NCSA Today Magazine, Spring 2013

NCSA TODAY A PUBLICATION OF THE NEBRASKA COUNCIL OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

Content Testing for Teacher, Superintendent, and Principal Licensure Nebraska School District Accountability 101

Nebraska Council of School Administrators

Spring 2013

www.NCSA.org

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CONTENTS

2 Content Testing for Teacher, Superintendent, and Pricipal Licensure

BY ELISABETH REINKORDT

4 Nebraska School District Accountability 101

NCSA EXECUTIVE BOARD 2012-2013 Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dave Kaslon Vice Chair . . . . . . . . . . .Greg Barnes Past Chair . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Moles

BY DR. VALORIE FOY

6

NASES Announces 2012 Distinguished Service Award

7

Ellen Stokebrand Named CASE Outstanding Administrator of Special Education

8

NASBO Outstanding Business Official of the Year

13

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative: Building a Lended Learning System for Now and for the Future

NASA Representatives President . . . . . . . . . . .Tim DeWaard President-elect . . . . . . .Mike Teahon Past President . . . . . . . .Greg Barnes NASBO Representatives President . . . . . . . . . . . .Jill Pauley President-elect . . . . .Kelli Ackerman Past President . . . . . . . Dave Kaslon NAESP Representatives President . . . . . . . . . .Ann Jablonski President-elect . . . . . .Mike Janssen Past President . . . . . . . .David Kraus

BY DR. MATT BLOMSTEDT

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NSASSP Middle School Principal of the Year

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NSASSP High School Principal of the Year

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Avoid These Two Common IRS 403(b) Regulation Violations

BY ELLIE LOWDER

17

Pay it Forward

BY TIM D E WAARD

18

“Pay Now or Pay Later”

19

Partnering for Student Success

BY DAVE RAYMOND and DENNY VAN HORN

BY DR. MIKE DULANEY and DR. DAN ERNST

20

NASES Representatives President . . . . . . . . . . .Jane Moody President-elect . . . . . . .Brenda Tracy Past President . . . . . . . .Stuart Clark NSASSP Representatives President . . . . . . . . . .Chris Stogdill President-elect . . . . . Brian Tonniges Past President . . .Mitch Bartholomew NARSA Representative President . . . . . . . .Robert Bussmann NCSA STAFF Dr. Michael S. Dulaney Executive Director/Lobbyist Dr. Dan E. Ernst Associate Executive Director/Lobbyist Kelly Coash-Johnson Training and Development Director

Calendar of Events

Amy Poggenklass Finance and Membership Coordinator Angie Carman Executive Administrative Assistant

NCSA Mission The mission of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) is to be an effective leader for quality education and to enhance the professionalism of its members.

NCSA Today is a benefit of membership in the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, 455 South 11th Street, Suite A, Lincoln, NE 68508. Telephone 402.476.8055 or 800.793.6272. Fax 402.476.7740. Annual membership dues are $335 (active members), $100 (associate members), or $40 (student members).

NCSA Today is published quarterly. Send address changes to NCSA, Membership, 455 South 11th Street, Suite A, Lincoln, NE 68508. Copyright ©2013 by NCSA. All rights reserved.

Carol Young Administrative Assistant Elisabeth Reinkordt Staff Correspondent The opinions expressed in NCSA Today or by its authors do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators.

SPRING 2013

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FEATURE

Content Testing for Teacher, Superintendent, and Principal Licensure

BY ELISABETH REINKORDT, Staff Correspondent

N

ebraska is about to be the last state in the nation that does not require its teachers and administrators to take content area tests prior to certification—and that might be changing. For the past several months, the Nebraska Department of Education’s team of teacher preparation and certification specialists has enlisted the help of stakeholders from across the state, representing administrators, teachers, and higher education. With their input, recommendations for the State Board of Education are being prepared to set into motion the rule revision process required for Nebraska to include content area testing for new teachers and administrators.

In order to better understand what Nebraska’s education community can expect as policy develops and moves into practice, NCSA Today spoke with NDE staff including: Sharon Katt, Administrator for Adult Programs; Tentative Timeline for Pat Madsen, Educator Implementation Preparation Program Specialist; and Kevin Peters, May 2013: Proposed Teacher Certification Diimplementation plan presented rector. to the State Board for approval.

Katt described the national discussion about June 2013 – 2014: Finalization teacher certification of recommendations and rule exams as having three revision. main parts: basic skills testing, content area September 1, 2014: All firsttesting, and performance time applicants for certificates assessment. “Some of in selected endorsement areas the national discussion will be required to take has centered around the content area tests. importance of content knowledge for effective September 1, 2015: All firstteaching,” Katt extime applicants for certificates plained, “but we know in selected endorsement areas that content knowledge will be required to take is not the only marker of content area tests and meet effective teaching.”

Adopting a standard of Nebraska’s established passing testing for teacher and scores.

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administrator candidates, though, is heavily tied to accountability—for schools and for the state’s sixteen educator preparation programs. “We have no choice but to be accountable, because it has to do with students,” Katt said. “We want to strike a balance between accountability and flexibility when we develop policy.”

Currently, Nebraska’s teacher preparation institutions use the Praxis I Basic Skills Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST) for general admission into teacher education programs. A revisit of Nebraska’s PPST passing score requirements, which have been in place since the 1980s, was planned for this year. However, when Educational Testing Service (ETS), announced last summer that it would be revising the Praxis I to reflect the common core state standards, it prompted consideration of the basic skills test options offered by the two primary vendors of basic skills tests. With the assistance of stakeholder input, NDE determined that Nebraska would move forward with the revised ETS basic skills test—the Core Academic Skills for Educators (CASE). Rule 23 guides the basic skills requirements and thus will need to be revised.

The area of content testing, however, will prompt the greatest change in state policy. As the stakeholder group looked at the changes in the basic skills test, they found that Nebraska—along with Iowa and Montana—remained the last states not to require some form of content area testing as a requirement for educator program completion and/or certification. Both Iowa and Montana have since moved toward adopting content tests. The action to voluntarily move forward at this time allows Nebraska to approach this thoughtfully and with strong stakeholder input, unlike Iowa’s recent experience with legislative action that required full implementation of testing within a few months of passage of the regulation.

Jay Sears, the Nebraska State Education Association’s Director of Instructional Advocacy, was pleased with NDE’s plan to look first at a preliminary score, and then pilot it at the state’s educator preparation institutions before returning to the stakeholder group to establish cut scores. “We’re thinking through the process,” he said, (continued on page 3)

FEATURE Content Testing for Teacher, Superintendent, and Principal Licensure (continued from page 2) adding, “We do things slow and sure in this state.”

As the stakeholder group examined test options, ETS’s Praxis II rose to the top, mostly based on its universality with other states.

Katt explained that ETS has started using state consortia for the purpose of recommending a multi-state standard setting score and that Nebraska will look to those for reference. Nebraska, however, retains the option to set its own benchmarks. “The suite of tests matches Nebraska’s endorsements fairly well,” Katt added, noting that some endorsement areas will not be subject to the proposed certification requirements, including supplemental endorsements. Katt stressed that adoption of these tests “needs to be a process with input and buy-in from all of the stakeholders,” and that as the conversation continues, they are looking to continue engagement throughout the implementation process.

Sears attributed the push for content area testing to the educator preparation institutions themselves. “They’re looking at how they need to shape their courses and content,” he said, adding that having a standard test in place will help the institutions when they are up for national accreditation. “They don’t have much but GPA to go from now, and a course can really vary from professor to professor,” he explained. As institutions strive for high standards of accountability, Sears said, scores on content area tests become “one of multiple measures,” that are useful in shaping knowledge about the programs at institutions across the state.

Sears did note concern about the cost of the test, citing the approximately $95 price tag as an additional expense pushed onto pre-service teachers and administrators. However, he added that other professions have similar licensure exams and hoped that institutions could find ways to fold the cost into their program cost for students. Furthermore, he added, “while we want our teachers prepared in Nebraska to stay in Nebraska, the reality is that some of them are already taking these tests because they’re going to be teaching in other states.”

There are multiple policy questions that remain to be answered in the implementation process, but a few points are clear. First, the policy recommendation from the stakeholder committee and NDE is that this testing be used for initial certification in endorsement areas covered by the Praxis II that align with Nebraska’s endorsement categories. Thus, any pre-service teacher would take the subject area tests in the content areas for which they are seeking their primary endorsement. Similarly, a certificated teacher looking to add a principal endorsement—or a principal looking to obtain a superintendent endorsement—would need to take the appropriate endorsement exam in order to qual-

Who Will Be Tested?

Anyone seeking an initial regular certificate in major endorsement areas, i.e.: Initial teacher certification in most major endorsement areas Initial principal certification Initial superintendent certification Endorsements in additional content areas ify for certification. Katt explained, however, that taking content area tests is not meant to serve as a replacement for coursework in an educator preparation program. “This is not about allowing additional endorsements without completion of the preparation program,” she explained. Furthermore, she added that at this point, there will be no testing requirement for supplemental endorsements such as ELL and proposed Special Education specializations, and that other specialists such as audiologists and school nurses will not be impacted either.

Kevin Peters, the state’s Director of Teacher Certification, explained that the adoption of content area exams is not necessarily tied to the quantity and quality of candidates, but that it will help educator preparation institutions examine their programs.

“Philosophically, this isn’t necessarily what Nebraska wants to do,” he said, “but it will aid in the defense of the quality of our teacher education programs.” Currently, the state is in the position of accepting the recommendation from the college where an educator was prepared as valid on face value without the added data that a test score can provide. And even though the Praxis II tests are set to measure baseline knowledge—it is expected that practitioners will be adding knowledge as they teach and work as administrators—the test data would heighten the transparency of Nebraska’s teacher education programs. “Right now, it is somewhat difficult to prove our claim that Nebraska prepares good teachers without the data to support it,” Katt said. “And while this is only one incremental step, it’s an important one.” Furthermore, Peters explained that while “the teacher pipeline starts with basic skills tests, institutions sometimes get beat up for this being a low barrier to entry.” Adding in content testing—and getting the passing score right—will provide valuable data for higher education, he added.

Another potential benefit of content testing, Katt explained, is that the scores may be a helpful factor for administrators when reviewing applicants for positions. “When school administrators or (continued on page 8)

SPRING 2013

NCSA TODAY

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ACCO UNTABIL ITY

Nebraska School District Accountability 101

BY DR. VALORIE FOY, Director of Statewide Assessment While Nebraska Accountability 101 may read a bit like Greek 101, especially for new administrators, the topic has become increasingly prominent in education at the state and federal levels, and rarely are accountability systems simple in their construct. A number of factors contribute to the various accountability requirements of Nebraska schools: â&#x20AC;˘ NeSAâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nebraska State Accountability assessments are tests administered statewide, which provide the

scores that are the basis of state and federal accountability. â&#x20AC;˘ NePASâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Nebraska Performance Accountability System is a system of ranking school districts based on their NeSA scores. â&#x20AC;˘ AYPâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Adequate Yearly Progress is the Federal accountability system and is also based on NeSA scores.

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Nebraska State Assessmentâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;NeSA

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he Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) assessments are summative assessments based on the Nesbraska state standards and administered to students each year according to grade level.

Nebraska Performance Accountability Systemâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;NePAS In 2012, the Nebraska State Board of Education established the Nebraska Performance Accountability System by which school districts are ranked by grade level configurations based on NeSA assessment results. NePAS was included for the first time in the State of the School Report, released in November 2012. NePAS includes two sections: NePASâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Section I For each district NePAS includes four charts, one for each of the four following grade level configurations:

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â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘ â&#x20AC;˘

Grades 3-5 by district Grades 6-8 by district Grades 9-12 by district Grades 3-12 by district Each chart includes the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scale scores in NeSAâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Reading, Math, Science, and Writing for status, improvement, growth, graduation rate and participation rate, and a ranking of each in comparison to other school districts in the state. (see first graph on next page) NePASâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Section II A school chart and district chart for each grade in which NeSA tests are given, grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 11, are included in this section. The grade-level charts include the same information as the four district charts in Section I; however, no rankings are included. (continued on page 5)

ACCO UNTABIL ITY Nebraska School District Accountability 101 (continued from page 4)

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Adequate Yearly Progressâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;AYP At the Federal requirement level, the results of NeSA tests are used to determine each Nebraska schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Adequate Yearly Progress [AYP]. AYP is based on the percent of students who are counted as proficient by earning Meets or Exceeds on the NeSA math and reading tests. The proficiency goals for AYP for the next two school years are indicated on the graph below.

Common Core Standards As NDE has received many questions concerning the implementation of the Common Core national standards, the department has contracted with McREL, a regional research center, to study the alignment between the Nebraska State Standards in math and language arts and the Common Core standards. The results of this study will inform future decisions concerning standards and assessment. Results of the comparison will be available in August of 2013. I

SPRING 2013

NCSA TODAY

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AFF ILIATE AWARDS

NASES Announces 2012 Distinguished Service Award

McFarland

T

heresa McFarland, Ed.S., is the 2012 recipient of the NASES Distinguished Service Award. She started her career in 1971 at the University of Nebraska–Kearney (which for the oldies but goodies who are reading this article—was Kearney State College) where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathology. She worked for several years for Educational Service Unit 10, Kearney, NE as a speech language pathologist.

During the time she was working for ESU 10, she went back to KSC and earned her endorsement in “learning disabilities” and continued to work for the ESU 10 as a “Resource Specialist and Speech Language Pathologist.”

In 1995 she earned a Specialists Degree in School Psychology and was employed by Cozad Public Schools as a part-time school psychologist and special education di-

Mark Your Calendars for Administrators’ Days 2013 July 31-August 2 Thursday Keynote Speakers Robert Marzano Charlotte Danielson 6

NCSA TODAY

SPRING 2013

rector. While working for Cozad Public Schools, Theresa returned to UNK and eventually earned her Specialists Degree for Administrative Supervision in Special Education. From 2000 to 2008, she worked for the University of Nebraska at Kearney as a Senior Lecturer in the department of Counseling and School Psychology. She returned to Lexington Public Schools and has been the Special Education Director since 2008. Additional appointments and awards were: • Nebraska Outstanding Special Educator 1989 • Outstanding School Psychologist—Nebraska School Psychology Association 1995 • Founders Award Recipient—Nebraska School Psychology Association 2012 • Senior Lecturer—University of Nebraska at Kearney • Numerous National scholarly presentations and publications—National Association of School Psychology and Trainers of School Psychology • Clinical Coordinator of Field Experiences in Ed.S. School Psychology program at UNK • State Appointed Delegate for the National Association of School Psychology—Six year tenure Theresa has long been and continues to be a positive force in Special Education in Nebraska. She is a tireless worker and advocate for students with disabilities who gives generously of her time and expertise to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the quality of life in her community. I

NATIO NA L AWARD

Ellen Stokebrand Named CASE Outstanding Administrator of Special Education

E Stokebrand

llen Stokebrand, Director of Special Education at Educational Service Unit (ESU) 4 in Auburn, was presented the “Outstanding Administrator of Special Education Award” by the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) at the annual Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Conference, held in San Antonio, TX, earlier in April. This national award, presented annually by CASE, recognizes individuals for making significant professional contributions to leadership in the administration of programs for students with disabilities.

In presenting the award, Laurie VanderPloeg, CASE President, noted that Stokebrand has provided an unwavering style of dedicated professionalism and service to the field of special education, first as a teacher and now as an administrator.

Jack Moles, superintendent of Johnson County Central, wrote “Ellen has been instrumental in my principals and I becoming better versed in how to provide for our students and in helping our staff members. She has been easy to work with, but also very firm in her suggestions to us. I believe I am much more informed in dealing with parents because of her input.”

Jon Fisher, the administrator of ESU 4, added, “Ellen understands special education law and how it impacts students and districts. She works very hard with the Nebraska Department of Education and Nebraska Council of School Administrators regarding Special Education. She is an asset, not only to ESU 4 and our districts, but to the state of Nebraska.”

Stokebrand has been the Director of Special Education at ESU 4 since July of 1998.

During that time, she has supported the districts of southeast Nebraska in providing technical assistance, staff development, and the support of programming for infants, toddlers, and school-age students with disabilities. As part of her responsibilities, Ellen provides districts with the most up-to-date information in the field of special education, including legis-

lation and its impact on districts, students and their families.

Stokebrand is active in the advancement and promotion of special education beyond the boundaries of ESU 4. She has served on various statewide committees, including as president of the Nebraska Association of Special Education Supervisors (NASES) and a member of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) Executive Board. She has served as chair of the ESU Special Populations Directors (ESPD) and as co-chair of the ESU Professional Development Organization (ESUPDO.) Stokebrand is currently Legislative representative for NASES and NCSA and has participated in the national CASE Legislative Leadership Seminar for the past five years. Stokebrand is also a member of Peru State College’s adjunct faculty teaching in the area of special education.

Stokebrand was named as the NASES Distinguished Special Education Director last August. I

Ellen Stokebrand receives her award from CASE Executive Director, Dr. Luann Purcell

SPRING 2013

NCSA TODAY

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AFF ILIATE AWARDS

NASBO Outstanding Business Official of the Year

S

Rosenboom

andy Rosenboom, Business Manager at Crete Public Schools, has been named the 2013 Nebraska Association of School Business Officials Outstanding Business Official of the Year.

This award recognizes individuals who have exhibited outstanding and visionary leadership in school business management. The nominees must be an active member of NASBO and employed full time as a school business official by a school district.

According to Sandy’s Superintendent, Kyle McGowan, “She has managed a growing district which had a million dollar deficit when she started and now has boasted cash reserves consistently over 25 percent of the total budget.”... “She is an invaluable member of the administrative team and has contributed key concepts and prominently assisted in developing a variety of programs for the district.”

Sandy has been with Crete Public Schools as Business Manager since 1995. She received both her Bachelor of

Science and Masters in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She serves on the TEEOSA State Aid Review Committee and as an alternate on the Educators Health Alliance Board. In addition, Sandy has held the office of NASBO State President and is a mentor for other business managers and new superintendents.

Sandy received her award at the NASBO State Convention on April 18, 2013 in Lincoln. I

Content Testing for Teacher, Superintendent, and Principal Licensure (continued from page 3) school boards are looking at applicants,” she said, “this is a concrete piece of information that might be used for applicant screening.” She adds, however, that it is important to remember that content knowledge is not the only important quality of a highly effective teacher.

Policymakers will also need to address what to do about educators coming in from other states. “We anticipate it is likely we will honor [the test scores of] folks coming from other states,” Katt said. Peters added that it will be important to develop provisions for late hires, though. “We don’t want it to be a stumbling block for people coming in from out of state,” he said. In Nebraska, however, he expects that the higher education institutions will integrate the content testing into their programs, so that pre-service teachers and administrators may be taking the tests well before their program completion. “You

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can take the test as many times as you’re willing to pay for,” he noted, “but we anticipate this will not be an issue for most.”

The third area of educator testing being discussed nationally centers around performance-based testing, with edTPA being most commonly recognized. The edTPA is a lengthy and resource-intensive portfolio process that includes video evaluation. While Katt praised its methodology, she stressed that the process is “resource-prohibitive on many fronts. Other options are under development nationally and we will look at those options in the future.” She added, “A performance-based assessment is likely in our future, but for now we are focused on appropriate and thoughtful implementation of the revised basic skills test and the new content knowledge tests.” I

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BlendEd Bl lend lend dEd dEd Blended learning rning is an educational model that combines traditional face-to-face tr aditional fa face-to-f ace-to-face face classroom c methods methods,, with at least some level off online deliver articipation. delivery and par participation.

BlendEd Components Learning Object bject Repository R (LOR) Content ent System A statewide digital igital content repository for existing and futur future collections of multimedia m learning objects and course ourse materials of all types (e .g.. audio, a , video,, digital (e.g. images,, textual)—standards-aligned textual)—standards-aligned and appropriatel tely cataloged and appropriately GPEWWM½IH Learning Management Ma anagement System (LMS) MS) A statewide learning earning management system to allow w teachers to access,, create,, organize instructional content;; perform perfo orm testing;; support collaborative learning learning activities;; and deliver instruction ction to students Federated Directory Dir Services System stem (LD (LDAP) A statewide dir directory rectory services strucstructure that facilitates tates single sign-on access to all instructional structional resources r for every e her and learner teacher Statewide Professional Pr Development nt (PD) System A comprehens sive system of comprehensive f i l development d deevelopment l t to t professional technolog ology-assisted instruc provide technology-assisted instruc-raining,, embedded tional design training, deevelopment,, and PD professional development, d between and among content shared ESUCC,, higher education the NDE,, ESUCC, cational partners par and other educational System Evaluative S ystem of assessment A persistent system hat enables the and analytics that WTTIGM½G WXYHIRX HMEKRSWMW SJ WTIGM½G achievement problems p and the MHIRXM½GEXMSR SJ S GYVVMGYPYQ SV teacher shorta ages (e .g.. science, shortages (e.g. technology, y,, en gineering,, mathematmathematengineering, ics,, English language guage learners,, credit recovery, y,, advanced nced placement,, etc).

T Nebraska BlendEd The dEd eLearning eLea System em The goal of Nebraska’s BlendEd T endEd eLearning System iss to implement mplement instructional and nd content technologies to o enhance t teaching and learning to impr mprove learning outcomess ffor improve s students of all ages.

Im mplementation of the BlendEd ndEd eLearning System will enable Implementation t teachers to access,, create,, and share learning objects ts and o other educational content that will enrich and deepen pen the learning earning experiences aavailable able to all Nebraska students. ents ents.

Blended education has been B en promoted pr nal researchresearch r by educational e as one of the most pro ers omising recent innovationss to access promising a dev and elop content for 1)) a traditional face-to-facee classroom; classr develop 2 an existing video distance 2) ce learning classr oom;; or 3) students classroom; S SYXWMHI XLI GSR½RIW SJ XLII GPEWWVSSQ ERH XLI RSVQ QEP WGLSSP RSVQEP HE]] &PIRHIH IHYGEXMSR EPPS HE] S[W ¾I\MFMPMX] MR EGGIWW ER RH HIPMZIV] EPPS[W ERH t include suppor to ditional face-to-face (synchr hronous) supportt for traditional (synchronous) instruc nstruction and online ((asynchr yynchronous)) instruction and nd allo ws for (asynchronous) allows a time,, any place,, any path, any th,, any pace learning.This learning. This will expand learning earning oppor tunities for o students in high demand ar eas,, includ opportunities areas, includ-ing ng the STEM subjects (i.e y,, engineering, neering,, and (i.e.. science,, technology, m math) and the world languages. uages.

This project will encouragee educational entities to collaborate T a establish a plan of action and on to promote pr appropriate adop the appropriate adop-t tion of these instructional tools,, technologies,, and associated ssociated instructional nstructional techniques.. Implementation Im mplementation will includee strategic p phases of capacity buildingg o ov er the next four years y to rreach the over g greatest ers and students in the most ost eff fectiv number of teachers effective m manner possible. The BlendED possible.The dED services ser will build on the successes o the network bandwidth made possible through of thr par artnerships partnerships e established ebraska.

by Network Nebraska.

The Nebraska BlendED Initiativ T tiative will truly be a ‘blend’ d’ of eff for Initiative efforts b partners from education, by on,, business,, state governm government ment and c charitable foundations working w working together to advancee learning o t outcomes tto produce d careeer career a college ready graduates. and es.

FFor more information please se c contact Matt Blomstedt at 4 402-499-6756 or m matt@esucc.org

PARTNERSHIP

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative: Building a Lended Learning System for Now and for the Future

BY DR. MATT BLOMSTEDT, Executive Director, ESU Coordinating Council

N

ebraska is a diverse but, somehow cohesive place. We enjoy many amenities across the state including wide open spaces in our sand hills, art museums, urban centers with rich traditions and civic pride, small towns, big cities, cultural and historic sites that demonstrate that this land is rich with stories.

I often find myself in awe of the beautiful scenery, the enchanting towns and cities, and constant sense of pride in “our” accomplishments.

Among these critical accomplishments is the vision Blomstedt for an education system that recognizes Nebraska’s unique needs across the school districts across the state.

Educational Service Units have long served to help establish equitable opportunities across regions of the state and help ensure that school districts, ultimately students, have the best resources possible to enhance educational offerings and educational outcomes. However, in this new digital worlds this job gets bigger, more complex, and more important.

Educational equity in the 21st Century is something educators and policy makers have been talking about for two decades. ESUs were legislatively charged with bringing the Internet to school districts. They were also charged with organizing educational opportunities through instructional materials, distance education, and the professional development that is the glue to connect opportunities with learning.

Early in our state, the necessary infrastructure ESUs have sought to build was built on the the modern infrastructure ground…railroads, highways, interstates, freeand have done that with ways, public power lines, many partnerships, and the landscape was also dotted with towns perhaps best of which is and school buildings. We created educational opthe infrastructure portunities, almost out partnership of Network of the air. Urban places focused on scaled and Nebraska. modern education sys-

tems while much of rural Nebraska carved out a niche and sought scale over time through reorganization and, eventually, regionalization.

Now our education infrastructure is being built in the sky…or perhaps you’ve heard of the “Cloud”…that is where educational opportunities are increasingly being built across the state. ESUs have sought to build the modern infrastructure and have done that with many partnerships, perhaps best of which is the infrastructure partnership of Network Nebraska. This “information superhighway” continues to develop lanes, on-ramps, offramps, and wide shoulders. You can get to one end of the state to the other in a video conference meeting or perhaps sit in an Omaha classroom and take a class with a student in Ainsworth. Teachers can team teach students and never meet face-to-face. With technology you can be in the same place at the same time or in the “same place” at a different time. Our education system is changing and we in Nebraska are uniquely able to adapt this change to our local needs.

The ESU Coordinating Council, over the last year, established a vision for “BlendEd,” blended education that unites our ESU skills and talent to begin to organize educational media, content, courses, and systems that allow individual school districts, teachers, and students to realize the benefit of the “Cloud.” The ESUCC took the steps in March to begin to implement a substantial element of the BlendEd plan. Over the next few months ESUs across the state will be working in concert to organize a “learning object repository” powered by Safari Montage. This “LOR” is the beginning of a powerful system that will allow school districts to unite in developing and sharing educational content. Additionally, this educational content system is enhanced by the ability to link to other educational content systems that make sharing resources across the state a reality.

Building this BlendEd system on the “backbone” of a very successful distance education system is critical from an educational philosophy of local uniqueness as well as accounts for scalable systems. Allowing every school (continued on page 17) SPRING 2013

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AFF ILIATE AWARDS

NSASSP Middle School Principal of the Year

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Stogdill

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he Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals is proud to recognize Dr. Christopher Stogdill, Principal at Otte Blair Middle School, as their Middle School Distinguished Principal of the Year.

Dr. Christopher Stogdill was selected to represent Nebraska as the Middle School Principal of the Year for the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals. Dr. Stogdill received his Doctorate in Education Administration from the University of South Dakota in 2010. Dr. Stogdill also holds an Educational Specialist from Wayne State College, a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership from Doane College, and has earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from both the University of Minnesota (Art History) and the Unversity of Northern Iowa (Education).

Dr. Stogdill has been in his current position at Blair Public Schools since 2012. His previous educational experience includes serving as Principal at Stanton Middle/High School from 2001 to 2012.

Dr. Stogdill is active in many professional organizations such as the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Nebraska Council of School Administrators and the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. Dr. Stogdill is currently serving as President of the NSASSP. He is an active member of the TeamMates program, performs various duties for the United Methodist Church, and as a coach or coordinator with several youth athletic programs.

Dr. Stogdill was honored as the Region III High School Principal of the Year for 2008 and 2011, he has received the FFA Cornerstone Award (2006), Nebraska Outstanding New Principal (2005), H.O. Sargent Award (2005), and the Sallie Mae First Year Teacher Award (1995). Dr. Stogdill has presented at several conferences including NSASSP Region III meetings, the Nebraska Educational Technology Association State Conference, and at Wayne State College.

Patty Novicki, K-12 Principal at Dodge Public Schools, states: “Dr. Stogdill is a highly supportive administrator.

While working with him, I have been continually impressed with his driving commitment to excellence. He is uncompromising in his quest for quality educational op-

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portunities for all young people He never loses sight of students and their needs.”

Dr. Michael J. Sieh, Superintendent of Stanton Community Schools says: “There are many proficient and dedicated leaders in education. There are also leaders who, because of their commitment to education and students, must be considered outstanding. Dr. Stogdill is outstanding.”

Sarah A Klinetoe, 6th Grade Teacher at Stanton Community Schools, states: “Dr. Stogdill strives to inspire his staff to be collaborative and hands-on thinkers. He urges his staff to work with other teachers, students, and experts in the community and around the world to develop deeper knowledge of the subjects we are teaching.”

Tanner Tomka, a Stanton Community Schools student comments: “I had let my grades get so bad that I was not going to get to participate in sports my Senior year.

That summer, Dr. Stogdill sacrificed his summer and he tutored me through a credit recovery course for eight weeks. I worked very hard and passed all three classes.

Because of Mr. Stogdill I am now on track to graduate with my class and go to college.”

Dr. Stogdill will receive his award at the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals State Conference and with his selection will be eligible for consideration for the 2014 Metlife/NASSP National Middle School Principal of the Year. I

AFF ILIATE AWARDS

NSASSP High School Principal of the Year

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Case

he Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals is proud to recognize Dr. Curtis Case, Principal at Millard South High School, as the 2013 MetLife/NASSP Nebraska High School Principal of the Year.

Dr. Curtis Case was selected to represent Nebraska as the High School Principal of the Year. Dr. Case received his Doctorate in Education from the University of Nebraska Omaha & Lincoln in 2006. Dr. Case also holds a Masters of Education Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Dr. Case has served as a practicing school administrator for the past 14 years serving as Principal of Millard South High School since 2006, Assistant Principal of Millard North High School from 2001 to 2006 and as Assistant Principal/Activities Director at Holdrege High School from 1999 to 2001.

Dr. Case is active in many professional organizations and community leadership positions such as the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, and the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals, and AdvancEd NCA—Nebraska State Council Board Member. Dr. Case has also served on the Principal Partnership with Union Pacific Railroad, Board of Directors for the Millard Public Schools Foundation, Millard Lions Club, Christ Community Church, as a youth coach with YMCA and MAA, and as an Eagle Scout Board of Review Member for the Boy Scouts of American.

Dr. Case has several other honors, including the NSASSP Region II Principal of the Year, American Red Cross Heroes of the Heartland recipient, Millard Public Schools Dr. Lutz Award for Excellence in Administration, Nebraska Association of Student Councils Outstanding Principal of the Year, and UNL—EdAd Outstanding Doctoral Student Award.

Dr. Case noted, “I have always seen the role of a Principal as a service to others. It is truly the students and staff that define a school. Any honors or success I may have received or experienced during my career is due to those I have been fortunate to work alongside.”

Dr. Jim Sutfin, Assistant Superintendent of Millard Public Schools, states: “Dr. Case is the type of Principal that always works towards personalizing the school environment. He has worked with his staff in a collabora-

tive manner to improve…Each year Millard South has made improvements. Dr. Case is a man of character who is driven by personal excellence and collaborative leadership.”

David Anderson, Vice President & CFO of Millard Lumber, says: “Dr. Case involves all stakeholders within the school community, provides them with the necessary resources and direction, and then listens to all feedback and input. It is this collaborative effort that allows all to feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in the outcomes.”

Zachery Price, a former student of Millard South High School states: “Dr. Curtis Case has promoted positive relations between students and staff. He has created a school that is inviting and has changed our school from a place you have to be, to a place that you want to be!”

Nicholas Kintzle, teacher at Millard South High School comments: “Dr. Case cares so much about students at Millard South that is has become infectious. He has created a principal-student advisory board and he has become a fixture at all after school activities, from plays and concerts to cross country events.”

Dr. Keith Lutz, Superintendent of Millard Public Schools says: “Curtis has stood up to the test of extreme adversity of being a high school administrator. He has suffered emotionally and physically in carrying out his duties. He has handled all of the adversity as well as any one person could, and has come back an extremely strong capable leader at Millard South High School. They are lucky to have him.”

Dr. Case will receive his award at the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals State Conference and with his selection, will be eligible for consideration for the 2013 Metlife/NASSP National High School Principal of the Year. I

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15

PRO GRAM SP OTL IGHT

Avoid These Two Common IRS 403(b) Regulation Violations

BY ELLIE LOWDER, TGPC, Consultant (Horace Mann, a proud partner with ASBO International, has enlisted well-known consultant, Ellie Lowder, TaxExempt and Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC), to provide members of NCSA with 403(b) news and insights.

This article focuses on two common red flags for IRS auditors monitoring public school district 403(b) plans. Horace Mann will be happy to consult with you or your TPA to help make sure your plan avoids these and other violations.)

P

art of keeping your 403(b) plan in compliance with IRS regulations is proactively monitoring the 403(b) environment for recurring violations.

Here are two offenses that most commonly show up in 403(b) audits: Contributions in excess of the elective deferral limits (basic limit of $17,500 under age 50; plus an additional $5,500 catch-up if age 50 or older; plus a possible additional $3,000 if employees have 15 years or more of service with the current employer)— School business officials are cautioned not to permit the 15-years (or more) catch-up for employees without documenting a calculation to support their eligibility for using it. Your investment provider (or your TPA, if you have one) should be prepared to do that calculation.

Here are a few other catch-up reminders: • Both types of catch-up options must specifically be allowed for in an employer’s written 403(b) Plan.

Otherwise, they are not available. Many employers allow the age 50 catch-up because of its simplicity.

Likewise, many do not allow and many TPAs do not recommend including the 15-years-of-service catchup due to the complexity of the eligibility calculation.

• If the plan permits both types of catch-up, the 15years-of-service catch-up must be used before the age 50 catch-up.

• The 15-years-of-service requirement means the equivalent of full-time service. (For example, 15 years of half-time service would only equal seven-and-a-half years of full-time service.)

• Employees who have contributed an annual average of $5,000 or more during their service with you are not eligible to use the 15-year catch-up.

• The 15-year catch-up increase is available only until the affected employee has used a lifetime amount of $15,000 in extra limit or average deferrals exceed $5,000 with you—whichever comes first.

Violation of the universal availability rule—This generally occurs when you have excluded employees based on average hours worked. It’s simple to avoid this violation by permitting any employee who will contribute

2

1

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$200 or more each year to participate in the plan – and not excluding any employee based on hours worked.

A second common reason for the violation is the exclusion of a class of employees, such as substitute teachers. To avoid that violation, just offer your plan to substitute teachers as well as your full-time staff, keeping in mind it’s likely very few, if any, will choose to participate.

Correcting the universal availability violation can be costly because the IRS may require that the employer make employer contributions on behalf of the entire class of excluded employees for all years they were excluded.

Keeping these two processes compliant will go a long way towards insuring you have a healthy 403(b) plan. I

AF FIL IATE LEA DERSHIP

Pay it Forward

BY TIM D E WAARD, President, NASA; Superintendent, Centennial Public Schools

C

DeWaard

ongratulations, you are now the acting superintendent.” As a young administrator in a small school, I did not feel ready for this next step.

The next day as I sat in the superintendent’s office, I had no idea what to do next. The chair felt good, the desk was large, and as I looked around the office, I wondered what I was supposed to do? Luckily, a neighboring superintendent had heard what happened and told me, if I needed anything, to give him a call. I often wondered if he ever regretted saying that, because I called often. I am forever indebted to him for his mentorship of me. I would not have survived that year or the years to follow without having someone to call and ask questions of.

According to John C. Crosby, “Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”

I certainly needed everything that my mentor could offer at the time, but the mentoring didn’t last just a year. I continued to call him from time to time for many years.

Currently, I still have many colleagues that I call or email for ideas and support.

Six years ago, Dr. Dan Ernst started the New Superintendent’s Program. The goal of the New Superintendent’s Program is to initiate a planned, purposeful, and effective program of activities and training development opportunities in order to promote success for first-time Nebraska superintendents, as well as experienced superintendents from other states who are new to Nebraska.

One of the critical components that leads to the success of this program is the willingness of fellow colleagues to serve as mentors. Each new superintendent is matched with a current and experienced superintendent to receive guidance and support, ensuring each new superintendent will have the best chance to be successful.

Oh, I wish that this program would have been in place nineteen years ago, when I was thrust into the superintendency. There were times when I floundered as I felt I should know what I was doing and was too stubborn to ask for help or advice. I now understand that everyone needs a support network and every superintendent asks for advice from time to time. While the Nebraska Association of School Administrators (NASA) is a relatively small group, we are also a very tight group. I have never heard of anyone refusing to help a colleague and I am very proud to be a part of this group.

In the movie “Pay It Forward,” Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward—repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. I hope that we all look to pay it forward to others in the profession.

“Successful people turn everyone who can help them into sometimes mentors!” John C. Crosby. Thank you to all of my sometimes mentors. Nineteen years later, I hope I’m wiser and more experienced, but I know that I still need “sometimes mentors.” I

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative (continued from page 13) building and student in the state to tap into a shared set of rich educational resources while also ensuring that local school districts maintain their own perspective and control has been the philosophy established in distance education. The system allows districts to collaborate to enhance their own offerings rather than somehow abdicate local control. I would have it no other way. This is not a “build it and they will come” approach.

After all, we are not Iowa. (“Field of Dreams” reference in case you missed it). Instead, the build out of this system has been based on actual needs of school districts, the coordination of ESU systems and services already in place, and the vision to unite efforts that enhance local educational opportunities.

There is far more to come. This can get really technical, (mind boggling) and it is easy to get lost in such discussions.

Just know that such systems are built to connect to and unite other digital materials systems. They are built to connect to national, state, and local resources. They are designed to accomplish both scale in the acquisition and retention of materials, and deliver them efficiently and effectively to your classrooms and your students’ homes.

The ESUs remain dedicated to building systems for this future vision. However, it is the whole state, the human network of educators that is most critical to a system’s success. We appreciate your partnership in all such efforts. I

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17

PROGRA M SPOTLIG HT

“Pay Now or Pay Later”

BY DAVE RAYMOND and DENNY VAN HORN

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rowing up I remember the commercials for STP, an oil additive designed to cut engine wear and guarantee longer life. Mario Andretti, Indy 500 Hall of Fame driver, was the spokesperson for STP. Andretti was making the point that a few ounces of preventative in your oil now, can eliminate premature engine failure due to wear. I can’t confirm that his product delivered, but the theory of preventative care paying off is absolutely solid. In the ’80s Fram Filters used a similar message when they coined the phrase, “Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later.” Of course this now famous phrase related to regular replacement of oil filters as a way to increase the life of your engine.

This philosophy seems to be common sense, but far Raymond too often dollars and cents take precedence and the cost of preventative maintenance is deferred and likely never performed. Upfront costs reduced due to budget constraints lead to higher costs incurred prematurely through breakdowns requiring reactive expensive repairs and down time.

Beyond the costs incurred dealing with premature breakdowns, there are the operational costs that must be Van Horn considered. Buildings performing at peak or design efficiency equate to reduced energy consumption and peak environment for performance. In the case of schools, peak performance of building systems equates to optimal environment for teaching and student achievement. Pro-active planned maintenance ensures that buildings perform to their designed efficiency and peak performance.

These performance factors include things like: energy consumption, water consumption, temperature and humidity levels (occupant comfort), acoustical and lighting levels, fresh air and CO2 levels, reliability and reduced maintenance and uptime. All these factors have shortand long-term cost impacts. Systems performing at peak efficiency reduce the short-term costs in re“A poorly designed duced energy consumpbuilding operated and tion and reduce the maintained effectively will long-term cost in reoften outperform a wellduced maintenance, redesigned building with poor pairs, and reactive operating and maintenance premature replacement.

A U.S. Department of practices.”

Energy study found an (ASHRAE, 2009) average of 15 energy use 18

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deficiencies per building in 643 new and existing commercial buildings studied. By correcting these deficiencies, building owners realized an average reduction of 16 percent in energy consumption and achieved a full payback of their investments within two years. (Evan Mills, PhD, 2009) Research has shown that deliberate preventive maintenance results in: 1. 70-75% reduction in unexpected Breakdowns; 2. 25–30% reduction in energy Consumption; 3. Downtime reduction of 35-40%; and, 4. Reduced repair and maintenance costs of 5-20%.

(Federal Energy Management Program, 2010) Developing a plan for preventive maintenance is the first step. Creating a deliberate and scheduled plan of preventive maintenance measures on all equipment is critical. These measures go far beyond just checking belts and changing filters and often require technical expertise not found in general maintenance or custodial personnel. Documenting the timely and thorough execution of the preventive maintenance plan and schedule is an absolute must. Accountability will ensure a consistent and effective preventive maintenance program.

Far too often, new equipment is not considered when developing the preventive maintenance plan. It is assumed that by the very nature of being new, the equipment can be exempted from routine preventive maintenance. However, to maintain the advantages of new equipment, it is both logical and necessary to perform preventive maintenance from day one to ensure longevity and efficient problem free operation.

Investing in preventive maintenance may mean contracting for technical services. The age old adage: “you get what you pay for” is very applicable to preventive maintenance. Investing in expertise to keep equipment running at peak design performance for years on end is a wise investment. An investment that will not only pay back benefits of reduced energy consumption, maintenance, and reactive or premature replacement, but also a physical environment that promotes high performance teaching and learning.

The Andretti “STP philosophy” for engines truly does transfer to facilities, and the equipment and systems that are the infrastructure of those facilities. Investing in the proper preventive care today will pay big dividends now and in the future. I

NCSA REPORT

Partnering for Student Success

BY DR. MIKE DULANEY, Executive Director; and DR. DAN ERNST, Associate Executive Director

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Dulaney

Ernst

The Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) would like to extend our appreciation to Commissioner Roger Breed for his leadership and service to Nebraska schools and students. Dr. Breed began service as Commissioner of Education in March of 2009 and will officially retire effective June 30, 2013.

We wish him well in retirement and acknowledge his contributions and successes as Commissioner. His leadership at the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has focused in part on student achievement, learning standards, and student attendance. We sincerely appreciate his leadership and feel confident that he has moved education forward in Nebraska and positioned NDE and Nebraska schools for continued success. NCSA is fortunate to partner with the department in so many meaningful ways to improve education in Nebraska.

We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council (ESUCC). Under the direction of Dr. Matt Blomstedt, ESUCC has the responsibility to coordinate the activities of Nebraskaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 17 Educational Service Units. Dr. Blomstedt works with the Director of each Educational Service Unit and their respective staff to promote statewide continuity and equity of opportunity for all Nebraska students.

It is our observation that there has been much progress the past several years in meeting their responsibility and wish to acknowledge several of their projects.

The goal of ESUCCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s BlendEd Initiative is to implement instructional and content technologies to enhance teaching and learning and to support all modes of blended instruction. This instruction blends face-to-face (synchronous) instruction with online (asynchronous) in an effort to maximize educational resources and in particular provide more equity, efficiency and flexibility for students and schools. This effort may enhance the opportunity for all students regardless of where they live within our state.

A second initiative is to provide a collaborative effort statewide to train all ESU employees. This endeavor helps to build capacity for employees in all Educational Service Units and to assist them to meet the needs of their respective schools. The ESU Professional Development Organization consists of five affiliate groups representing ESU employees and include: Staff Development

Affiliate, Technology Assistance Group, Network Operations Committee, Instructional Materials Affiliate, and ESU Special Populations. Each of these groups and their efforts once again promote the opportunity for a quality and equitable learning experience for all students.

In addition to the two projects highlighted, ESUCC has five additional defined projects that assist in promoting a quality education for Nebraska students. We would invite you to visit the ESUCC website at www.esucc.org to learn more about the ESUCC. NCSA enjoys the collaborative relationship with the ESUCC and Educational Service Units. We understand and appreciate that by working together we can best meet the needs of students and schools.

Following State Board of Education approval, NDE staff have worked with many Nebraska educators to develop model teacher and principal evaluation documents.

Pilot schools will be begin to use the new documents in school year 2013-14. We believe our school communities will appreciate the quality of the materials. Proper evaluation can best occur when schools are using researched based instructional learning models. Once again ESU personnel have been building their capacity and are ready to assist Nebraska schools in identifying and implementing sound instructional learning models for their districts. With a professional understanding of quality instruction, we are confident that evaluation of teachers and principals can be a positive growth experience that will enhance student success.

NCSA appreciates and salutes the efforts of NDE, ESUCC, and all Educational Service Units. We are pleased to have the opportunity to work together as partners to promote leadership, learning, and quality education. I

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CALENDA R OF EVENTS MAY 14 17 22 30 31 31

NASA Region II NASES Region II NASA Region I NCSA Executive Board NASES Region I NASES Region III

11:30 am 8:30 am 2:00 pm 9:30 am 9:00 am 9:00 am

Bennington Public Schools UNO Hillcrest Country Club NCSA Offices NCSA Offices Lifelong Learning Center

Bennington Omaha Lincoln Lincoln Lincoln Norfolk

NCE Conference NCSA Golf Tournament NASCD Spring Workshop NASPA Summer Retreat NASES Region III

8:00 am 12:30 pm 8:00 am 8:00 am 9:00 am

Younes Conference Center Yankee Hill DC Center Lied Lodge Lifelong Learning Center

Kearney Lincoln Omaha Nebraska City Norfolk

Google Summit NCSA Executive Board NAESP Executive Board NASES Executive Board NSASSP Executive Board NARSA Executive Board NASA Executive Board

8:00 am 5:00 pm 10:30 am 10:00 am 10:00 am 2:00 pm 5:00 pm

Southwest High School Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Holiday Inn Holiday Inn

Lincoln Kearney Kearney Kearney Kearney Kearney Kearney

Younes Conference Center

Kearney

8:00 am

Courtyard

Lincoln

8:00 am 11:30 am TBD 8:00 am

Cornhusker Hotel Pacific Springs NCSA Offices Holiday Inn

Lincoln Omaha Lincoln Kearney

JUNE 3-6 19 24 27-28 28

JULY 18-19 30 31 31 31 31 31

ADMINISTRATORS’ DAYS July 31 - August 2

AUGUST 30

NASES Fall Workshop

SEPTEMBER 6 11 14 25

Labor Relations NARSA Golf Tournament NCSA Tailgate School Law Update

National Convention Dates CASE – September 25-26, 2013 – Indianapolis, IN ASBO – October 25-28, 2013 – Boston, MA ASBO – September 19-22, 2014 – Kissimmee, FL NASSP – February 6-8, 2014 – Dallas, TX AASA – February 13-15, 2014 – Nashville, TN NAESP – July 11-13, 2013 – Baltimore, MD

20

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Gold Sponsorships Ameritas

Humanex Ventures

Jay Spearman, Marc Munford, Bruce Lefler, Scott Keene 440 Regency Parkway Drive, Ste 222 Omaha, NE 68114 800-700-2362 jspearman@ameritas.com mmunford@ameritas.com blefler@ameritas.com skeene@ameritas.com www.ameritas.com

Katie Shanahan 2900 S. 70th St., Park One, Ste 100 Lincoln, NE 58506 402-486-1102 katie.shanahan@humanexventures.com www.humanexventures.com

John Baylor Test Prep John Baylor P.O. Box 30792 | Lincoln, NE 68503 402-475-7737 john@johnbaylortestprep.com www.johnbaylortestprep.com

Boyd Jones Construction George Schuler 333 South 9th Street | Lincoln, NE 68508 402-318-4794 gschuler@boydjones.biz

D.A. Davidson & Co. Dan Smith, Paul Grieger, Cody Wicklham, Andy Forney 1111 N. 102nd Ct., Ste 300 Omaha, NE 68114 402-392-7986 dsmith@dadco.com www.davidsoncompanies.com/ficm

DLR Group Pat Phelan, Whitney Wombacher 400 Essex Court | Omaha, NE 68114 402-393-4100 pphelan@dlrgroup.com www.dlrgroup.com

ESUCC Matt Blomstedt 455 S. 11th Street | Lincoln, NE 68508 402-499-6756 matt@esucc.org

Horace Mann Cindy Dornbush 10612 Monroe Street, #4 Omaha, NE 68127 402-680-9382 cindy.dornbush@horacemann.com www.horacemann.com

National Insurance Steve Ott 9202 W. Dodge Rd., Ste 302 Omaha, NE 68114 800-597-2341 sott@nis-sif.com www.nis-sif.com

NLAF Barry Ballou 455 S. 11th St. | Lincoln, NE 68508 402-705-0350 balloub@pfm.com www.nlafpool.org

Pickering Creative Group Kasey Matoush 8001 South 13th Street Lincoln, NE 68512 402-680-9382 kasey@pickering.com www.pickeringcreative.com

TRANE Danny Szegda, Dave Raymond 5720 S. 77th St. | Ralston, NE 68127 402-935-9040 dave.raymond@trane.com www.trane.com/omaha

Wells Fargo

Silver Sponsorships Awards Unlimited Larry King 1935 O Street | Lincoln, NE 68510 402-474-0815 larryking@awardsunlimited.com www.awardsunlimited.com First National Capital Market Craig Jones 1620 Dodge Street, Suite 1104 Omaha, NE 68197 402-598-1218 craigjones@fnni.com Jostens Don Bartholomew 309 S. 8th Street Broken Bow, NE 68822 308-872-5055 don.bartholomew@jostens.com Nebraska Public Agency Investment Trust Becky Ferguson PO Box 82529 | Lincoln, NE 68501 402-323-1334 becky.ferguson@ubt.com www.npait.com

Siemens John Hay 8066 Flint Street | Lenexa, KS 66214 913-905-6723 johnhay@siemens.com usa.siemens.com

Jenni Christiansen 1248 O Street | Lincoln, NE 68508 402-434-6188 jenni.l.christiansen@wellsfargo.com www.wellsfargo.com

Bronze Sponsorships Benchmark 4 Excellence | Rick Imig PO Box 29646 | Austin, TX 78755 512-215-0928 rick@benchmark4excellence.com www.benchmark4excellence.org

Dream Box Learning | Jeff Enoch 305 108th Ave., NE | Bellevue, WA 98004 336-236-5560 jeff@dreambox.com www.dreambox.com Renaissance Learning | Ron Given 2911 Peach Street Wisconsin Rapids, WI 54494 726-535-4747 www.renlearn.com

Nebraska Council of School Administrators

PRSRT STD. U. S. POSTAGE PAID LINCOLN, NE PERMIT NO. 951

455 So. 11th Street, Suite A • Lincoln, NE 68508-2105 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

DO YOU HAVE A RESEARCH QUESTION? Ask a REL is a collaborative reference desk service provided by the ten regional educational laboratories (REL) that by design, functions much in the same way as a technical reference library. It provides references, referrals, and brief responses in the form of citations on research based education questions.

RELs provide the following types of referrals as part of the “FREE” Ask A REL service: Referrals to Institution of Education Sciences (IES) research projects References for or electronic copies of IES publications or reports References or bibliographies of existing education research Referrals to websites or federally funded education organization Regionally specific educational information Visit www.relcentral.org for more information