Nebraska Department of Education Resources: Empowering Educators and Students

To ensure Nebraska's students are well-prepared for the future, the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) provides a wealth of resources for educators, students, and families. These resources span various subjects and address diverse needs, from economics and personal finance to literacy, mathematics, science, and social-emotional learning. The NDE also supports professional development for educators through various initiatives and partnerships.

Economics and Personal Finance Resources

A strong understanding of economics and personal finance is crucial for students to become effective citizens, workers, and entrepreneurs. Recognizing that teachers and school districts often lack the necessary resources to purchase specialized materials, the Nebraska Council on Economic Education (NCEE) offers high-quality curriculum to teachers at discounted or free rates.

Financial Fitness for Life® (FFFL): This comprehensive K-12 personal finance curriculum teaches students how to make informed decisions about earning income, spending, saving, borrowing, investing, and managing money. It includes engaging lessons and a student workbook. The NCEE offers a 35% discount on materials from the CEE store for Nebraska schools.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Resources: The CFPB provides resources that align with the Nebraska BMIT Personal Finance course and the Economics social studies standards. These resources include engaging arcade games, personal finance lessons, activities, and interactives.

Intuit for Education: This free and flexible financial literacy platform for high school students offers real-world tools to build their financial confidence.

Ethical Decision Making in Economics: Resources are available to help students think critically about ethical issues and understand the importance of right and wrong in economic decision-making. Students can explore perspectives related to corporate social responsibility through simulations, primary source discussions, and marketing pitches. They can also play roles in economic transactions, demonstrating the motives of self-interest, duty, and character.

Beyond the Bet: This three-lesson curriculum unit helps high school students understand gambling through the lenses of personal finance and economics, making complex concepts like risk, incentives, and opportunity cost accessible and relevant.

Marginal Revolution University: This platform provides a world-class economics education for free, offering engaging and thought-provoking ways of looking at everyday problems.

High School Economics (New Edition): This revised edition brings economic concepts to life with contemporary references and addresses new challenges in a changing world. It integrates more macroeconomics and international economics lessons, including materials on GDP, unemployment, inflation, and trade. The lessons are field-tested, aligned with national standards, and feature interactive online activities. The NCEE offers a 35% discount on materials from the CEE store for Nebraska schools.

Active Learning in Economics: Teachers can use simulations, role-playing activities, and mystery-based lesson plans to help students master concepts like trade, money, opportunity cost, scarcity, and inflation. The NCEE offers a 35% discount on materials from the CEE store for Nebraska schools.

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Virtual Capitol Tour

The Nebraska State Capitol offers a virtual tour for students who are unable to visit in person. Using computer-generated avatars, the Sower, buffalo, and features of the Capitol come to life to tell the history of the state, explain state government, and inspire students to be engaged citizens.

Trade Policy Toolkit

The Yeutter Institute's Trade Policy Toolkit is designed for educators and includes international trade podcast and webinar content. While geared toward a college-level audience, it is also useful for high school teachers who want to link trade to their subject area or introduce the concept of trade in their classrooms.

Economics in Children's Literature

Teachers can use traditional children's stories to teach basic economics concepts while also infusing reading comprehension and language arts skills into their instruction. The NCEE offers a 35% discount on materials from the CEE store for Nebraska schools.

Active Learning and Leadership Development

The Foundation for Teaching Economics (FTE) emphasizes active learning and engaging activities to teach economics. All lessons and programs are correlated with Common Core State Standards and economic education standards. FTE programs integrate economics content with leadership development.

Econiful

Econiful provides high school economics teachers with a complete, one-semester curriculum grounded in cognitive science, free of charge. The lessons are active and relatable.

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Professional Learning for Educators

The Nebraska Department of Education, in partnership with SchoolKit, offers professional learning sessions focused on strengthening core instruction for literacy, mathematics, and science. These webinars provide content-specific knowledge and skills related to remote instruction, essential instructional content, and instructional considerations.

Data Privacy

The United States Department of Education’s Privacy and Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) offers resources and workshops on student data privacy and FERPA requirements, addressing issues such as those arising from remote learning environments.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)

A virtual professional learning series focuses on social-emotional learning (SEL) from an adult perspective, informing participants of best practices that improve school culture, teacher efficacy, and student outcomes. The five webinars cover interdependent topic areas adapted from the NeMTSS SEL Systems Development training.

Instructional Leadership

A virtual professional learning series provides instructional leaders with knowledge and skills related to unfinished learning, instructional equity, and remote instruction.

Teacher Certification

The NDE provides information and resources related to teacher certification, including temporary permits, application status, and expiration reports. A public lookup is available for disciplinary actions.

Engaging Activities

"Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" is an engaging activity where students perform exercises for one minute to see if they can outlast their teacher.

Technology Enhanced Elementary Spanish Program (TEESP)

The Technology Enhanced Elementary Spanish Program (TEESP) was a collaborative effort by ESU #16, ESU #15 and area schools. The program is funded by a FLAP (Foreign Language Assistance Program) grant. The project design was developed by a team of high school Spanish teachers known as the WLLC team (World Language Learning Community), who have worked together to improve the teaching strategies in language education for area schools. Artwork for lessons created by Evelyn Schluckebier.

Quilt-Making

Quilt-making can teach basic math skills, record history, recycle materials, and encourage cooperative efforts. Students can create story quilts by painting scenes on fabric and adding a quilted border.

Zentangle®

Zentangle® is an art form that uses structured patterns to create miniature pieces of abstract art. This activity is suitable for any age.

Storytelling

Storytelling has healing power and can be used to share information about interests, backgrounds, and life events.

Three-Dimensional Collage

Students can assemble a three-dimensional collage using wood and cardboard shapes.

Art Box Books

Students can create "art box" books containing samples of texture, color, form, and line, or personalized boxes with photos, poems, and keepsakes.

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