ncsa today magazine, spring 2013

NCSA TODAYNCSA TODAYA PUBLICATION OF THE NEBRASKA COUNCIL OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

Nebraska Councilof School Administrators

Spring 2013 www.NCSA.org

Content Testing forTeacher, Superintendent,and Principal Licensure

Nebraska School DistrictAccountability 101

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SPRING 2013 NCSA TODAY 1

CONTENTS

NCSA MissionThe mission of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) is to be an effec-tive 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 11thStreet, Suite A, Lincoln, NE 68508. Telephone 402.476.8055 or 800.793.6272. Fax 402.476.7740. An-nual 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.

NCSA EXECUTIVE BOARD2012-2013

Chair . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dave KaslonVice Chair . . . . . . . . . . .Greg BarnesPast Chair . . . . . . . . . . . Jack Moles

NASA RepresentativesPresident . . . . . . . . . . .Tim DeWaardPresident-elect . . . . . . .Mike TeahonPast President . . . . . . . .Greg Barnes

NASBO RepresentativesPresident . . . . . . . . . . . .Jill PauleyPresident-elect . . . . .Kelli AckermanPast President . . . . . . . Dave Kaslon

NAESP RepresentativesPresident . . . . . . . . . .Ann JablonskiPresident-elect . . . . . .Mike JanssenPast President . . . . . . . .David Kraus

NASES RepresentativesPresident . . . . . . . . . . .Jane MoodyPresident-elect . . . . . . .Brenda TracyPast President . . . . . . . .Stuart Clark

NSASSP RepresentativesPresident . . . . . . . . . .Chris StogdillPresident-elect . . . . . Brian TonnigesPast President . . .Mitch Bartholomew

NARSA RepresentativePresident . . . . . . . .Robert Bussmann

NCSA STAFF

Dr. Michael S. DulaneyExecutive Director/Lobbyist

Dr. Dan E. ErnstAssociate Executive Director/Lobbyist

Kelly Coash-JohnsonTraining and Development Director

Amy PoggenklassFinance and Membership Coordinator

Angie CarmanExecutive Administrative Assistant

Carol YoungAdministrative Assistant

Elisabeth ReinkordtStaff Correspondent

The opinions expressed in NCSA Todayor by its authors do not necessarilyreflect the positions of the NebraskaCouncil of School Administrators.

ContentTesting forTeacher, Superintendent,and Pricipal LicensureBY ELISABETH REINKORDT

Nebraska School DistrictAccountability 101BY DR. VALORIE FOY

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NASESAnnounces 2012 Distinguished ServiceAward

Ellen Stokebrand Named CASEOutstandingAdministrator of Special Education

NASBO Outstanding Business Official of theYear

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative: Building a LendedLearning System for Now and for the FutureBY DR. MATT BLOMSTEDT

NSASSP Middle School Principal of theYear

NSASSP High School Principal of theYear

AvoidTheseTwo Common IRS 403(b)RegulationViolationsBY ELLIE LOWDER

Pay it ForwardBY TIM DEWAARD

“Pay Now or Pay Later”BY DAVE RAYMOND and DENNY VAN HORN

Partnering for Student SuccessBY DR. MIKE DULANEY and DR. DAN ERNST

Calendar of Events

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2 NCSA TODAY SPRING 2013

FEATURE

Nebraska is about to be the last state in thenation that does not require its teachers andadministrators to take content area tests

prior to certification—and that might be changing. Forthe past several months, the Nebraska Department of Ed-ucation’s team of teacher preparation and certificationspecialists has enlisted the help of stakeholders fromacross the state, representing administrators, teachers,and higher education. With their input, recommenda-tions for the State Board of Education are being preparedto set into motion the rule revision process required forNebraska to include content area testing for new teach-ers and administrators.

In order to better understand what Nebraska’s educa-tion community can expect as policy develops and movesinto practice, NCSA Today spoke with NDE staff including:

Sharon Katt, Administra-tor for Adult Programs;Pat Madsen, EducatorPreparation Program Spe-cialist; and Kevin Peters,Teacher Certification Di-rector.

Katt described the na-tional discussion aboutteacher certificationexams as having threemain parts: basic skillstesting, content areatesting, and performanceassessment. “Some ofthe national discussionhas centered around theimportance of contentknowledge for effectiveteaching,” Katt ex-plained, “but we knowthat content knowledgeis not the only marker ofeffective teaching.”Adopting a standard oftesting for teacher and

administrator candidates, though, is heavily tied to ac-countability—for schools and for the state’s sixteen ed-ucator preparation programs. “We have no choice but tobe accountable, because it has to do with students,” Kattsaid. “We want to strike a balance between accountabil-ity and flexibility when we develop policy.”

Currently, Nebraska’s teacher preparation institutionsuse the Praxis I Basic Skills Pre-Professional Skills Tests(PPST) for general admission into teacher education pro-grams. A revisit of Nebraska’s PPST passing score re-quirements, which have been in place since the 1980s,was planned for this year. However, when EducationalTesting Service (ETS), announced last summer that itwould be revising the Praxis I to reflect the common corestate standards, it prompted consideration of the basicskills test options offered by the two primary vendors ofbasic skills tests. With the assistance of stakeholderinput, NDE determined that Nebraska would move for-ward with the revised ETS basic skills test—the Core Ac-ademic Skills for Educators (CASE). Rule 23 guides thebasic skills requirements and thus will need to be revised.

The area of content testing, however, will prompt thegreatest change in state policy. As the stakeholder grouplooked at the changes in the basic skills test, they foundthat Nebraska—along with Iowa and Montana—re-mained the last states not to require some form of con-tent area testing as a requirement for educator programcompletion and/or certification. Both Iowa and Montanahave since moved toward adopting content tests. The ac-tion to voluntarily move forward at this time allows Ne-braska to approach this thoughtfully and with strongstakeholder input, unlike Iowa’s recent experience withlegislative action that required full implementation oftesting within a few months of passage of the regula-tion.

Jay Sears, the Nebraska State Education Association’sDirector of Instructional Advocacy, was pleased withNDE’s plan to look first at a preliminary score, and thenpilot it at the state’s educator preparation institutionsbefore returning to the stakeholder group to establishcut scores. “We’re thinking through the process,” he said,

ContentTesting forTeacher,Superintendent, and Principal LicensureBY ELISABETH REINKORDT, Staff Correspondent

(continued on page 3)

TentativeTimeline forImplementation

May 2013: Proposedimplementation plan presentedto the State Board for approval.

June 2013 – 2014: Finalizationof recommendations and rulerevision.

September 1, 2014: All first-time applicants for certificatesin selected endorsement areaswill be required to takecontent area tests.

September 1, 2015: All first-time applicants for certificatesin selected endorsement areaswill be required to takecontent area tests and meetNebraska’s established passingscores.


FEATURE

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 thepurpose of recommending a multi-state standard setting scoreand that Nebraska will look to those for reference. Nebraska, how-ever, retains the option to set its own benchmarks. “The suite oftests matches Nebraska’s endorsements fairly well,” Katt added,noting that some endorsement areas will not be subject to theproposed certification requirements, including supplemental en-dorsements. Katt stressed that adoption of these tests “needs tobe a process with input and buy-in from all of the stakeholders,”and that as the conversation continues, they are looking to con-tinue engagement throughout the implementation process.

Sears attributed the push for content area testing to the edu-cator preparation institutions themselves. “They’re looking at howthey need to shape their courses and content,” he said, addingthat having a standard test in place will help the institutionswhen they are up for national accreditation. “They don’t havemuch but GPA to go from now, and a course can really vary fromprofessor to professor,” he explained. As institutions strive forhigh standards of accountability, Sears said, scores on contentarea tests become “one of multiple measures,” that are useful inshaping knowledge about the programs at institutions across thestate.

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

There are multiple policy questions that remain to be answeredin the implementation process, but a few points are clear. First,the policy recommendation from the stakeholder committee andNDE is that this testing be used for initial certification in en-dorsement areas covered by the Praxis II that align with Ne-braska’s endorsement categories. Thus, any pre-service teacherwould take the subject area tests in the content areas for whichthey are seeking their primary endorsement. Similarly, a certifi-cated teacher looking to add a principal endorsement—or a prin-cipal looking to obtain a superintendent endorsement—wouldneed to take the appropriate endorsement exam in order to qual-

ify for certification. Katt explained, however, that taking contentarea tests is not meant to serve as a replacement for courseworkin an educator preparation program. “This is not about allowingadditional endorsements without completion of the preparationprogram,” she explained. Furthermore, she added that at thispoint, there will be no testing requirement for supplemental en-dorsements such as ELL and proposed Special Education special-izations, and that other specialists such as audiologists andschool nurses will not be impacted either.

Kevin Peters, the state’s Director of Teacher Certification, ex-plained that the adoption of content area exams is not necessar-ily tied to the quantity and quality of candidates, but that it willhelp educator preparation institutions examine their programs.“Philosophically, this isn’t necessarily what Nebraska wants todo,” he said, “but it will aid in the defense of the quality of ourteacher education programs.” Currently, the state is in the posi-tion of accepting the recommendation from the college where aneducator was prepared as valid on face value without the addeddata that a test score can provide. And even though the Praxis IItests are set to measure baseline knowledge—it is expected thatpractitioners will be adding knowledge as they teach and work asadministrators—the test data would heighten the transparencyof Nebraska’s teacher education programs. “Right now, it is some-what difficult to prove our claim that Nebraska prepares goodteachers without the data to support it,” Katt said. “And whilethis is only one incremental step, it’s an important one.” Fur-thermore, Peters explained that while “the teacher pipeline startswith basic skills tests, institutions sometimes get beat up for thisbeing a low barrier to entry.” Adding in content testing—and get-ting the passing score right—will provide valuable data for highereducation, he added.

Another potential benefit of content testing, Katt explained, isthat the scores may be a helpful factor for administrators when re-viewing applicants for positions. “When school administrators or

WhoWill BeTested?

Anyone seeking an initial regular certificatein major endorsement areas, i.e.:

Initial teacher certification in most majorendorsement areas

Initial principal certification

Initial superintendent certification

Endorsements in additional content areas

ContentTesting forTeacher, Superintendent,and Principal Licensure(continued from page 2)



ACCOUNTABILITY

The Nebraska State Accountability (NeSA) as-sessments are summative assessments based onthe Nesbraska state standards and administered

to students each year according to grade level.

Nebraska Performance Accountability System—NePASIn 2012, the Nebraska State Board of Education es-

tablished the Nebraska Performance Accountability Sys-tem by which school districts are ranked by grade levelconfigurations based on NeSA assessment results. NePASwas included for the first time in the State of the SchoolReport, released in November 2012. NePAS includes twosections:

NePAS–Section IFor each district NePAS includes four charts, one for

each of the four following grade level configurations:

• Grades 3-5 by district• Grades 6-8 by district• Grades 9-12 by district• Grades 3-12 by district

Each chart includes the district’s scale scores inNeSA—Reading, Math, Science, and Writing for status,improvement, growth, graduation rate and participationrate, and a ranking of each in comparison to other schooldistricts in the state. (see first graph on next page)

NePAS–Section IIA school chart and district chart for each grade in

which NeSA tests are given, grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and11, are included in this section. The grade-level chartsinclude the same information as the four district chartsin Section I; however, no rankings are included.

Nebraska School DistrictAccountability 101BY DR. VALORIE FOY, Director of Statewide Assessment

Foy

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While Nebraska Accountability 101 may read a bitlike Greek 101, especially for new administrators, thetopic has become increasingly prominent in education atthe state and federal levels, and rarely are accountabil-ity systems simple in their construct. A number of fac-tors contribute to the various accountabilityrequirements of Nebraska schools:• NeSA—Nebraska State Accountability assessments

are tests administered statewide, which provide the

scores that are the basis of state and federal ac-countability.

• NePAS—Nebraska Performance Accountability Systemis a system of ranking school districts based on theirNeSA scores.

• AYP—Adequate Yearly Progress is the Federal ac-countability system and is also based on NeSA scores.

Nebraska State Assessment—NeSA



ACCOUNTABILITY

Adequate Yearly Progress—AYPAt the Federal requirement level, the results of NeSA tests are

used to determine each Nebraska school’s Adequate YearlyProgress [AYP]. AYP is based on the percent of students who arecounted as proficient by earning Meets or Exceeds on the NeSAmath and reading tests. The proficiency goals for AYP for the nexttwo school years are indicated on the graph below.

Common Core StandardsAs NDE has received many questions concerning the imple-

mentation of the Common Core national standards, the depart-ment has contracted with McREL, a regional research center, tostudy the alignment between the Nebraska State Standards inmath and language arts and the Common Core standards. The re-sults of this study will inform future decisions concerning stan-dards and assessment. Results of the comparison will be availablein August of 2013. �

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Nebraska School DistrictAccountability 101(continued from page 4)


AFFILIATE AWARDS

Theresa McFarland, Ed.S., is the 2012 recipientof the NASES Distinguished Service Award. Shestarted her career in 1971 at the University of

Nebraska–Kearney (which for the oldies but goodies whoare reading this article—was Kearney State College)where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech Pathol-ogy. She worked for several years for Educational ServiceUnit 10, Kearney, NE as a speech language pathologist.During the time she was working for ESU 10, she wentback to KSC and earned her endorsement in “learningdisabilities” 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 Psy-chology and was employed by Cozad Public Schools as apart-time school psychologist and special education di-

rector. While working for Cozad Public Schools, Theresareturned to UNK and eventually earned her SpecialistsDegree for Administrative Supervision in Special Educa-tion. From 2000 to 2008, she worked for the Universityof Nebraska at Kearney as a Senior Lecturer in the de-partment of Counseling and School Psychology. She re-turned to Lexington Public Schools and has been theSpecial Education Director since 2008. Additional ap-pointments and awards were:• Nebraska Outstanding Special Educator 1989• Outstanding School Psychologist—Nebraska School

Psychology Association 1995• Founders Award Recipient—Nebraska School Psychol-

ogy Association 2012• Senior Lecturer—University of Nebraska at Kearney• Numerous National scholarly presentations and publi-

cations—National Association of School Psychologyand Trainers of School Psychology

• Clinical Coordinator of Field Experiences in Ed.S.School Psychology program at UNK

• State Appointed Delegate for the National Associa-tion of School Psychology—Six year tenure

Theresa has long been and continues to be a positiveforce in Special Education in Nebraska. She is a tirelessworker and advocate for students with disabilities whogives generously of her time and expertise to make a dif-ference in the lives of individuals and the quality of lifein her community. �

NASESAnnounces2012 Distinguished ServiceAward

McFarland

MarkYour Calendars forAdministrators’ Days 2013July 31-August 2

Thursday Keynote SpeakersRobert MarzanoCharlotte Danielson


NATIONAL AWARD

Ellen Stokebrand, Director of Special Education atEducational Service Unit (ESU) 4 in Auburn, waspresented the “Outstanding Administrator of

Special Education Award” by the Council of Administra-tors of Special Education (CASE) at the annual Council forExceptional Children (CEC) Conference, held in San An-tonio, TX, earlier in April. This national award, presentedannually by CASE, recognizes individuals for making sig-nificant professional contributions to leadership in theadministration of programs for students with disabilities.

In presenting the award, Laurie VanderPloeg, CASEPresident, noted that Stokebrand has provided an unwa-vering style of dedicated professionalism and service tothe field of special education, first as a teacher and nowas an administrator.

Jack Moles, superintendent of Johnson County Cen-tral, wrote “Ellen has been instrumental in my principalsand I becoming better versed in how to provide for ourstudents and in helping our staff members. She has beeneasy to work with, but also very firm in her suggestionsto us. I believe I am much more informed indealing with parents because of her input.”

Jon Fisher, the administrator of ESU 4,added, “Ellen understands special educationlaw and how it impacts students and dis-tricts. She works very hard with the Ne-braska Department of Education andNebraska Council of School Administratorsregarding Special Education. She is anasset, not only to ESU 4 and our districts,but to the state of Nebraska.”

Stokebrand has been the Director of Spe-cial Education at ESU 4 since July of 1998.During that time, she has supported thedistricts of southeast Nebraska in providingtechnical assistance, staff development, and the supportof programming for infants, toddlers, and school-age stu-dents with disabilities. As part of her responsibilities,Ellen provides districts with the most up-to-date infor-mation in the field of special education, including legis-

lation and its impact on districts, students and theirfamilies.

Stokebrand is active in the advancement and promo-tion of special education beyond the boundaries of ESU4. She has served on various statewide committees, in-cluding as president of the Nebraska Association of Spe-cial Education Supervisors (NASES) and a member of theNebraska Council of School Administrators (NCSA) Exec-utive Board. She has served as chair of the ESU SpecialPopulations Directors (ESPD) and as co-chair of the ESUProfessional Development Organization (ESUPDO.)

Stokebrand is currently Legislative representative forNASES and NCSA and has participated in the nationalCASE Legislative Leadership Seminar for the past fiveyears. Stokebrand is also a member of Peru State Col-lege’s adjunct faculty teaching in the area of special ed-ucation.

Stokebrand was named as the NASES DistinguishedSpecial Education Director last August. �

Ellen Stokebrand Named CASEOutstandingAdministrator ofSpecial Education

Stokebrand

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


AFFILIATE AWARDS

Sandy Rosenboom, Business Manager at Crete Pub-lic Schools, has been named the 2013 NebraskaAssociation of School Business Officials Out-

standing Business Official of the Year.This award recognizes individuals who have exhibited

outstanding and visionary leadership in school businessmanagement. The nominees must be an active member ofNASBO and employed full time as a school business of-ficial by a school district.

According to Sandy’s Superintendent, Kyle McGowan,“She has managed a growing district which had a milliondollar deficit when she started and now has boasted cashreserves consistently over 25 percent of the totalbudget.”... “She is an invaluable member of the admin-istrative team and has contributed key concepts andprominently assisted in developing a variety of programsfor the district.”

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

Science and Masters in Business Administration from theUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln. She serves on theTEEOSA State Aid Review Committee and as an alternateon the Educators Health Alliance Board. In addition,Sandy has held the office of NASBO State President andis a mentor for other business managers and new super-intendents.

Sandy received her award at the NASBO State Con-vention on April 18, 2013 in Lincoln. �

NASBO OutstandingBusiness Official of theYear

Rosenboom

school boards are looking at applicants,” she said, “this is aconcrete piece of information that might be used for applicantscreening.” She adds, however, that it is important to remem-ber that content knowledge is not the only important quality ofa highly effective teacher.

Policymakers will also need to address what to do about ed-ucators coming in from other states. “We anticipate it is likelywe will honor [the test scores of] folks coming from otherstates,” Katt said. Peters added that it will be important to de-velop provisions for late hires, though. “We don’t want it to bea stumbling block for people coming in from out of state,” hesaid. In Nebraska, however, he expects that the higher educa-tion institutions will integrate the content testing into theirprograms, so that pre-service teachers and administrators maybe taking the tests well before their program completion. “You

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

The third area of educator testing being discussed nationallycenters around performance-based testing, with edTPA beingmost commonly recognized. The edTPA is a lengthy and re-source-intensive portfolio process that includes video evalua-tion. While Katt praised its methodology, she stressed that theprocess is “resource-prohibitive on many fronts. Other optionsare under development nationally and we will look at those op-tions in the future.” She added, “A performance-based assess-ment is likely in our future, but for now we are focused onappropriate and thoughtful implementation of the revised basicskills test and the new content knowledge tests.” �

ContentTesting forTeacher, Superintendent, and Principal Licensure(continued from page 3)

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BlendEd ComponentsLearning Object Repository (LOR) Content SystemA statewide digital content repository for existing and future collections of multimedia learning objects and course materials of all types (e.g. audio, video, digital images, textual)—standards-aligned and appropriately cataloged and

Learning Management System (LMS)A statewide learning management system to allow teachers to access, create, organize instructional content; perform testing; support collaborative learning activities; and deliver instruction to students

Federated Directory Services System (LDAP)A statewide directory services struc-ture that facilitates single sign-on access to all instructional resources for every teacher and learner

Statewide Professional Development (PD) SystemA comprehensive system of professional development to provide technology-assisted instruc-tional design training, embedded professional development, and PD content shared between and among the NDE, ESUCC, higher education and other educational partners

Evaluative SystemA persistent system of assessment and analytics that enables the

achievement problems and the

teacher shortages (e.g. science, technology, engineering, mathemat-ics, English language learners, credit recovery, advanced placement, etc).

BlendEdBlended learning is an educational model that combines traditional face-to-face classroom methods, with at least some level of online delivery and participation.

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Implementation of the BlendEd eLearning System will enable teachers to access, create, and share learning objects and other educational content that will enrich and deepen the learning experiences available to all Nebraska students.

Blended education has been promoted by educational research-ers as one of the most promising recent innovations to access and develop content for 1) a traditional face-to-face classroom; 2) an existing video distance learning classroom; or 3) students

to include support for traditional face-to-face (synchronous) instruc tion and online (asynchronous) instruction and allows for any time, any place, any path, any pace learning. This will expand learning opportunities for students in high demand areas, includ-ing the STEM subjects (i.e. science, technology, engineering, and math) and the world languages.

This project will encourage educational entities to collaborate and establish a plan of action to promote the appropriate adop-tion of these instructional tools, technologies, and associated instructional techniques. Implementation will include strategic phases of capacity building over the next four years to reach the greatest number of teachers and students in the most effective manner possible. The BlendED services will build on the successes of the network bandwidth made possible through partnerships established by Network Nebraska.

The Nebraska BlendED Initiative will truly be a ‘blend’ of efforts by partners from education, business, state government and charitable foundations working together to advance learning outcomes to produce career and college ready graduates.

For more information please contact Matt Blomstedt at 402-499-6756 or [email protected]

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PARTNERSHIP

Nebraska is a diverse but, somehow cohesiveplace. We enjoy many amenities across thestate including wide open spaces in our sand

hills, art museums, urban centers with rich traditions andcivic pride, small towns, big cities, cultural and historicsites that demonstrate that this land is rich with stories.I often find myself in awe of the beautiful scenery, theenchanting towns and cities, and constant sense of pridein “our” accomplishments.

Among these critical accomplishments is the visionfor an education system that recognizes Nebraska’sunique needs across the school districts across the state.Educational Service Units have long served to help es-tablish equitable opportunities across regions of thestate and help ensure that school districts, ultimatelystudents, have the best resources possible to enhanceeducational offerings and educational outcomes. How-ever, in this new digital worlds this job gets bigger, morecomplex, and more important.

Educational equity in the 21st Century is somethingeducators and policy makers have been talking about fortwo decades. ESUs were legislatively charged with bring-ing the Internet to school districts. They were alsocharged with organizing educational opportunitiesthrough instructional materials, distance education, andthe professional development that is the glue to connectopportunities with learning.

Early in our state, thenecessary infrastructurewas built on theground…railroads, high-ways, interstates, free-ways, public power lines,and the landscape wasalso dotted with townsand school buildings. Wecreated educational op-portunities, almost outof the air. Urban placesfocused on scaled andmodern education sys-

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

Now our education infrastructure is being built in thesky…or perhaps you’ve heard of the “Cloud”…that iswhere educational opportunities are increasingly beingbuilt across the state. ESUs have sought to build themodern infrastructure and have done that with manypartnerships, perhaps best of which is the infrastructurepartnership of Network Nebraska. This “information su-perhighway” continues to develop lanes, on-ramps, off-ramps, and wide shoulders. You can get to one end ofthe state to the other in a video conference meeting orperhaps sit in an Omaha classroom and take a class witha student in Ainsworth. Teachers can team teach stu-dents and never meet face-to-face. With technology youcan be in the same place at the same time or in the“same place” at a different time. Our education systemis changing and we in Nebraska are uniquely able toadapt this change to our local needs.

The ESU Coordinating Council, over the last year, es-tablished a vision for “BlendEd,” blended education thatunites our ESU skills and talent to begin to organize ed-ucational media, content, courses, and systems thatallow individual school districts, teachers, and studentsto realize the benefit of the “Cloud.” The ESUCC took thesteps in March to begin to implement a substantial ele-ment of the BlendEd plan. Over the next few monthsESUs across the state will be working in concert to or-ganize a “learning object repository” powered by SafariMontage. This “LOR” is the beginning of a powerful sys-tem that will allow school districts to unite in develop-ing and sharing educational content. Additionally, thiseducational content system is enhanced by the abilityto link to other educational content systems that makesharing resources across the state a reality.

Building this BlendEd system on the “backbone” of avery successful distance education system is critical froman educational philosophy of local uniqueness as well asaccounts for scalable systems. Allowing every school

Blomstedt

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative:Building a Lended Learning System forNow and for the FutureBY DR. MATT BLOMSTEDT, Executive Director, ESU Coordinating Council

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.(continued on page 17)

14 SPRING 2013 NCSA TODAY

AFFILIATE AWARDS

The Nebraska State Association of SecondarySchool Principals is proud to recognize Dr.Christopher Stogdill, Principal at Otte Blair Mid-

dle School, as their Middle School Distinguished Princi-pal of the Year.

Dr. Christopher Stogdill was selected to represent Ne-braska as the Middle School Principal of the Year for theNebraska State Association of Secondary School Princi-pals. Dr. Stogdill received his Doctorate in Education Ad-ministration from the University of South Dakota in2010. Dr. Stogdill also holds an Educational Specialistfrom Wayne State College, a Masters Degree in Educa-tional Leadership from Doane College, and has earned aBachelor of Arts Degree from both the University of Min-nesota (Art History) and the Unversity of Northern Iowa(Education).

Dr. Stogdill has been in his current position at BlairPublic Schools since 2012. His previous educational ex-perience includes serving as Principal at Stanton Mid-dle/High School from 2001 to 2012.

Dr. Stogdill is active in many professional organiza-tions such as the National Association of SecondarySchool Principals, the Nebraska Council of School Ad-ministrators and the Nebraska State Association of Sec-ondary School Principals, and the Association ofSupervision and Curriculum Development. Dr. Stogdill iscurrently serving as President of the NSASSP. He is anactive member of the TeamMates program, performs var-ious duties for the United Methodist Church, and as acoach or coordinator with several youth athletic pro-grams.

Dr. Stogdill was honored as the Region III HighSchool Principal of the Year for 2008 and 2011, he hasreceived the FFA Cornerstone Award (2006), NebraskaOutstanding New Principal (2005), H.O. Sargent Award(2005), and the Sallie Mae First Year Teacher Award(1995). Dr. Stogdill has presented at several conferencesincluding NSASSP Region III meetings, the Nebraska Ed-ucational Technology Association State Conference, andat 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 im-pressed with his driving commitment to excellence. He isuncompromising in his quest for quality educational op-

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

Dr. Michael J. Sieh, Superintendent of Stanton Com-munity Schools says: “There are many proficient and ded-icated leaders in education. There are also leaders who,because of their commitment to education and students,must be considered outstanding. Dr. Stogdill is out-standing.”

Sarah A Klinetoe, 6th Grade Teacher at Stanton Com-munity Schools, states: “Dr. Stogdill strives to inspire hisstaff to be collaborative and hands-on thinkers. He urgeshis staff to work with other teachers, students, and ex-perts in the community and around the world to developdeeper knowledge of the subjects we are teaching.”

Tanner Tomka, a Stanton Community Schools studentcomments: “I had let my grades get so bad that I wasnot going to get to participate in sports my Senior year.That summer, Dr. Stogdill sacrificed his summer and hetutored me through a credit recovery course for eightweeks. I worked very hard and passed all three classes.Because of Mr. Stogdill I am now on track to graduatewith my class and go to college.”

Dr. Stogdill will receive his award at the NebraskaState Association of Secondary School Principals StateConference and with his selection will be eligible forconsideration for the 2014 Metlife/NASSP National Mid-dle School Principal of the Year. �

NSASSP Middle School Principal of theYear

Stogdill


AFFILIATE AWARDS

The Nebraska State Association of SecondarySchool Principals is proud to recognize Dr. Cur-tis Case, Principal at Millard South High School,

as the 2013 MetLife/NASSP Nebraska High School Prin-cipal of the Year.

Dr. Curtis Case was selected to represent Nebraska asthe High School Principal of the Year. Dr. Case receivedhis Doctorate in Education from the University of Ne-braska Omaha & Lincoln in 2006. Dr. Case also holds aMasters of Education Administration and a Bachelor ofScience in Mathematics from the University of Nebraskaat Lincoln. Dr. Case has served as a practicing school ad-ministrator for the past 14 years serving as Principal ofMillard South High School since 2006, Assistant Princi-pal of Millard North High School from 2001 to 2006 andas Assistant Principal/Activities Director at HoldregeHigh School from 1999 to 2001.

Dr. Case is active in many professional organizationsand community leadership positions such as the NationalAssociation of Secondary School Principals, the NebraskaCouncil of School Administrators, and the Nebraska StateAssociation of Secondary School Principals, and Ad-vancEd NCA—Nebraska State Council Board Member. Dr.Case has also served on the Principal Partnership withUnion Pacific Railroad, Board of Directors for the MillardPublic Schools Foundation, Millard Lions Club, ChristCommunity Church, as a youth coach with YMCA andMAA, and as an Eagle Scout Board of Review Member forthe Boy Scouts of American.

Dr. Case has several other honors, including theNSASSP Region II Principal of the Year, American RedCross Heroes of the Heartland recipient, Millard PublicSchools Dr. Lutz Award for Excellence in Administration,Nebraska Association of Student Councils OutstandingPrincipal of the Year, and UNL—EdAd Outstanding Doc-toral Student Award.

Dr. Case noted, “I have always seen the role of a Prin-cipal as a service to others. It is truly the students andstaff that define a school. Any honors or success I mayhave received or experienced during my career is due tothose I have been fortunate to work alongside.”

Dr. Jim Sutfin, Assistant Superintendent of MillardPublic Schools, states: “Dr. Case is the type of Principalthat always works towards personalizing the school en-vironment. He has worked with his staff in a collabora-

tive manner to improve…Each year Millard South hasmade improvements. Dr. Case is a man of character whois driven by personal excellence and collaborative lead-ership.”

David Anderson, Vice President & CFO of Millard Lum-ber, says: “Dr. Case involves all stakeholders within theschool community, provides them with the necessary re-sources and direction, and then listens to all feedbackand input. It is this collaborative effort that allows all tofeel a sense of accomplishment and pride in the out-comes.”

Zachery Price, a former student of Millard South HighSchool states: “Dr. Curtis Case has promoted positive re-lations between students and staff. He has created aschool that is inviting and has changed our school froma place you have to be, to a place that you want to be!”

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

Dr. Keith Lutz, Superintendent of Millard PublicSchools says: “Curtis has stood up to the test of extremeadversity of being a high school administrator. He hassuffered emotionally and physically in carrying out hisduties. He has handled all of the adversity as well as anyone person could, and has come back an extremelystrong capable leader at Millard South High School. Theyare lucky to have him.”

Dr. Case will receive his award at the Nebraska StateAssociation of Secondary School Principals State Confer-ence and with his selection, will be eligible for consid-eration for the 2013 Metlife/NASSP National High SchoolPrincipal of the Year. �

NSASSP High School Principal of theYear

Case


PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

(Horace Mann, a proud partner with ASBO International,has enlisted well-known consultant, Ellie Lowder, Tax-Exempt and Governmental Plan Consultant (TGPC), to pro-vide members of NCSA with 403(b) news and insights.This article focuses on two common red flags for IRS au-ditors monitoring public school district 403(b) plans. Ho-race Mann will be happy to consult with you or your TPAto help make sure your plan avoids these and other viola-tions.)

Part of keeping your 403(b) plan in compliancewith IRS regulations is proactively monitoringthe 403(b) environment for recurring violations.

Here are two offenses that most commonly show up in403(b) audits:

1Contributions in excess ofthe elective deferral limits

(basic limit of $17,500 underage 50; plus an additional$5,500 catch-up if age 50 orolder; plus a possible additional$3,000 if employees have 15years or more of service with the current employer)—School business officials are cautioned not to permit the15-years (or more) catch-up for employees without doc-umenting a calculation to support their eligibility forusing it. Your investment provider (or your TPA, if youhave 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 employersallow the age 50 catch-up because of its simplicity.Likewise, many do not allow and many TPAs do notrecommend including the 15-years-of-service catch-up due to the complexity of the eligibility calcula-tion.

• If the plan permits both types of catch-up, the 15-years-of-service catch-up must be used before the age50 catch-up.

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

• Employees who have contributed an annual average of$5,000 or more during their service with you are noteligible to use the 15-year catch-up.

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

2Violation of the universal availability rule—This gen-erally occurs when you have excluded employees

based on average hours worked. It’s simple to avoid thisviolation by permitting any employee who will contribute

$200 or more each year to participate in the plan – andnot excluding any employee based on hours worked.

A second common reason for the violation is the ex-clusion of a class of employees, such as substitute teach-ers. To avoid that violation, just offer your plan tosubstitute teachers as well as your full-time staff, keep-ing in mind it’s likely very few, if any, will choose to par-ticipate.

Correcting the universal availability violation can becostly because the IRS may require that the employermake employer contributions on behalf of the entireclass of excluded employees for all years they were ex-cluded.

Keeping these two processes compliant will go a longway towards insuring you have a healthy 403(b) plan. �

AvoidTheseTwo Common IRS 403(b)RegulationViolationsBY ELLIE LOWDER, TGPC, Consultant


AFFILIATE LEADERSHIP

building and student in the state to tap into a shared set of richeducational resources while also ensuring that local school dis-tricts maintain their own perspective and control has been thephilosophy established in distance education. The system al-lows districts to collaborate to enhance their own offeringsrather than somehow abdicate local control. I would have it noother way. This is not a “build it and they will come” approach.After all, we are not Iowa. (“Field of Dreams” reference in caseyou missed it). Instead, the build out of this system has beenbased on actual needs of school districts, the coordination ofESU systems and services already in place, and the vision tounite 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 uniteother digital materials systems. They are built to connect tonational, state, and local resources. They are designed to ac-complish both scale in the acquisition and retention of mate-rials, and deliver them efficiently and effectively to yourclassrooms and your students’ homes.

The ESUs remain dedicated to building systems for this fu-ture vision. However, it is the whole state, the human networkof educators that is most critical to a system’s success. We ap-preciate your partnership in all such efforts. �

ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative (continued from page 13)

Congratulations, you are now the acting super-intendent.” As a young administrator in a smallschool, I did not feel ready for this next step.

The next day as I sat in the superintendent’s office, Ihad no idea what to do next. The chair felt good, thedesk was large, and as I looked around the office, I won-dered what I was supposed to do? Luckily, a neighboringsuperintendent had heard what happened and told me,if I needed anything, to give him a call. I often won-dered if he ever regretted saying that, because I calledoften. I am forever indebted to him for his mentorshipof me. I would not have survived that year or the yearsto follow without having someone to call and ask ques-tions of.

According to John C. Crosby, “Mentoring is a brain topick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.”I certainly needed everything that my mentor could offerat the time, but the mentoring didn’t last just a year. Icontinued to call him from time to time for many years.Currently, I still have many colleagues that I call or emailfor ideas and support.

Six years ago, Dr. Dan Ernst started the New Superin-tendent’s Program. The goal of the New Superintendent’sProgram is to initiate a planned, purposeful, and effec-tive program of activities and training development op-portunities in order to promote success for first-timeNebraska superintendents, as well as experienced super-intendents from other states who are new to Nebraska.

One of the critical components that leads to the successof this program is the willingness of fellow colleaguesto serve as mentors. Each new superintendent is matchedwith a current and experienced superintendent to receiveguidance and support, ensuring each new superintendentwill have the best chance to be successful.

Oh, I wish that this program would have been in placenineteen years ago, when I was thrust into the superin-tendency. There were times when I floundered as I felt Ishould know what I was doing and was too stubborn toask for help or advice. I now understand that everyoneneeds a support network and every superintendent asksfor advice from time to time. While the Nebraska Associ-ation of School Administrators (NASA) is a relativelysmall group, we are also a very tight group. I have neverheard of anyone refusing to help a colleague and I amvery proud to be a part of this group.

In the movie “Pay It Forward,” Trevor conjures the no-tion of paying a favor not back, but forward—repayinggood deeds not with payback, but with new good deedsdone to three new people. I hope that we all look to payit forward to others in the profession.

“Successful people turn everyone who can help theminto sometimes mentors!” John C. Crosby. Thank you toall of my sometimes mentors. Nineteen years later, Ihope I’m wiser and more experienced, but I know that Istill need “sometimes mentors.” �

Pay it ForwardBY TIM DEWAARD, President, NASA; Superintendent, Centennial Public Schools

DeWaard


PROGRAM SPOTLIGHT

Growing up I remember the commercials for STP,an oil additive designed to cut engine wear andguarantee longer life. Mario Andretti, Indy 500

Hall of Fame driver, was the spokesperson for STP. An-dretti was making the point that a few ounces of pre-ventative in your oil now, can eliminate premature enginefailure due to wear. I can’t confirm that his product de-livered, but the theory of preventative care paying off isabsolutely solid. In the ’80s Fram Filters used a similarmessage when they coined the phrase, “Pay Me Now orPay Me Later.” Of course this now famous phrase relatedto regular replacement of oil filters as a way to increasethe life of your engine.

This philosophy seems to be common sense, but fartoo often dollars and cents take precedence and the costof preventative maintenance is deferred and likely neverperformed. Upfront costs reduced due to budget con-straints lead to higher costs incurred prematurelythrough breakdowns requiring reactive expensive repairsand down time.

Beyond the costs incurred dealing with prematurebreakdowns, there are the operational costs that must beconsidered. Buildings performing at peak or design effi-ciency equate to reduced energy consumption and peakenvironment for performance. In the case of schools, peakperformance of building systems equates to optimal en-vironment for teaching and student achievement. Pro-ac-tive planned maintenance ensures that buildings performto their designed efficiency and peak performance.

These performance factors include things like: energyconsumption, water consumption, temperature and hu-midity levels (occupant comfort), acoustical and lightinglevels, fresh air and CO2 levels, reliability and reducedmaintenance and uptime. All these factors have short-and long-term cost impacts. Systems performing at peak

efficiency reduce theshort-term costs in re-duced energy consump-tion and reduce thelong-term cost in re-duced maintenance, re-pairs, and reactivepremature replacement.

A U.S. Department ofEnergy study found anaverage of 15 energy use

deficiencies per building in 643 new and existing com-mercial buildings studied. By correcting these deficien-cies, building owners realized an average reduction of 16percent in energy consumption and achieved a full pay-back of their investments within two years. (Evan Mills,PhD, 2009)

Research has shown that deliberate preventive main-tenance 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 ofpreventive maintenance measures on all equipment iscritical. These measures go far beyond just checking beltsand changing filters and often require technical expert-ise not found in general maintenance or custodial per-sonnel. Documenting the timely and thorough executionof the preventive maintenance plan and schedule is anabsolute must. Accountability will ensure a consistentand effective preventive maintenance program.

Far too often, new equipment is not considered whendeveloping the preventive maintenance plan. It is as-sumed that by the very nature of being new, the equip-ment can be exempted from routine preventivemaintenance. However, to maintain the advantages ofnew equipment, it is both logical and necessary to per-form preventive maintenance from day one to ensurelongevity and efficient problem free operation.

Investing in preventive maintenance may mean con-tracting for technical services. The age old adage: “youget what you pay for” is very applicable to preventivemaintenance. Investing in expertise to keep equipmentrunning at peak design performance for years on end is awise investment. An investment that will not only payback benefits of reduced energy consumption, mainte-nance, and reactive or premature replacement, but also aphysical environment that promotes high performanceteaching and learning.

The Andretti “STP philosophy” for engines truly doestransfer to facilities, and the equipment and systems thatare the infrastructure of those facilities. Investing in theproper preventive care today will pay big dividends nowand in the future. �

Raymond

Van Horn

“Pay Now or Pay Later”BY DAVE RAYMOND and DENNY VAN HORN

“A poorly designedbuilding operated andmaintained effectively willoften outperform a well-designed building with pooroperating and maintenancepractices.”(ASHRAE, 2009)

NCSA REPORT

TThe Nebraska Council of School Administrators(NCSA) would like to extend our appreciationto Commissioner Roger Breed for his leadership

and service to Nebraska schools and students. Dr. Breedbegan service as Commissioner of Education in March of2009 and will officially retire effective June 30, 2013.We wish him well in retirement and acknowledge his con-tributions and successes as Commissioner. His leadershipat the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) has fo-cused in part on student achievement, learning stan-dards, and student attendance. We sincerely appreciatehis leadership and feel confident that he has moved ed-ucation forward in Nebraska and positioned NDE and Ne-braska schools for continued success. NCSA is fortunateto partner with the department in so many meaningfulways to improve education in Nebraska.

We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of theNebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council(ESUCC). Under the direction of Dr. Matt Blomstedt,ESUCC has the responsibility to coordinate the activitiesof Nebraska’s 17 Educational Service Units. Dr. Blomstedtworks with the Director of each Educational Service Unitand their respective staff to promote statewide continu-ity and equity of opportunity for all Nebraska students.It is our observation that there has been much progressthe past several years in meeting their responsibility andwish to acknowledge several of their projects.

The goal of ESUCC’s BlendEd Initiative is to imple-ment instructional and content technologies to enhanceteaching and learning and to support all modes ofblended instruction. This instruction blends face-to-face(synchronous) instruction with online (asynchronous) inan effort to maximize educational resources and in par-ticular provide more equity, efficiency and flexibility forstudents and schools. This effort may enhance the op-portunity for all students regardless of where they livewithin our state.

A second initiative is to provide a collaborative ef-fort statewide to train all ESU employees. This endeavorhelps to build capacity for employees in all EducationalService Units and to assist them to meet the needs oftheir respective schools. The ESU Professional Develop-ment Organization consists of five affiliate groups rep-resenting ESU employees and include: Staff Development

Affiliate, Technology Assistance Group, Network Opera-tions Committee, Instructional Materials Affiliate, andESU Special Populations. Each of these groups and theirefforts once again promote the opportunity for a qualityand equitable learning experience for all students.

In addition to the two projects highlighted, ESUCChas five additional defined projects that assist in pro-moting a quality education for Nebraska students. Wewould invite you to visit the ESUCC website atwww.esucc.org to learn more about the ESUCC. NCSA en-joys the collaborative relationship with the ESUCC andEducational Service Units. We understand and appreci-ate that by working together we can best meet the needsof students and schools.

Following State Board of Education approval, NDEstaff have worked with many Nebraska educators to de-velop model teacher and principal evaluation documents.Pilot schools will be begin to use the new documents inschool year 2013-14. We believe our school communitieswill appreciate the quality of the materials. Proper eval-uation can best occur when schools are using researchedbased instructional learning models. Once again ESU per-sonnel have been building their capacity and are readyto assist Nebraska schools in identifying and imple-menting sound instructional learning models for theirdistricts. With a professional understanding of qualityinstruction, we are confident that evaluation of teachersand principals can be a positive growth experience thatwill enhance student success.

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

Partnering for Student SuccessBY DR. MIKE DULANEY, Executive Director; and DR. DAN ERNST, Associate Executive Director

Dulaney

Ernst


CALENDAR OF EVENTS

MAY14 NASA Region II 11:30 am Bennington Public Schools Bennington17 NASES Region II 8:30 am UNO Omaha22 NASA Region I 2:00 pm Hillcrest Country Club Lincoln30 NCSA Executive Board 9:30 am NCSA Offices Lincoln31 NASES Region I 9:00 am NCSA Offices Lincoln31 NASES Region III 9:00 am Lifelong Learning Center Norfolk

JUNE3-6 NCE Conference 8:00 am Younes Conference Center Kearney19 NCSA Golf Tournament 12:30 pm Yankee Hill Lincoln24 NASCD Spring Workshop 8:00 am DC Center Omaha27-28 NASPA Summer Retreat 8:00 am Lied Lodge Nebraska City28 NASES Region III 9:00 am Lifelong Learning Center Norfolk

JULY18-19 Google Summit 8:00 am Southwest High School Lincoln30 NCSA Executive Board 5:00 pm Holiday Inn Kearney31 NAESP Executive Board 10:30 am Holiday Inn Kearney31 NASES Executive Board 10:00 am Holiday Inn Kearney31 NSASSP Executive Board 10:00 am Holiday Inn Kearney31 NARSA Executive Board 2:00 pm Holiday Inn Kearney31 NASA Executive Board 5:00 pm Holiday Inn Kearney

ADMINISTRATORS’ DAYSJuly 31 - August 2 Younes Conference Center Kearney

AUGUST30 NASES Fall Workshop 8:00 am Courtyard Lincoln

SEPTEMBER6 Labor Relations 8:00 am Cornhusker Hotel Lincoln11 NARSA Golf Tournament 11:30 am Pacific Springs Omaha14 NCSA Tailgate TBD NCSA Offices Lincoln25 School Law Update 8:00 am Holiday Inn Kearney

National Convention Dates

CASE – September 25-26, 2013 – Indianapolis, INASBO – October 25-28, 2013 – Boston, MA

ASBO – September 19-22, 2014 – Kissimmee, FLNASSP – February 6-8, 2014 – Dallas, TX

AASA – February 13-15, 2014 – Nashville, TNNAESP – July 11-13, 2013 – Baltimore, MD


BronzeSponsorships

Gold SponsorshipsSilverSponsorships

Benchmark 4 Excellence | Rick ImigPO Box 29646 | Austin, TX 78755512-215-0928rick@benchmark4excellence.comwww.benchmark4excellence.org

Dream Box Learning | Jeff Enoch305 108th Ave., NE | Bellevue, WA [email protected]

Renaissance Learning | Ron Given2911 Peach StreetWisconsin Rapids, WI 54494726-535-4747www.renlearn.com

AmeritasJay Spearman, Marc Munford,Bruce Lefler, Scott Keene440 Regency Parkway Drive, Ste 222Omaha, NE [email protected]@[email protected]@ameritas.comwww.ameritas.com

John Baylor Test PrepJohn BaylorP.O. Box 30792 | Lincoln, NE 68503402-475-7737john@johnbaylortestprep.comwww.johnbaylortestprep.com

Boyd Jones ConstructionGeorge Schuler333 South 9th Street | Lincoln, NE [email protected]

D.A. Davidson & Co.Dan Smith, Paul Grieger,Cody Wicklham, Andy Forney1111 N. 102nd Ct., Ste 300Omaha, NE [email protected]/ficm

DLR GroupPat Phelan, Whitney Wombacher400 Essex Court | Omaha, NE [email protected]

ESUCCMatt Blomstedt455 S. 11th Street | Lincoln, NE [email protected]

Horace MannCindy Dornbush10612 Monroe Street, #4Omaha, NE [email protected]

Humanex VenturesKatie Shanahan2900 S. 70th St., Park One, Ste 100Lincoln, NE 58506402-486-1102katie.shanahan@humanexventures.comwww.humanexventures.com

National InsuranceSteve Ott9202 W. Dodge Rd., Ste 302Omaha, NE [email protected]

NLAFBarry Ballou455 S. 11th St. | Lincoln, NE [email protected]

Pickering Creative GroupKasey Matoush8001 South 13th StreetLincoln, NE [email protected]

TRANEDanny Szegda, Dave Raymond5720 S. 77th St. | Ralston, NE [email protected]/omaha

Wells FargoJenni Christiansen1248 O Street | Lincoln, NE 68508402-434-6188jenni.l.christiansen@wellsfargo.comwww.wellsfargo.com

Awards UnlimitedLarry King1935 O Street | Lincoln, NE 68510402-474-0815larryking@awardsunlimited.comwww.awardsunlimited.com

First National Capital MarketCraig Jones1620 Dodge Street, Suite 1104Omaha, NE [email protected]

JostensDon Bartholomew309 S. 8th StreetBroken Bow, NE [email protected]

Nebraska Public AgencyInvestment TrustBecky FergusonPO Box 82529 | Lincoln, NE [email protected]

SiemensJohn Hay8066 Flint Street | Lenexa, [email protected]

PRSRT STD.U. S. POSTAGE

PAIDLINCOLN,NEPERMIT NO. 951

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

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Nebraska Council of School Administrators

DO YOU HAVE ARESEARCH QUESTION?

AAsskk aa RREELL 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 projectsReferences for or electronic copies of IES publications or reportsReferences or bibliographies of existing education research

Referrals to websites or federally funded education organizationRegionally specific educational information

Visit www.relcentral.org for more information

ncsa today magazine, spring 2013

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