school’s physical site to maintain a safe, clean, and healthy learning environment, and use data to monitor and sustain the management process.
Culture for learning School leaders design protocols and practices based on feedback from students, caregivers/families, and the community to help instructional staff meet the individual needs of students.
Professional ethics and advocacy School leaders advocate for students, staff, themselves, and the school’s educational priorities by leading conversations based on contextual data of the students, staff, building, district, and community.

Educator Effectiveness Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Teacher Effectiveness and School Leader Effectiveness Coordinated School and District Support
School Safety (Operations & Management) School Safety & Security

Student Achievement and Growth

A balanced assessment system that includes results from multiple sources is used to measure student growth and achievement towards Nebraska’s content area standards. A balanced assessment system is a necessary component of the instructional process to improve learning and growth for each student.

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Balanced Assessment Systems
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Balanced assessment system Instructional staff use multiple assessments— formative, interim, and summative—in a balanced way by distinguishing which type of assessment is most appropriate for informing different instructional decisions.
Professional learning for assessment literacy Instructional staff receive ongoing professional learning, resources, and support for improving assessment literacy and using formative, interim, and summative assessments in a balanced way.
Scheduling assessments and review of data The district leadership team fully maintains an assessment schedule/ calendar for stakeholders. The schedule/calendar includes a timeline for accessing, reviewing, and using assessment data to guide instruction and resources.

Assessment Quality
Quality of formative assessment process Instructional staff implement formative assessments (e.g., in-the-moment checks for understanding, observations, exit tickets, etc.) that are equitable, student focused, and outcomes based, and use formative data to adjust instruction and strategies for individual students.
Quality of interim assessments School leaders and staff vet all interim assessments (e.g., MAP Suite, NSCAS Growth, curriculum embedded) to ensure instructional staff use valid (i.e., accurate), reliable (i.e., consistent), culturally sensitive, and appropriate interim assessments to measure student learning progress and goals.
Curricula and instruction alignment with assessments  School leaders and instructional staff utilize formative, progress monitoring, interim, universal screener, and summative assessments to ensure that almost all (90–100%) curricula and instruction align with student needs.

Assessment and Data Use
Student assessment participation Instructional staff guide students in setting performance goals, evaluating how they perform on assessments, and determining what action steps they need to take to improve and advance toward their goals.
Sharing assessment results School leaders and instructional staff share assessment information and results in a consistent, reasonable time frame and purposeful manner with instructional staff and administrators, students, caregivers/parents, and the community at large. Student anonymity is protected for community audiences.

Student Growth and Achievement Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Student Assessment, Assessment Types, and Assessment Use Statewide Assessment
Curricula and instruction alignment with assessments Teaching, Learning, and Assessment

Postsecondary, Career, and Civic Readiness

Each student, upon high school graduation, is prepared for success in postsecondary education, career, and life pursuits.

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Balanced Assessment Systems
Dimension Level 4 Descriptor
Instructional materials and curriculum implementation School leaders and staff implement high-quality, evidence-based, instructional materials and have a fully developed curriculum for all content areas included in elementary, middle, and high school instructional programs.
Content area standards alignment School leaders and staff implement a locally determined curriculum based on state and district-approved standards for all content areas included in elementary, middle, and high school instructional programs.
English language proficiency standards alignment School leaders and staff fully align (100%) EL and content curricula with the Nebraska English Language Proficiency standards.
Instructional materials selection process School leaders and staff use a clearly defined and transparent process, aligned with guidance from the Nebraska Instructional Material Collaborative, to develop, modify, review, and select high-quality, evidence-based, instructional materials, and the process is codified in school policy.
Career readiness standards integration All teachers fully integrate all the Nebraska Career Readiness Standards into their instruction.
CTE programs of study School leaders and staff prepare students for current and future workforce and economic needs by providing state model programs of study in CTE that are aligned to local workforce needs and H3 factors (high wage, high skills, and high demand). The school reviews workforce and economic data at least every two years to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs of study and ensure that they are aligned to local workforce needs and H3 factors.

Support for Career Self-Awareness, Exploration, Planning, and Management
Career self-awareness School leaders and staff implement a systematic process to ensure that almost all students (90–100%) are provided with grade-level appropriate career self-awareness and academic and career assessment opportunities aligned with the Nebraska Career Development Model* (e.g., self-reflections, strength and interest inventories, transcript reviews).
Career exploration School leaders and staff implement a systematic process to ensure that almost all students (90–100%) are provided with grade-level appropriate career and labor market exploration and workplace experience opportunities aligned with the Nebraska Career Development Model.
Career planning and management School leaders and staff implement a systematic process to ensure that almost all students (90–100%) are provided with Nebraska Career Development Model-aligned, grade-level appropriate opportunities to explore college and career options and develop a personal learning plan to access postsecondary education or training aligned with their college and career plans.
Community and workforce partnerships School leaders and staff partner with local business and industry to provide almost all students (90–100%) with expanded learning opportunities that help identify high-wage, high-skill, and high-demand (H3) career opportunities in Nebraska and develop workplace skills. These opportunities cover all career fields from the Nebraska Career Education Model and offer learning formats appropriate for the learning objective, such as career and technical student organizations, expanded learning opportunities, career-related field trips, service learning, job shadowing, and internships.
Career counseling support Almost all students (90–100%) have access to personalized career counseling aligned with the Nebraska Career Education Model that provides direction and support for career awareness, course selection, and expanded learning opportunities.

Workplace Learning
Workplace learning experiences School leaders and staff provide a continuum of workplace learning experiences that enhances all students’ (90–100%) career and technical readiness skills by helping students strengthen employability skills, identify alignment with coursework, explore career options, enhance personal finance knowledge and skills, foster positive relationships with adults, observe all aspects of a company’s operation, and develop an awareness of the requirements of careers.
Partner engagement in CTE School leaders and staff regularly engage with secondary, postsecondary, and business/industry representatives to ensure that CTE programs of study develop a robust and up-to-date skill set that is aligned with business/industry standards and to recruit and retain employers to provide opportunities for students to develop and demonstrate workplace skills.

Civic Readiness
Civic-ready students School leaders and staff provide multiple opportunities for all students (90–100%) to acquire the knowledge, skills, actions, and dispositions needed to be civic-ready students who responsibly engage and participate in their communities.
Provision of character education School leaders and staff fully integrate character education into the curriculum and teach, model, and integrate character education into almost all contexts of the school environment to promote the core principles of fairness, responsibility, moral courage, ethical decision-making, openness, self-knowledge, and purpose.

Postsecondary, Career, and Civic Ready Assistance Directory
Dimension Office to Contact for Support
Content Area Standards, Instruction, and Instructional Materials and Civic Readiness Teaching, Learning, and Assessment
English Language Proficiency Standards Alignment English Learner Programs
CTE Programs of Study; Career Readiness Standards Integration; Support for Career Self-Awareness, Exploration, Planning and Management; and Workplace Learning Career, Technical and Adult Education