Nebraska P-16 Leaders Outline New Education Goals

(Lincoln, Neb.) AUDIO FILE| PHOTO GALLERY | - Gov. Dave Heineman was joined today by several education leaders in unveiling a series of goals designed to strengthen the education Nebraska students receive.

“My hope is that we can bring a strategic, action-oriented and accountable focus to strengthening and enhancing Nebraska’s education system,” Gov. Heineman said. “During the past few months, Nebraska’s P-16 members have developed and endorsed several education goals that will guide our work in the next several years.”

Nebraska P-16 goals are as follows:

• Adopt a college and career preparation core curriculum that requires four years of English and three years each of math, science and social studies in Nebraska school districts by the 2014-15 school year.
• Eliminate the academic achievement gap between Nebraska’s K-12 Caucasian students and its African American, Hispanic, and Native American students.
• Develop an effective longitudinal data system which provides information on the Nebraska educational system from preschool through post-graduate degree attainment and entry into the workforce to help align resources with strategic goals.
• Improve Nebraska’s high school graduation rate to 90 percent.
• Improve Nebraska’s college-going rank to the Top 10 tier nationally.
• Provide affordable access for Nebraska students to attend Nebraska’s postsecondary institutions.
• Improve time to degree completion and increase graduation rates of Nebraska’s postsecondary institutions.
• Increase by five percent the number of teacher education graduates in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) within Nebraska postsecondary institutions.

The Nebraska P-16 Initiative (Nebraska P-16) is a coalition of 27 Nebraska education, business and government groups committed to improving student success rates at all levels, from preschool through college and beyond.

Nebraska P-16 has been reorganized with the Governor serving as chairman, and four key state education leaders serving as co-chairs of the group, including: Sen. Greg Adams, Chairman of the Legislature’s Education Committee; Dr. Roger Breed, Commissioner of Education; James B. Milliken, President of the University of Nebraska; and Liz Koop, President and CEO of EducationQuest Foundation. Each leader will work with other Nebraska P-16 members to address the goals identified in order to strengthen education in Nebraska.

Gov. Heineman said, “These goals are about preparing our students for the 21st Century. Today’s students are more likely to be innovators, critical thinkers and entrepreneurs. Academic rigor and high standards of academic excellence are very important. One of my assignments is to address the need for a core curriculum in our schools. A core curriculum is essential to helping Nebraska students compete in a knowledge-based, technology-driven, global economy.”

Sen. Adams said, “We have an obligation to do all that we can to prepare Nebraska students for education beyond high school and for 21st Century careers. Our new economy is crying out for our students to be better prepared in the areas of math, science and technology and the most important element in achieving that goal is the teacher in the classroom. The Nebraska P-16 Initiative is refocusing our educational efforts in response to a changing world economy.”

Commissioner Breed said, “Nebraska students and teachers achieve at high levels in comparison to others nationally. However, our overall good performance masks significant gaps among student groups. Closing achievement gaps presents a huge challenge that few if any states have been able to eliminate. We can, however, do better. These goals require a significant commitment of time, talent and resources, but Nebraskans are up to the task and I look forward to the challenge.”

President Milliken said, “The most important things our state can do to offer economic opportunity to individual Nebraskans are to prepare them successfully for college, provide the opportunity for them to attend college, and help them graduate on time. It also happens that for the state of Nebraska to be competitive, we need to do everything we can to develop and retain talent in our state. The goals of the P-16 Initiative are designed to achieve these goals.”

Koop said, “Many organizations in our state are doing great things to help more students get to college, and this is slowly but surely helping establish a college-going culture. With Nebraska P-16 actively working toward these goals, we’re better positioned to enhance the efforts already underway in our state and ensure we’re all working toward the same goal.”