001vt the September State Board meeting will now come to order Denise please call roll Debra nari here Patsey Co John's here Lisa freaky present Maureen Nichols here Rachel Weisz here Robin Stevens here Patricia Tim yes John witzel here Commissioner bloom step raise it all present Thank You Denise please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the Republic for which it stands information regarding the Open Meetings Act is posted on the east wall of this room on the south side of the door live web streaming will be available through the State Board of Education website board members please engage your microphones before speaking and turn them off when you are done speaking and please turn off your cell phones at this time is there a motion to approve the consent
002agenda so move second moved and seconded discussion seeing in hearing on Denis please call roll nari here yes yes cochons yes Ricky yes Nichols yes it wise yes Stevens yes Tim yes Witsel yes yes Thank You Denise will now move on to the approval of the agenda commissioner burrell instead are there any recommended changes for today's agenda and the only one we have is we're gonna remove item six point seven point a which was the Santee priority plan so the committee actually as we discussed yesterday is recommending we bring that back following month so they can follow up on their on their committee meeting work at Sandi's so with that is there a motion approved that today's agenda with the recommended change is made so moved second Patsy and Moe discussion seeing and hearing on
003deniz please call roll Tim yeah Wetzel yes Stevens yes Nichols yes wise yes cochons yes Ricky yes Mary here just kidding yeah eight yes one here [Laughter] Thank You Denise public comment period we will now have a public comment period this period of public comment is available for any person who wishes to address the State Board on subjects within its authority please note that public comment should be on topics related to the state boards constitutional and statutory authority thanks to the members of the public who attended today we do not have a ten-minute special appearance today public comment period five minutes we will now move into our five-minute public comment period I would like to remind you to please sign in if you've not already done so they're assigning cards in the back of the
004room we have for public comment cards turn in today and the public will speak in the order of the cards we received each member of the public will have five minutes to speak during the public comment period I will announce the name of the speaker and the person who is next so they are prepared to move forward at the end we will now take we will now move into our public comment period first is Harriet Gould and Dietrich Joel please come forward and on deck is Allie mobile and actually can you come up one at a time does that work and another just another thing our timer is not working this public let's all keep time on here and I'll say one minute when you have one minute left so you know that and then
005I'll say time at the end of that time perfect welcome thank you good morning my name is Derek Joel superintendent raymond central public schools we have two handouts for you one is our formal letter of opposition the second is a map showing what we are going to discuss today currently at raymond central we have a proposed eight chicken barn facility that is just over one mile to the northwest of our junior senior high school in our letter we did the best we could with research on the health and well-being and safety of our students we are not only here to talk about our situation but we feel that with the growth of the chicken industry in the state of Nebraska that we will not be the only school who is impacted by the proximity and
006the location of where these Lincoln poultry chicken farms are going so really my part in this is to share with you the handout share with you the map and then share with you our overall concerns the first concern we have is our access to water we the district has invested over forty thousand dollars you can see on our map I've located our five wells on our campus they were very difficult to find limited resources with water the chicken barn with the eight facility will be tapping into that water stream and they need a lot more water than we do to run our site so our first concern and the well-being of our students if we don't have water we don't have a school site the next is really transportation with the increased traffic with the
007state of our our County roads we have a lot of young drivers that are going to and from school or junior senior high school site is a destination location meaning we don't have people that walk there so anybody that comes to our campus will have to either get on a bus or drive their own vehicle so again 18 wheel semi trucks that are rolling our county roads not only paved but on gravel well either go by our junior senior high school site or our elementary school site that sits in Ceresco depending upon the direction in which they go so those were just the two quick points I want to share all right thank you good morning we're tag-teaming this as you can see I'm dr. Harriet coold former administrator of Raymond central public schools and
008a lifetime educator started back in 1968 been involved in schools and Raymond central since 1975 so I know a lot about this school district we started our school year with quite a surprise with these chicken barns being plucked very close to our school facility in addition to what dr. Joel has talked about the Board of Education as you are aware we hope voted in opposition to these barns and and the reasons are numerous in addition to transportation and safety which dr. Joel highlighted briefly we have major concerns with air quality I can tell you that while I was principal at the elementary buildings the increase in number of students that came to school with asthma and allergy and respiratory related problems increased dramatically I've been out now 12 years and I can tell you that
009we did a count on our number of our students with respiratory problems and it is increased every one of our students pretty much is involved at our junior senior high school in some way or another we now have a preschool out there which we're excited about we're into year three with this facility and it's located closest to the air that would be coming out of our prevailing winds in the winter which predominantly are the Northwest so this chicken varnish you can see from our map the winds will be blowing towards us there was a great study that was done by the Bloomberg School of Public Health and they worked collaboratively with Johns Hopkins and these were direct quote from their research nearby residents especially if they live in proximity of multiple operations may have an
010increased risk of infection from the transmission of harmful microorganisms from broiler operations via flies or contaminated air and water we come to you knowing that there's a concern here not only for our school district but as your mission states to lead and support the preparation of all Nebraskans for learning earning and living living at a school site is critical and so to be there without impact from potential contaminants that may be drifting in from the Northwest at a school or our football field which is also located on the north end of our property my husband was a football coach at Raymond central I'm sure that the students that would be coming from other school sites would perhaps say oh we're gonna go play the chickens you know you don't want that kind of reputation also
011you have in your goals we will take action in support of success for all learners what we're hoping is that as the State Board of Education maybe a resolution or some kind of a proclamation or some kind of something beyond that I don't know your systems could be out there to assist not only us but other school districts as dr. Joel said this situation is going to be potentially going across the state and so other school districts shouldn't have to endure what we are going through I spoke last week at the Planning Commission one meeting and they were dealing with the setbacks of these barns from facilities such as schools nursing homes etc I requested in my public comment that they go from two to five miles away so that when wind is blowing and
012trucks are moving that debris isn't going to be contaminating or getting near employees and children I ask you to help us as you look at your goals one is success in support of schools and children that you take action and assist us in this way thank you thank you doctor thank you very much ma'am thank you dr. Joel Lawson our next speaker is Allie molar followed by Bob theorem good morning welcome Ali thank you I'm Ali molar professor of world language education at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln in the College of Education and Human Sciences and I'm also the immediate past president of the American Council on the teaching of foreign languages I want to take a few minutes this morning to endorse the world language standards and to discuss how they offer support
013for our Nebraska teachers and learners we know first and foremost that support for language learning is built through excellent programs the Nebraska world language standards provide a framework and guidelines for what language learners should know and be able to do at the end of each phase of their language and stage of their language acquisition process the language product the language classroom is designed to promote and practice language performance that will build a bridge to what we call language proficiency that is the ability to function in the target language in a variety of contexts in an authentic language setting as we know and this requires however not only language communication skills but the ability to interact appropriately in our behavior as we know sometimes call and we've seen this politically cultural gaps are certainly likely more
014likely to offend them making a grammar error Michael Byron talks about the difference between being a tourist and being a sojourner so when we're a tourist and we end up going to another country we typically have some preconceived notions about what we're going to see and experience and basically we remain changed however when we're equipped with a language we were able to become educated we can interact with the native speakers we are able to interpret texts and information that is gleaned and we can actually we're actually allowed to communicate effectively and appropriately with people from other cultures learning a second or a third language is unlike any other discipline or content area when we study mathematics and science there's a core body of knowledge that once we've mastered that we're good to go right well
015language is dynamic and very context specific for example if I were to greet one of you coming in my first question would be what is the authoritative position how do I greet this person formally and formally what is the nonverbal gesture that should be accompanying this what should be the proximity of distance between us those are all the kinds of behaviors that and that I have to display and then what then determines the language that I use when I interact with you and for this reason the world language standards in Nebraska have underscored the importance of integration of intercultural competency in addition to language that is certainly a very progressive move on our part there are many myths that I'm going to take the occasion to talk about and about language learning many of us
016have heard this myth about if you have a second language it can damage a child's language or cognitive development or if you're an adult you have no ability to learn a language or they're at a level of proficiency that would allow you to interact efficiently with folks well in the last two decades of research empirical studies have literally debunked all of those myths not only have they debunked those myths they've revealed the multitude of benefits and added value to individuals at all levels in our lifespan so for example non-invasive brain imaging techniques that have been used to study language processing on infants and toddlers have allowed researchers to better understand how the human brain processes and specifically experiences with more than one language has influenced and changed brain functioning and if you have questions about
017that I'm happy to address that at any time a more exciting especially relevant to me is discovery in the area of health so one minute the discovery that bilingualism delays the onset of Alzheimer's disease by four to five years okay as opposed to monolingualism it's a sort of protection to the cognitive resources much like physical exercise may avoid some physical injury it is my hope that language study becomes a part of the core curriculum in Nebraska to stay competitive economically to ensure our national security and to improve our social and community type only the study of only the study of world language empowers learners to engage successfully orally and in writing with members of other cultures no other discipline does that I will leave you with a quote from one of my language colleagues nationally
018monolingualism is the illiteracy of the 21st century the Nebraska world language standards will help to pave the way for our Nebraska learners to achieve a level of language proficiency and culture intercultural competence that will make them highly competitive in the 21st century where they can serve as cultural mediators thank you in our homes in our communities and in our world at large thank you very much ma'am thank you off your a please sir followed up by mr. Charles Cobb good morning I'm Bob cure I'm a board member at North and Central High School about an hour north of here I am 37 year educator retired so I get a goof-off most of the time I'm also the 2011 Nebraska Teacher of the Year one thing that's come to the forefront and so many of our
019board meetings now is financial support of schools I have a couple of my colleagues on the board that are that forum a lot of farm ground and I'm guessing that they probably write six-feet your checks you know at the start of their their business year and then they have to start worrying about expenses and those sorts of things so we've reached a tipping point you know in the process of what part of school are we going to be able to do you know can we keep all the teachers that we want to add this discussion last week with my superintendent we have to do rule 10 now rule 10 has become a financial dedication I guess in that process and they have to ask does it really take four years for that student to learn
020what they need to learn could it be done more quickly if it's done more quickly it'd be done more financially efficiently you know so those are some of the things that we need to start to talk about a costume assessment both timewise and dollar wise you know needs to be something that we need to start to look at simply because of the financial expense that goes into that and being in a rural area most of our support comes from fewer and fewer people all the time you know we have a larger and larger farms and feeling through people carrying that load the fundamental way that we do school needs to change today's learners are different you know then they were even 10 years ago you know technology that causes lots of changes that are necessary
021you know in the classroom it's also financial burden for the district to maintain that technology you know not that it's good not that it's bad it's just sort of what is today one of the questions I would like you to think about you know in your drive drive time sitting a long ways to drive why why do we do school more things I thought about most reason is what is it about school that's really important is it Algebra one calculus English four or is it something else now why do we do school why do we spend as much money as we do on school and now as you thought about that think about this what lessons do you learn from high school what do you remember so did you waste those four years you don't
022remember any that did you really learn again one of those things we need to start to consider as we're planning school why school why do we want to have those kids spend that time you know in that building and what do we want when they get out 35 percent engagement is sort of the number that's thrown out there as the kids get older and older the engagement level goes down that also points to the way that we're doing school right now that it doesn't really address the needs it doesn't hook kids you know so again we need to think about the just that real basic design of how we do school and policy has a lot to do with that you know as we look at the school day and the school year you know
023the district has to meet certain parameters have been set forth that's always one of our concerns is visible you know being compliant you know as we go forward at all levels and you know I've always sort of joked that our board meetings are the three B's buses bills and building buses a lot explains that I spent five five hours Wednesday had a bus committee meeting looking at all the varieties there were they were all in yellow we had no choice of color you know but we had lots of other choices choices to make and another five hours a week ago on some other other things we have board meeting coming up and our board meetings are five hours I was pretty I could last until noon at this one you know so and I can
024get up and leave on this one too I don't have to stay yeah so that makes a difference too so thank you for your time this morning I appreciate the opportunity to visit with you a little bit about some of the changes that I see in our futures both at North Bend and integrated Nebraska so thanks again Thank You mr. pure thank you very much sir mr. Charles cop please sir it's a little weird seeing myself it's like a mirror I don't want to look into you right now so good morning State Board of Education my name is Charles kelp and I'm here to speak to you as the incoming chair and policy coordinator for glisten Omaha listen is a national organization with over 40 chapters across the United States with one of them being
025in Omaha lesson strives to ensure that each member of every school community is valued and respected regardless of sexual orientation gender identity and or expression we believe that such an atmosphere engenders a positive sense of self which is the basis of educational achievement and personal growth since homophobia and heterosexism undermine a healthy school climate we work to educate teachers students and the public at large about the damaging effects of these forces and how they affect our youth and adults alike we recognize that these forces such as racism and sexism have similarly adverse impacts on communities and we support schools and seeking to redress such inequities today I'm here to commend the State Board of Education on their proposed position statement 51 regarding non-discrimination and equitable educational opportunities in schools through glistens researched through the national
026school Climate Survey in 2017 we found that 69 percent of students in Nebraska faced verbal harassment in their schools because of their sexual orientation we also found that 56 percent found face of verbal harassment because of their gender expression and 52 percent faced verbal harassment because of their gender the State Board of Education statement is a step in the right direction to ensure that every student in Nebraska is safe and supported in their school regardless of sexual orientation gender identity or expression additionally we recognize that there are many different intersecting identities in the Nebraska school systems which is why we commend the State Board of Education on their statement to also include age citizenship status and color disability economic status ethnicity family mobility family strap genetic information marital status national origin political affiliation pregnancy race
027religion sex tribal membership or veteran status in addition to the position statement I would also like to commend the State Board of Education on their new standards for social studies that ensure LGBTQ students have the opportunity to learn about LGBTQ history and historical figures if you would like further information on these issues and curriculums specific information Glisan has curriculum specific to these out to these activities and other opportunities to educate on LGBTQ history in the classroom at glisten were committed to providing education we're committed to providing education and training to educators looking to make their classrooms and curriculums more inclusive for all students we provide a variety of professional development trainings workshops and guest panels to provide well-rounded training experiences in addition to this training we also support students and parents alike when they are
028navigating their school experiences this can be done through connecting them to resources assisting them with establishing GSA's in their school or any other need that they may have to be successful I'm here today to offer support to the State Board of Education to further advance the interest of all students in the state of Nebraska if you would like to know more about listen and our resources please feel free to contact me or if you would like to read more about listens research in Nebraska and across the United States you can find it on our website at glisten org again thank you for your position this is a step in the right direction to ensure that every student in the state of Nebraska is safe and protected in their schools thank you thank you sir that
029concludes public comment and we will now take a quick very quick five-minute break you we will now proceed in today's agenda is there a motion to go into executive session yes second I move that the State Board go into executive session to discuss investigative proceedings regarding allegations of criminal misconduct to protect the public interest is there a second sacrified Pat discussion seeing and hearing on Denise please call roll Fricke yes Nichols yes Neary yes cochons yes wise yes witzel yes Tim yes Stevens yes eight yes motion passes let's go you back in the session we'll go is there a motion to come out of executive session yes I move that we come out of executive session is there a second Patsey discussion see it in hearing the hood please please call roll Nicholls yes what's
030all yes nari yes Tim yes coach Jones yes Stevens yes Fricke yes wise yes ain't yes Thank You Denise will now move him to action items Policy Committee Patricia Tim is there a motion on item 6.1 point a I moved to adopt proposed revisions to State Board bylaw b16 board member expenses is there a second second so I goodbye Rachel discussion seeing in hearing on Denise please call roll code John's yes Nichols yes Stevens yes Wetzel yes Tim yes wise yes freaky yes Mary yes yes Thank You Denise Patricia Tim is there a motion on item 6.1 point B yes I moved to adopt proposed revisions to State Board position statement s1 non-discrimination and portable education opportunities in school there a second second second by Rachel discussion seeing in hearing on Denise please call roll
031Stephens yes Tim yes witzel yes Ricky yes Mary yes wise yes Nichols yes cochons yes yes Thank You Denise will now move into the legislative committee vice president Nichols is there a motion on item six point two point eight yes I moved to adopt the 2019 2020 legislative priorities as presented second by Deb nari I will fight to put your okay discussion see you in here tonight these please call roll Ricky yes cochons yes Wetzel yes Mary yes Nichols yes Tim yes Stevens yes wise yes yes thank you too nice a quest teaching and learning domain committee lisa Fricke is there a motion on item six point four point eight yes sir I move to approve the Nebraska world language standards that good discussion seeing it hearing on Denise please call roll wise yes witzel
032yes Tim yes Stevens yes nari yes Nichols yes Fricke yes ho John's yes yes thank you we will now turn into student success and access domain Patsy coach John's do you have a resolution yes I moved to adopt the resolution to recognize September as attendance Awareness Month and commence the Nebraska every day counts campaign Zach that discussion see it in hearing Don Denise please call roll okay resolution for attendance awareness as a month Nebraska every day counts whereas the Nebraska State Board of Education is committed to ensuring educational equity for all students whereas chronic absence is defined as missing 10% of time in school membership including excuse to unexcused and suspensions each year 36,000 Nebraska students are chronically absent from school with chronic absenteeism disproportionately affecting students of color students with disability abilities economically disadvantaged
033students and English learners whereas poor attendance can influence whether children can read proficiently by third grade students who improve their attendance rates improve their academic prospects and chances for graduating where as the strategic vision and direction developed by the Nebraska Department of Education and the State Board of Education includes a measure for reducing the person students who are chronically absent additionally the Nebraska Department of Education has included reduction in chronic absenteeism yet a quest the state's accountability and support system whereas schools and communities can work together to better understand the root causes of chronic absence some barriers to student attendance may include poor health and access to health care resources unreliable transportation low student engagement bullying and mobility and where as chronic absence can be significantly reduced when parents families communities and community partners work
034together to monitor and promote attendance and address barriers to regular school attendance now therefore be it resolved the Nebraska State Board of Education hereby proclaims that regular and consistent attendance is vital to our state and students and resolved the Nebraska State Board of Education believes as part of its call to be agents of change for equity the state and each school must engage in a concerned effort to reduce chronic absenteeism and resolved the Nebraska State Board of Education joined stakeholders around the country and recognizing September as attendance Awareness Month with the campaign Nebraska every day counts and resolve the Department of Education will provide informational resources to assist families schools and communities to reduce chronic absenteeism signed on behalf of the state school board of education this sixth day of September by John Witsel president
035and worried Nicholas vice president thank you thank you very much patsy and with that Patsy is there a motion Denise please go role Nichols yes Ricky yes wise yes coach Jones yes Stevens yes Neary yes Tim yes witzel yes yes thank you very much let's go Jones is there a motion on item six point five point B I moved to adopt the resolution to recognize books it's the wrong motion I move to accept in Nebraska well at quit eelain's is there a second second discussion I'd like to comment about both the non-discrimination position statement and equity at the same time is that okay mostly because the work for those were done in tandem and I think that this was very important work and I I appreciate our committee chair patsy co John's for all the
036work she did to initiate these discussions and build on the equity culture that dr. Bluhm stead has been creating with the work that he's doing with his team and I you know when this was first talked about in the newspaper I did hear some from some of my constituents and I'm truly grateful to them for their input in the process for both of these documents I especially want to thank the organization glisten for all the ways that they helped educate us as a committee I loved the process that we went through I felt like everybody was so respectful and I know I learned through that process and also thank the Women's Fund of Omaha that also was involved in helping us better understand and I you know kudos to Omaha Public Schools who had a
037non-discrimination position statement that I also used that you know went further than what we were initially talking about and being inclusive and you know when we are I guess because of my background of working with youth that are mentored I just see so many kids that are bullied and what that does to not only harm that student's educational achievements but also what it does to school climate in general and I think that you know when we think about you know the be kind campaign and all the ways that we can raise the bar for everyone it is going to impact educational achievement which ultimately is what we're all here about and the equity lens sorry to go on but I am gonna use this equity lens a lot not only just in my board work
038but in everything I when I think about education issues you know I went to Catholic private school all the way through where everybody was the same religion as me everybody looked like me I mean it's very easy for me to just want to assess all educational policies or position statements from that lens of my own personal experience and this is going to by using this tool it will be a nice reminder that there's other lenses that I need to be thinking about I in particularly think about a I'm auntie Debbie - a first grader in the military public school district and he's you know his parents are from Pakistan he's Muslim he's brown skinned and you know when he was in preschool he already learned from his peers that he was on the brown team
039when he was in preschool and that was so I opening to me that you know his student experience is going to be very different than mine because of that awareness and you know it and that's just one perspective I there's so many different perspectives that I need to think about when I'm thinking about our policies and so thank you Patsy for leading this effort and to my committee members who were so respectful as we talked about all these statements thank you any other Rachel I do want to thank the the committee for the work that they did in the leadership of Patsy and moving forward as an equity lens and I now challenge us to start to really look at how we use that equity lens in a variety of ways and I know that
040we'll continue to hear about that but one area we've not spent much time on that I think is is important we start to move the forefront is also the resource allocation and how we use the equity lens as a part of a discussion around understanding resource allocation and what it means and what kind of impact it has as well so I think it's a great catalyst in so many ways so thank you for the work that's been done thank you Rachel mr. Stevens when I think of being a state board member I think the term leadership and I think this is an example of the board and hopefully their vote to show leadership for all of the schools of the state of Nebraska and who knows maybe even beyond and just really I just think
041of leadership and obviously we thank lots of people and Deb mentioned everybody but her so I mentioned it thank you sir any other discussion that's it I think this is in protocol but I would like to thank you professional Commissioner moon stead for offering us the leadership to take the equity challenge and also Ryan for making me aware of lead through nasbe because it really set me in motion for Nebraska and for the Nebraska state school board and lit a fire under me to reach out to make sure that all means all all kids in Nebraska and some people think that's tried and overused but as a kid who grew up in poverty I do not think it's tried and overused and I want to make sure that there's something for us to look at
042to remind us that the children that we are making policy for are so important and they are so different in so many ways than we are because of their life's experience that we stop for a moment and take a look and consider what we're doing and the possible results of that and so to be thoughtful it's a great thing to be and that's what an equity lens does is that makes you thoughtful of your choices I hope Commissioner that it's not only used on this day board but that we encourage it to be as throughout this data and education I know it's the fluid document that it will change and change again and change but I'm very proud of the document that we've come up with the hard work of many people and the ideas
043of many people and so honored to work with them and I wanted to say that before we took a boat Thank You Man and I would just like to say that being a proud member of your committee you certainly led by example thank you any other discussion if not Denise please call roll crickey yes Mary yes Wetzel yes Tim yes wise yes Stevens yes Nichols yes cochons yes 8 yes thank you today's will now move to special presentations and discussion items Cory Eppler will provide a presentation on centering equity and standards development welcome dr. well the timing of this is perfect relative to the two previous items and the conversations that we've been having this morning and I so appreciate the reminder of as we have conversations about the resources and expectations for students that
044were being very intentional about all meaning all because we know that through the history of our educational system that there have been groups of students that have been marginalized because of the identities that they have and so I am very proud to talk a little bit about some of the work that we're doing in terms of living and being change agents for equity and I also offer this in light of some tension that we've received in the press lately about this work so wanted to make sure that the board was aware of the work what it is what it is not and how we will utilize it moving forward so I'm going to use the words of Commissioner bloom stat sorry commissioner because I think one thing is we think about what does it mean
045to be agents for change of equity and I was really excited about the commitments for equity the first year but I think this really moves us to action not just to making promises or commitments but actually following through on those commitments and so as I think about the work around centering equity within standards development I pulled these pieces out from the playbook from administrator days around actually allowing us to explore and utilize promising and new innovations that advance educational equity and being intentional about identifying and addressing bias and barriers for our students I think that's something that really resonates with us so I want to just to briefly talk about this idea around centering equity within standards and curricula one of the things so a couple of weeks ago we had an opportunity to have
046some assistance from the Midwestern Plains equity Assistance Center we have a systemic equity partnership with them and dr. Rita would be able to speak to that as well and part of the conversation that we've had with them specifically was how we Center equity within our content area standards and how we provide support to districts as they think about what that looks like in curricula and one of the things that we talked about that first day was talking about this idea of critical consciousness and I provide the definition that was offered to us that day and really it's forced me to think deeper around power and privilege within our own educational system and how a critical continent consciousness really is about the willingness and the ability to see how power and privilege are at work to
047advantage some at the same time disadvantaging others and so I think again that idea of critical consciousness was front and center for us in the work that day to really think about what is the role of power what is the role of privilege and have certain individuals and identities been disadvantaged in our educational system and through some of the policies that we have in place and many of you have heard the idea of windows and mirrors and again this isn't something that I've created and this was reintroduced in that session that when we talk about standards in curricula allowing students in ensuring that there are mirrors which students are able to see their own experiences in the standards in the curricula but also providing Windows for those for others to look into the experiences of
048others so it's not just about allowing students to see themselves but also allowing other students to see others and thinking about what that means within our public schools and the students that we're serving as well they offered a couple examples and we're not gonna discuss this but I just wanted to share these with you because as doctor Frison and I process that day too I think these were really telling when we start to think about how does bias here what does it look like in instruction materials or textbooks so I'm just gonna offer you this as an example that was shared with our our folks last week in terms of is biased present in this whether it's intentional or unintentional I'll move to the next slide as we think about an assignment that was given
049where students were asked to talk about where their family emigrated from and you could see that the student response on the right wrote that they immigrated from Africa and the reason that they emigrated because the white man wanted them to come so again while these examples may not be intentionally bias we do know that this exists in our state in our educational system and throughout the country so it's important for us as we think about how we are champions and change agents for equity to really think about where it starts and so if we know that our content area standards number one reflect what knowledge and skills we want students to learn we know that our content standards create a framework for teaching and learning we know that districts use content standards to guide the
050selection of instruction materials in curriculum the question at the bottom is how does the NDE work to minimize bias both explicit and implicit that might exist in content area standards and so that was something that is we have embarked through the social studies standards revision process that has been really critical for us to consider and so I offer the question now specifically related to the social study standards and something that we are being intentional about is how does the NDE work to minimize bias both explicit and implicit that might exist in the Nebraska social study standards so as we ensure and work to make sure that all of our students in the state see themselves in the standards but not only that allow to them to see others in the standards we we're really excited
051to undergo a process facilitated by the Midwest and plains equity assistance center and actually utilize a tool that they have developed this tool is available in spark if you're interested it's a rubric that's around assessing bias and standards in there it's research-based there's a ton of citations in there that talk about the the background behind that and as we were looking through the standards one thing we wanted to consider was it allowed us to really determine to do the social studies standards reflect educational equity it also allowed us a way to determine if the standards reflect the diverse backgrounds and histories and narratives of all students and we used it as an opportunity to surface bias within the content area standards and their interpretations so we assembled a team it was a two-day event we
052had a larger event on the first day which included a larger number of department staff to learn more about centering equity and standards and what that means and what that what the implications are and then the second day it was a smaller subset which included members of the social studies standards team we were intentional intentional to ensure that there was diversity in the group not only in terms of various individuals identities but in terms of where they were from in the state and the folks that they represented it wasn't just school-based people there were higher ed folks there were community organizations present an additional NDE staff and they took the rubric and worked through the draft of the social study standards I wanted to provide an example because again I think there perhaps might be
053some misunderstanding that were quote-unquote changing history that's not what we're doing we're not changing history because we can't change the history but what we can do is ensure that the history that is presented allows all students to see themselves and provides a framework for teachers to teach multiple perspectives as it relates to history so the example that I present here's a draft indicator from social these standards from third-grade our writers wrote construct and answer questions about community history the possible modification that we might that we will send back to the writing team was construct and answer questions about multiple community histories from viewpoints of that community so again we start to see how we go from that first draft indicator and working through the tool we're actually able to create a standard that more students
054and more perspectives are able to see themselves in and it also opens up opportunities for teachers as they're teaching multiple perspectives as well so again I wanted to ensure that we're not changing historical documents we're not changing history we're working to ensure that the history that's presented is in the content economics civics geography is reflective of all of our students in the state and that's something that number one is important but number two I'm so proud of this work because this is the first time the department has ever done this once we had suggested modifications it goes back to the social studies writing team so just because they were suggested that day doesn't necessarily mean that those changes are accepted you can see draft two is on the still on the website next month draft
055three will come back and that is the draft that we're going to ask your approval on in November so more than anything I just again wanted to provide a little bit of information about this process relative to some of the questions that we had received and again modeling this as change agent for equity I'll stop there I don't commissioner if you have you gave me the keys also sorry I mean do you think what what what's always interesting as we dive into a new work for us relative to how we conduct that work I think we learned a lot even through the those particular processes number one you know how the board reflects on this the equity lens is a chance for us but we're not I'm not done that in our conversations what are
056the key types of questions so what are the key things that that we should be considering even in the earlier stages of writing process with standards so so again this is our first attempt in into this our first attempt to really be change agents for equity and so you know we're still learning from that particular process certainly but I do think the types of reflections and I remember talking to dr. Epler a little bit probably that very day that we had folks in that's like well you know you know what's what's the process look like it what's the resulting change and I think you corey you gave a great example of what just that just slight twist on what a standard might look like broadens the meeting for for us as a state for us
057as you know leading in the education arena so so I I appreciate that work very much and they think it's you know it's still still learning to understand how we can best do this but it's a very good step forward I think for us there Rachel yeah fabulous thank you so much Korea I think it does align so much with a vision and direction that that the board is taking and and you mentioned standards and then you also mentioned curriculum and that's what I would challenge next is really delving into the curriculum aspect I think we we don't talk enough about truly the importance of curriculum development and this this just highlighted it the standards is the first step and doing what you're doing with standards and that the writing team is phenomenal but if
058we don't take that next step around curriculum development you know that curriculum development is really the essential vehicle for framing instructional equity without that curriculum development we oftentimes go right to those materials and I would say that the materials instructional materials are more often where you find and inequities and bias that really do create some of the challenges that we have and and I think that focus on curriculum and done thoughtfully and deeply can help frame so that even when schools adopt materials that have bias within even if it's a you know green light material that we talked about yesterday they're oftentimes you'll find some bias within even the best materials but a curriculum can help teachers understand how to how to use and maybe sometimes skip over some parts of the textbook that that
059contains and bias and so I think it's important to continue this passion in this direction and really move it into the curriculum development process thank you Rachel Patsy thank you for being a perfect example of the thoughtfulness that I was talking about that inequity lands encourages it's so amazing to see that in your example and that heightened sensitivity to what we're supposed to be all about the young people that were working with is amazing to see on the screen so I appreciate your work and your example especially Lisa and I also thank you for doing that going beyond from the second draft to the third draft that stakeholder input will continue and then that example that you gave on this screen is a perfect example of where we can go and reach students because I
060remember in my early career someone sent like one of my kids develop a family tree and at first glance it sounds like a wonderful assignment you know grandparents parents and then I thought about as a teacher the foster kids the broken homes we could do it but not being aware of the populace and in thinking oh this is a wonderful idea and how heartbreaking it will be for some kids because of their home situation so that sensitivity I appreciate that being there yeah big time kudos this is wonderful Rachel you brought up a good point about the curriculum development but with that there's going to need to be not only the reminder but professional growth for our teachers to say the curriculum you know this pretty well aligns with our standards but is there bias
061in that curriculum that they really need to study ahead of time and and that can be difficult when you're in a small rural district and you are the only third grade teacher or fifth grade teacher you don't have that camaraderie and I am very hopeful that school districts will take the bull by the horns and take this very seriously that goes right along with our equity lands so thank you for stepping up to the plate for you thank you thank you Marie Robert first of all I just echo many of the things that you've heard here I must however referred to a an article in the Omaha world-herald dated Friday August 1619 and it talks about the Midwest plains equity Assistance Center and in in the tool that they're using and and stuff and in
062my world I have people who get concerned about rewriting history and and I'm just gonna quote from one of the paragraphs in this in this article talking about the tool by the Midwest and it goes another example could be using terms like forefathers mankind businessman to deny the contributions of women it says now how do I respond to people who ask me questions about rewriting history to a certain extent I really get I'm at a loss for that and sure and yeah well Joe if you have if I could speak from a technical aspect is that's an example and a rubric that is nationally utilized rubric and much like I share with everyone who's providing feedback around the social study standards just because feedback is provided doesn't mean that it's incorporated because we have a
063team of people that work to consider that and so I think in ensuring folks that we do have clarity of process around how recommendations are considered and how they actually are incorporated I also think so reassuring them around the process we have to incorporate feedback is something that I hope that you might be able to convey to them beyond that I hope that an item like that as it might appear in the rubric also forces reflection because in the social studies standards we have standards and indicators and examples and what we discovered in many of the examples there may not be women referenced there may not be Native American examples there may not be african-american examples or LGBTQ examples so those are types of opportunities for us to provide both a window and a mirror
064for our teachers and our students so it's again how do we ensure that all teachers and students see themselves in these standards we've had really great feedback and engagement with both the Nebraska Indian Education Association and the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs and one specific example they gave us around forms of government there like sovereignty isn't even in here and we're like oh gosh it's not so there's another simple way that we can work to include greater specificity around the examples that allow educators to utilize those to drive and so again ensuring folks that there is a consistent process around how feedback is considered and ultimately incorporated but again I think pushing our folks to really think about that and embodying critical consciousness around who in our society has historically had power and privilege and
065ensuring that multiple voices are pers art present thank thank you very much and again I do want to emphasize that I do appreciate this work and the work that we've been talking about with equity but these are questions that come to me absolutely that's why I absolutely I'm not completely understanding Rachel I just want to pick up I think Robyn one of the things you said that I think is important and you do hear people say well they're trying to rewrite history no it's really about being more thoughtful and deeper about history so sometimes we are we brush a quick level of history and don't think about the different perspectives and by starting to think about the different perspectives you actually are being more thoughtful and have a deeper understanding of history and I think
066that's the piece to me that's important to have conversations with constituents about is there isn't anything that's trying to take away from the historical facts that we know but it's about understanding facts from a deeper perspective and from multiple perspectives because our lens has for the most part been a one type of lens in history and the way your lens looks in my lens looks it's really a little different and so having the opportunity I mean oh my goodness how I would love to be back in school today having an opportunity as a young girl to learn about science and math and history in a different context would be so valuable and so I think that's what's so important for us to keep in our forefront is that it's not about rewriting history it's really
067about being more thoughtful and deeper and helping to see everyone see what their perspective in history has been and how that may shape your future then I see so I'm gonna keep this wreath that I want if you were in my classroom have you asked me that question I would say to you as my student is it's not about taking away this is about adding to and that words have great power and so those words that were all male dominant words were what was history and now we're about looking at them and adding to them and in that process adding to the the perceived value of all I'll just say thanks Cory I mean and thanks for this conversation I actually make it very powerful moments what we're able to do this like just kind
068of one thing I'm starting to see with the agency with our staff when we're having meetings with others outside so our importance of our engagement with stakeholders and otherwise we're getting better less afraid to have the kind of tough conversations to engage in this for the meaningful reasons of making a real difference around equity so so thanks just thanks to the full board you you allow us to do our work so thank you for me thank you for doing Commissioner can I just add one last thing and this idea of the equity lens I want to give you an another example so we receive information around a writing contest that was around write about your mother which is a really great writing experience and then our staff they look at that and they're like well
069what does that mean for students that may not have a mother or that have two fathers etc and so it's exciting to think about how we're able to utilize the equity lens within our work here so appreciate the dialogue and the conversation and the support from the board if I could I appreciate Robyn you bringing up your point because I think we've all had probably been addressed by our constituents at least I have in regards to the same concerns that you have I certainly have so thank you very much for bringing that up it does add to the discussion and betterment of the standards finance so thank you very much Cory in regards to the drafts we have draft two on the side right now so yeah when is that been updated was that updated
070with the buyers committee that has not been let Harris pain take vacations so he's been gone which is why he's not up here with me right now so he will be back I believe on Monday and then we'll be working to get the final phases wrapped up and so in October and hopefully maybe as much even a week before the October board meeting then draft three will be published you all will have an opportunity to review it before a month before we take action in November but if you will inputs by the buyers committee will not be included until mr. Payne gets back is that correct yeah it's a what did Harris say they've had almost 70 zum meetings over the course of this process so any time feedback is given whether it's through email
071I got an email this morning he sends it to their committees and they debrief it in and incorporate it once draft three is if you will on the web is that it is that final that is the draft we will bring to you as the proposed final draft and there were no changes additions whatever the three is that current I can't say no because ultimately we have feedback from a committee and from a state board okay thank you very much thank you thank you sir now move into board reports dates discussion items is there a motion to approve meetings that took place in the past that were not previously approved for at least Lisa Fricke so move discussion seeing in hearing on Denise please call roll Gary yes PO John's yes freaky it's Dave Nichols
072yes wise yes Stevens yes Tim yes what salt yes seven yes one abstain thank you very much Denise is there a motion to approve meetings that took place in the past that were not previously approved for Pat Seco Jones soft second second discussion CNN hearing I'm Denise please call roll nari young John's abstain Ricky yep Nichols yes why skip Stevens yes Tim yes what's Josh seven yes when I'm staying is there a motion to approve meetings that took place in the past that were not previously approved for Robin Stevens so moved second second discussion seeing a hearing on the news please call roll cochons yes freaky yep nickels yes Neri yes Stevens abstain wise yes witzel yes Tim yes 70s when a mistake thank you very much to these is there a motion to approve
073meetings that took place in the past or were not previously approved for Rachel wise some of second discussion see any hearing on deniz please call roll Neri yes Witsel yes cochons yes Tim yes Ricky yes Stevens yes Nichols yes why's Epstein seven yes what a Mustaine is there a motion to approve ease that took place in the past were not previously approved for John whitsel seven second discussion Denise please call goal freaky yes nickels yes wise yes Stevens yes Tim yes witzel abstain nary yes coach Jones yes 70s when abstain thank you very much Deniz will move on in future meeting participation is there a motion to approve the future meeting participation so moved second discussions see any marry none Denise please call rolls witzel yes Tim yes Stevens yes wise Nichols yes freaky yes
074cochons yes Mary yes yes thank you very much Denise commissioner do you have anything for information nothing further than what's already presented thank you sir adjournment thank you for those who tuned in to the broadcast a work session will be held on Thursday October the 3rd at 2 p.m. and a board meeting will be held on Friday October 4 at 9 a.m. in this room the September State Board of Education meeting is adjourned thank you very much