Area Schools Classified As ‘Great’ Under Department Of Education AQuESTT

Area Schools Classified As ‘Great’ Under Department Of Education AQuESTT
Courtesy of AQuESTT

LINCOLN – Public schools in Nebraska had their accountability results released on December 21 for a Quality Education System Today and Tomorrow, or AQuESTT.

Per the Nebraska Department of Education, the accountability allows schools to focus on educational equity for their students, ensuring all students across backgrounds and circumstances have access and opportunities for success. AQuESTT annually classifies schools and districts as excellent, great, good or needs improvement.

A breakdown of preliminary classification indicated that 141 (12.70%) of schools were classified excellent, 427 (38.47%) percent were great, 386 (34.77%) were good, and 156 (14.05%) were designated as in need of improvement.

Wayne Community Schools, Wakefield Public Schools and Laurel-Concord-Coleridge School District were listed under the ‘great’ classification as Winside Public Schools was named with a ‘good’ classification.

Results were based on 2017-18 academic school year and can be found by visiting nep.education.ne.gov. More information on a Quality Education System Today and Tomorrow can be found by visiting aquestt.com.

A total of 105 schools are eligible for an upward adjustment to their classification through the Evidence-based Analysis (EBA). This survey is used to determine practices, policies, and procedures in place aligned to the six AQuESTT tenets of Positive Partnerships, Relationships, and Success; Transitions; Educational Opportunities and Access; College, Career, and Civic Readiness; Assessment and Educator Effectiveness.

To be eligible, schools must have one of the top total EBA scores in their classification level. All eligible schools were required to submit evidence to a panel for review and determination.

Schools can also receive credit for growth and improvement within the tenets. The initial findings showed:

  • 89 (8.02%) of schools received credit for chronic absenteeism reduction or progress towards English learner proficiency in the Educational Opportunities and Access tenet
  • 90 (8.11%) of schools received credit for growth, improvement, non-proficiency reduction, science proficiency, or science improvement in the Assessment tenet

Nebraska provides support in different ways to better target funds and resources to schools that need to improve. Three schools in the needs improvement classification have been designated as priority schools and received professional development, coaching, and new instructional materials. Those schools are Schuyler Central High School in Schuyler; Loup County Elementary School in Taylor and, Santee Middle School in Niobrara.

In addition to priority school support, 27 schools were recently named Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI). Schools with this designation are performing in the lowest five percent of Title I schools or have a graduation rate of 67 percent or below. Schools with consistently underperforming sub-groups, such as economically disadvantaged or English learners, may be named Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools in 2019.

Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) results were also released last Friday. NSCAS English Language Arts (ELA) and NSCAS Mathematics, rigorous assessments with high expectations for college and career readiness, were given in grades three through eight, and the NSCAS Science assessment was given in grades five and eight. Nebraska students continue to show growth and improvement across grade levels. More than half of students are meeting or exceeding expectations in math, ELA, and science. The NSCAS ACT is given to all Nebraska juniors statewide and 50 percent or more are on track or meeting ACT benchmarks.

The results of classification and assessment data can be found on the Nebraska Education Profile (NEP). School and district snapshots provide a quick look at accountability performance while full data profiles provide deeper information and include all Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)-required components. Comparisons can also be made of schools and districts to similar peers in the state.

For additional information, contact David Jespersen at 402-471-4537 or email david.jespersen@nebraska.gov.

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