What must schools and districts do to provide students with the opportunities
and resources they need to meet high standards for learning? That’s
the question guiding the Nebraska’s state board of education “essential
education” study.
The study was sparked in part, by the recognition that the state’s
standards didn’t always align with its accreditation requirements,
said Nebraska Commissioner of Education Doug Christensen. “Algebra
and geometry knowledge is required in our state standards,” Christensen
explained, “But Algebra I and II aren’t required as a part
of our school accreditation process. I can’t think of any schools
that aren’t teaching these subjects, but if we’re mandating
that students learn specific standards, we also need to mandate their
inclusion in the curriculum.”
In 2003, the Commissioner’s Advisory Committee on Essential
Education developed a draft concept paper, titled Providing Equitable
Opportunities for an Essential Education for all Nebraska Public School
Students. To get community input on the paper’s proposals, the
Department held town meetings in Lincoln, Columbus, North Platte, and
Sydney, each drawing 100–150 educators, business leaders, and
parents.
McREL helped the Department expand this community input by creating
and analyzing the results of more than 4,704 online surveys. Respondents,
including teachers, principals, district administrators, school board
members, policy makers, community members, parents, members of business
or industry and students, were asked to comment on a series of items
directly related to the content of the Essential Education document.
McREL’s analysis of these surveys showed that, in general, respondents
supported or strongly supported the proposals contained in the concept
paper.