Northeast
Nebraska Teacher Academy
ABSTRACT
Phrase: Increasing student achievement by affecting quality staff
development and substitute teacher performance through the Northeast Nebraska
Teacher Academy.
Paragraph: Fourteen school districts in northeast Nebraska have
teamed with ESU #1 and Wayne State College to create the Northeast Nebraska
Teacher Academy (NENTA), an entity that will insert 40-65 qualified teachers
into the northeast Nebraska substitute teacher market for a total of 3200-5200
substitute days per school year. This, in turn, will enable the fourteen
districts to take full advantage of staff development opportunities since
capable, qualified substitutes will then be readily available. Additionally,
the quality of substitute instruction in each of the participating districts
will be significantly improved by consistent use of lesson plan formats
from one district to another, by staff development activities directed
at substitute teaching performance, and by the substitute mentoring efforts
that are built into the project. Further, the NENTA substitutes will enhance
their own professional progression toward full certification through the
project's concerted training and support activities.
Full: The target audience for this proposal is the 12,800 K-12
students who attend school in one of the 14 northeast Nebraska districts
that have come together to create the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy
(NENTA). This project will positively impact their academic achievement
by 1) facilitating excellent staff development opportunities linked to
district strategic school improvement plans, and 2) by significantly improving
the quality of instruction provided on days when substitute teachers are
used.
The fourteen districts have entered into a partnership with ESU #1 and
Wayne State College to create NENTA. This academy will oversee the selection
and training of 40-65 teacher education majors who will then be available
to substitute teach in any of the 45 school buildings operated by the
14 collaborating school districts. The teacher education students selected
to participate in the project will possess qualifications that far exceed
the current criteria for a local substitute certificate. For example,
NENTA students will have accumulated over 60 credit hours, but at a 3.3
grade point average or better. And they will have completed sophomore
field experiences as well as four professional education courses. The
selected college students will benefit from targeted APL training, mentors
identified in each of the 45 school buildings, and a regular one-hour
per week NENTA class facilitated by Wayne State College Faculty and Mentor
Teachers from participating districts.
The creation and operation of NENTA will result in thousands of northeast
Nebraska students receiving improved instruction from their regular teachers
who can more readily avail themselves of staff development opportunities,
and also from a new pool of highly trained, qualified substitute teachers
who can facilitate on-going instruction in the absence of the regular
teacher.
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