School administrators generally pleased with NDE report cards

All Nebraska schools have received what amounts to an annual report card from the state Department of Education. And while area schools have mostly remained static or moved up in the NDE’s rankings since last year, school officials say they are looking forward to promised changes in the evaluation formula that are expected to make the annual assessments more useful in making positive changes. 
The assessment uses state achievement test results and other metrics for assigning a grade between 1 and 4 to the elementary, middle school and high school of each district, which results in an overall score for the district as a whole. According to the language of the Accountability for a Quality Education System, Today and Tomorrow (AQuESTT) rating system, a score of 1 results in a ranking of “targeted for support and improvement,” a 2 is “Good,” a 3 is “Great” and a 4 stands for “Excellent.” 
“So this really is our report card for the year,” Aurora Supt. Jody Phillips told the 4R school board at its December meeting. “We’ve been doing well the last however many years that we’ve had AQuESTT. We’ve always been at the 3 threshold. If you look at those scores and proficiency rates, we’re always within two to three percentage points of being a 4 … and now with the new classifications in these categories we’re able to show all the other things that we do in our district. I can’t predict now, yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we as a district end up as a 4, just because of some of the other components that are now a part of it.
Speaking of planned changes to the factors used in determining the AQuESTT scores, Phillips said, “I think this is a step in the right direction as far as sharing a better picture of schools’ actual performance in all those areas, and I’m excited that they actually listened and made those changes so that we can have a better picture of how the school districts are doing.”
Following are this year’s AQuESTT ratings for the Aurora, Giltner, Hampton and HPC school districts along with comments from administrators.

Aurora
High school – Great
Middle school – Great
Elementary school – Great
District – Great
Aurora curriculum director Desiree Teahon announced the ratings at this month’s school board meeting and noted this is the final year the NDE will utilize the current system. 
“So we fell squarely down the 3 column this time, and you can see kind of where we’re close to getting 4s,” Teahon told the board.
Digging into the specific numbers a bit, Teahon pointed out that 804 of the 1,190 students tested earned proficient assessments in English and Language Arts (ELA) and math, for a rate of 67.56 percent. She also reported there has been significant improvement in the chronic absenteeism category, which dropped from a baseline of 15.66 percent in 2021-22 to 10.3 percent, well below the district’s goal of 13.3 percent, stating “We made the goal we wanted to make there, so as a district our chronic absenteeism is trending in the right direction.” 
Teahon also said the high school is at a particular disadvantage under the current system because it is judged on only three factors. Those include ACT scores, graduation rates and chronic absenteeism. She said that will change in the coming year with the addition of a number of categories including postsecondary readiness, science proficiency, English language proficiency and student discipline rates.
“The high school kind of had the toughest end of AQuESTT with this current system, because your status is based on ACT, graduation rates and chronic absenteeism,” she said. “That is very few items, as opposed to the other schools.” (Read the full reaction from Aurora school officials in an article in ANR’s Dec. 10 issue.)

Giltner
High school – Excellent
Middle school – Good
Elementary school – Great 
District – Good
At Giltner Public Schools, Supt. Matt Gordon said he was delighted to see the district  maintain its overall positive scores for another year. 
“We are very pleased with the results showing Giltner High School rated excellent and Giltner Elementary school rated great,” Gordon said. “These ratings reflect the consistent efforts of our staff, students and families, and they affirm that the district is providing a strong educational experience across grade levels. At the same time, we view these results as a checkpoint – not the finish line – and an opportunity to continue improving.”
The Nebraska Student Assessment System (NSCAS) report listed Giltner students at 53 percent proficient in English Language compared to their peers at 69 percent and the state at 59 percent, however, the school’s overall rating increased by 10 percent compared to last year.
For math, students were proficient at 50 percent as compared to the state average of 58 percent. The overall rating increased by 1 percent from the previous school year.
In science, students were proficient at 59 in comparison to their peers at 83 percent and the state at 80 percent. The overall rating increased by 4 percent.
“While reading remains an important focus area for continued improvement, the district is prioritizing reading instruction through Science of Reading practices, LETRS and ASPIRE training and targeted supports to ensure all students – both those needing additional help and those ready for enrichment – continue to grow,” Gordon said.
With upcoming changes being made in the AQuESTT evaluation rubric, Gordon said he believes changes are necessary in order to find what works for the students’ overall learning.
“The AQuESTT changes can make year-to-year comparisons more complex, but they are a step in the right direction toward better understanding of how schools serve students,” Gordon said. “Ultimately, local control and internal evaluation provide the clearest picture of student success, as each district is unique and faces its own challenges.”

Hampton
High school – Excellent
Middle school – Great
Elementary school – Excellent
District – Excellent
Meanwhile, Hampton Public School moved up in the ratings in terms of the district’s overall ranking. The elementary building moved up from a great ranking last year to excellent, while the middle school grades declined from excellent in 2024 to great this year. However, the district moved up to an overall rating of excellent this year versus great last year. 
“The biggest differences are that the elementary and high school building jumped from a 3 to a 4 and middle school went from a 4 to a 3,” High School Principal Carson Klute explained. “Because the other buildings increased, our overall district score improved from a 3 to a 4 for the current reporting period.”
“The biggest factor in deciding rankings has to do with the state assessment testing,” Klute continued. “For grades 3-8, NSCAS is the test that is given in the spring. In high school, that state test is the ACT, which is taken by all juniors across Nebraska. Improvements and meeting benchmarks in the state tests are the main drivers in factoring the score. However, something else that can adjust scores in a positive direction is the “Educational Opportunities and Access” which basically means a reduction in chronic absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism is defined by the state as a student missing 10 percent or more days of school in a given year. This equates to roughly missing 17.5 days of school. Obviously, missing school would have an impact on achievement, therefore reducing that number of chronically absent students is a goal across the state, and also one of Hampton’s goals.” 
Klute explained that the term “middle school” doesn’t really fit for Hampton since grades 7 through 12 are in one building. However, in an effort to create uniformity across the state, the state board of education lists the classifications separately. 
“I am proud of all the work the teachers did in preparing our kids for the tests,” Klute said. “It is a good feeling to see all of their work throughout the year pay off and we can say with definitive proof that what we are doing is making a difference. Also, our students clearly took this seriously and because of that, our district rankings reflect the type of school we are.”
Noting the final proposed changes to the AQuESTT classification system for next year have not been released yet, Klute said he could not comment on the changes other than to say “I have only heard that it may be more comprehensive and not as heavily reliant on only looking at the state summative assessments.”

High Plains Community
High school – Excellent
Middle school – Great
Elementary school – Great
District – Great
HPC Supt. Jason Brown was pleased with how the district was scored in the AQuESTT results, noting a school-wide success rate.
“We are all so proud of our students, staff, and all of our support staff for their hard work and dedication over the past year,” Brown shared. “This is an awesome accomplishment by everyone involved.”
“This is a true testament to the hard work and dedication our staff has shown over the past year,” principal Micah Fisher added during HPC’s monthly school board meeting. 
In the NSCAS numbers, HPC’s percentages were all slightly above the state average, with English Language Arts at 62 percent to the statewide average of 59 percent.
In math, HPC it the 66 percent mark to the state average of 58 percent while in science, HPC was at 87 percent to the statewide average of 80. 
HPC’s attendance rate was at 94 percent with its graduation rate at 95 percent.