INTRODUCTION
Nebraska's public schools had these
characteristics in 2001-02, the latest figures available from the National
Center for Education Statistics (http://nces.ed.gov):
Enrollment: 285,402
Percent in Title 1 schools: 36.1%
With Individualized Education
Programs (IEPs) in special ed or learning-disabled categories: 15.8%
Percent in limited-English
proficiency programs: 4.8%
Percent eligible for free/reduced
lunch: 32.4%
White: 80.6%
Hispanic: 9.2%
Black: 7.0%
Asian/Pacific Islander: 1.6%
American Indian/Alaskan Native: 1.6%
Number of school districts: 536
Number of schools: 1,281
Per-pupil expenditures: $7,741
Pupil/teacher ratio: 13.6
Number of full-time equivalent
teachers: 21,043
Source: Common Core of Data, 2001-02
school year, the latest available on NCES
STATEWIDE
STATISTICS
Facts and statistics on Nebraska
schools:
http://ess.nde.state.ne.us/DataCenter/EducationDirectory/20042005/2004-2005Dir.htm
For each Nebraska public school district's scores on
district-created assessments, see:
http://reportcard.nde.state.ne.us
For each public district's annual financial report, and
statewide tallies, see:
http://ess.nde.state.ne.us/SchoolFinance/AFR/AFRData.htm
ADVANCED
PLACEMENT TESTS: NEBRASKA RANKS SECOND TO LAST
Only Louisiana had fewer students
take an Advanced Placement exam in 2006 than Nebraska did, according to the
College Board (www.collegeboard.com).
And only that state plus Mississippi and Alabama did worse than Nebraska in the
proportion who scored high enough on an AP test to get full or partial college
credit for mastering the AP course work. In 1006, only 9.3% of Nebraska seniors
took an AP test, compared to the national average of 24.2%. Of the 9.3%
test-takers in Nebraska, 62% scored a "3" or better. Of the '06 student body,
that represents just 5.8%. Nebraska educators say that Nebraska students don't
have access to AP courses because of lack of funding to train teachers, so that
only 23% of Nebraska high schools offer one or more AP courses.
ACT
SCORES: NEBRASKA #14
Most recent data show Nebraska
ranked 14th in the nation for ACT scores.
Nebraska is in second place among
our surrounding states, though not far behind Iowa. Nebraska's participation
rate is eighth-highest in the nation, and should be considered when comparing
scores. In test-taking, the higher the participation rate, the less able are
the students in the overall pool of test-takers. Nationwide, 40% of 11th-graders
take this test for a national average score of 20.9 out of a possible 36. So
Nebraska's participation rate, 76%, is much higher than the national average,
yet its score is higher, too. It is thought that this high score reflects a
close alignment of curriculum with the ACT test, which comes from neighboring
Iowa.
Midlands State, Score, Participation Rate:
Iowa,
22.0, 66%
Nebraska,
21.8, 76%
Kansas,
21.7, 76%
Missouri, 21.6, 70%
South Dakota, 21.5, 76%
Wyoming, 21.4, 69%
*Colorado, 20.2, 100%
(*
Colorado and Illinois both have state mandates for 11th graders to
take the ACT as a quality control measure)
ACT scores, how Nebraska compares:
http://www.act.org/news/data/05/states.html
SAT
SCORES: NEBRASKA #14
Now, with the other premier college
admissions test, the SAT, it's the complete opposite for Nebraska. Nationally,
Nebraska ranks 27th on the SAT.
The Cornhusker State's best and
brightest took the SAT -- only 8% of graduates participated -- compared to the
national average participation rate per state of 48%. So by rights, Nebraska
should have posted a higher score than states with higher participation rates,
but instead, its mean scores rank last among the seven surrounding states. Nationally,
Nebraska ranks 27th, and yet only eight states have a lower
participation rate.
The state's ranking is still above
the national average, though. Average verbal and math tallies for Nebraska
students were 1,045 out of a possible 1,800, compared to the national average
of 1,026.
The SAT is considered to be more of
an aptitude test than a test of curriculum mastery, but it is considered highly
accurate for predicting how well students will do in college. It also reflects
the status of a state's highest echelon of students, since mostly those in the
top 20% of their classes take this test in Nebraska. It is much more popular on
the East Coast; for example, 87% of New York seniors took the SAT in 2004.
State, score, participation rate:
Iowa, 1,195, 5%
Missouri, 1,172, 8%
Kansas, 1,169, 9%
Colorado, 1,107, 27%
Wyoming, 1,097, 12%
South Dakota, 1,091, 5%
Nebraska, 1,045, 8%
For more about the SAT:
www.collegeboard.com
NATIONAL
NAEP TEST: 44% OF NEBRASKA 4th GRADERS READ BELOW GRADE LEVEL
The National Assessment of
Educational Progress (NAEP), a national test of a sampling of students, shows
that Nebraska 4th graders and 8th graders scored above
the national average on tests of mathematics and reading. Here's Nebraska's
score vs. the national average:
Math:
Nebraska 4th graders: 236
National average: 234
Nebraska 8th graders: 282
National average: 276
Reading:
Nebraska 4th graders: 221
National average: 266
Nebraska 8th graders: 266
National average: 261
That's the good news. The bad news
is, compared to our surrounding states, Nebraska's students did worse on the
NAEP tests in most categories. Only in math did we beat Missouri. We tied
Kansas 8th graders in reading, and we beat Colorado 4th
graders in math, but otherwise, surrounding states scored a little better
overall.
What's also a concern is how few
Nebraska students are working at an "advanced" level. In the chart below,
"basic" means the student has partially mastered grade-level work and would get
a "C" or a "D," "proficient" means the student is working at grade level, and
"advanced" means the student can do superior, above grade-level work. These are
cumulative, so the "proficient" and "advanced" students are included in
"basic." If you're not "basic," "proficient" or "advanced," you're "below
basic" and don't even make this chart.
So . . . if 66% of Nebraska
fourth-graders can read at a "basic" level, that means 44% are reading
significantly below grade level:
Nebraska 4th graders in
math: 80% basic, 34% proficient, 3% advanced.
Nebraska 8th graders in
math: 74% basic, 32% proficient, 5% advanced.
Nebraska 4th graders in
reading: 66% basic, 32% proficient, 8% advanced.
Nebraska 8th graders in
reading, 77% basic, 35% proficient, 3% advanced.
It should be noted that, among the
seven states in this grouping, only Missouri and Kansas have more low-income
students than Nebraska who qualify for free- or reduced-price student lunches.
Also, only Colorado has more students with limited English proficiency. But
still, Nebraska's schools are not as impoverished as any other surrounding
states than Kansas, since the other five all have more students attending Title
I schools - which obtain federal funding because of disadvantaged students with
extra needs.
Another item of concern is that
Nebraska had the most students on Individual Education Plans, or IEP's, with
15.8%, among the seven states in the grouping. It is thought that the more
students who are labeled "special education" or "learning-disabled" and placed
on IEP's, the less effective the reading instruction must be, since an
estimated 80% of the kids on IEPs are not physically disabled, and the No. 1
reason a student is labeled SPED or LD is because of reading disability - not because
of physical, mental or emotional handicaps, low IQ, poverty, problems at home,
or any other reason.
Here's where you can track
Nebraska's scores and those of the other states:
SPENDING
PER STUDENT NATIONAL RANK: #12
Nebraska was rated 12th
in education spending per student, adjusted for regional cost differences.
-- Education Week, www.edweek.org, Quality Counts 2005, p. 102
SPENDING PER PUPIL HAS
INCREASED 325% SINCE 1981-82
According to the Nebraska Department of Education,
statewide, per-pupil spending in Nebraska has risen from $2,471.62 in the
1981-82 school year, to $8,012.96 in 2004-05. That's an increase of nearly 325%
over the past 23 years, or 14% per year.
The annual financial reports posted on http://ess.nde.state.ne.us show this
concluding section for statewide figures. Note the investment by Nebraska
taxpayers of $5.3 billion in buildings and contents for public schools. Also
note that in the cost per pupil figure, "ADM" means "Average Daily Membership,"
which means enrollment as of the last Friday in September, while "ADA" means
"Average Daily Attendance."
|
Other Information
|
|
00-0-99431-000
|
Buildings
|
4,513,272,613.80
|
|
00-0-99441-000
|
Contents of Buildings
|
839,154,135.05
|
|
00-0-99249-000
|
Total Value of Building and Contents
|
5,352,426,748.85
|
|
00-0-99810-000
|
Average Daily Attendance (All Grades K
& Up)
|
261,856.70
|
|
00-0-99820-000
|
Average Daily Membership (All Grades K
& Up)
|
276,731.95
|
|
00-0-99821-000
|
Indicate the Amount of ADM that is
Elementary
|
148,472.37
|
|
00-0-99822-000
|
Indicate the Amount of ADM that is
Secondary
|
128,259.58
|
|
00-0-20200-000
|
Total Adjusted Current Expense
|
2,056,870,604.69
|
|
00-0-99830-000
|
Annual Depreciation of Building &
Contents
|
160,572,802.50
|
|
00-0-99840-000
|
Total Annual Costs
|
2,217,443,407.19
|
|
00-0-99850-000
|
Annual Cost Per Pupil ADA
|
8,468.16
|
|
00-0-99860-000
|
Annual Cost Per Pupil ADM
|
8,012.96
|
|
00-0-01100-000
|
Total Non-Special Education
|
1,114,539,305.07
|
|
00-0-01150-000
|
Total English Language Learners Programs
|
21,789,165.09
|
|
00-0-01200-000
|
Total Special Education Programs
|
239,728,510.04
|
|
00-0-01000-000
|
All Instruction
|
1,376,056,980.20
|
|
00-0-01001-000
|
Indicate the Amount of 1000 that is
Elementary
|
696,921,613.55
|
|
00-0-01002-000
|
Indicate the Amount of 1000 that is
Secondary
|
679,136,014.65
|
|
|
|
|
|
PUBLIC-SCHOOL
GRADUATION RATE: #6
In a study by the Manhattan Institute, Nebraska was ranked 6th
among the states in public high-school graduation rates from 1991-2002,
averaging 83%.
Nebraska has relatively few minorities, compared to other
states; reflecting that is the white graduation rate for the same time period,
also placing 6th in the nation. But for blacks, Nebraska ranks 28th,
with a 50% graduation rate. For Hispanics, the state ranks 3rd, with
60%.
When dropout rates are discussed by education officials, it
is important to ask whether they are giving one-year dropout rates, or
cumulative rates. That's because a student who dropped out in seventh, eighth
or ninth grade is still a dropout when his counterparts graduate after 12th
grade. But often, the rate being discussed is not the cumulative rate.
Also in the study, an analysis showed that 37% of Nebraska's
white students are college-ready, but only 14% of the state's black and
Hispanic graduates are.
For more information, see the study:
www.manhattan-institute.org/html/emp_08_t02.htm
ENGLISH EXPECTATIONS:
C
Nebraska received a grade of "C" for its English standards
in a nationwide study on standards conducted for the Fordham Foundation. The
grade was a "B" in the year 2000. Quality received 12 out of 24 points, and
purposes and expectations received 13 out of 24 points. The standards were
criticized for ignoring vocabulary growth after fourth grade. See p. 52:
www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=337
MATH EXPECTATIONS: D
Nebraska's grade on a similar Fordham Foundation study of
math standards in the 50 states was a "D." The grade was a "C" in the year
2000, although it was an "F" in 1998. The relatively new math standards were
termed "no improvement," criticized as "sketchy," "awkward and vague," with a
"heavy reliance on calculators throughout." The geometry standards were called
"a peculiar mix" of substantive and trivial. See p. 72:
www.edexcellence.net/foundation/publication/publication.cfm?id=337
COMPUTERS IN SCHOOL: #4 and #5
According to Governing magazine's Source
Book 2005: Nebraska ranks fourth and fifth in the country in two important
measurements of expenditures on computers in school. (See www.governing.com, though the Source
Book isn't available online.)
Nebraska's numbers:
2.7 students per instructional computer, ranked 4th
2.9 students per Internet-connected computer, ranked 5th
(Figures from Education Week, 2004)
