Nebraska

The purpose of this document is to capture state-by-state information of policy and guidelines related to the science of reading / evidence-based reading instruction to be presented on The Reading League Compass, a website of reliable and reputable guidance and resources for targeted stakeholder groups.

Updated 2025

Local control?

Yes

Has your state passed legislation and/or non-legislated rule changes related to the science of reading?

Yes. The Nebraska Reading Improvement Act went into effect in 2018 and requires schools to assess all K-3 students three times per year and provide evidence-based interventions for students performing below established thresholds. Other requirements include parental notification, daily targeted reading intervention based on diagnostic assessment data, and access to before- and after-school and summer supplemental reading intervention.

Nebraska Revised Statute 79-11,157.01 requires school districts to provide to the NDE annually, on or before July 1, the number of students in each public school district that have been assessed for a specific learning disability in the area of reading, including dyslexia.

Nebraska Revised Statute 79-2607, known as the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, was amended to define evidence-based reading instruction as “(a) in alignment with scientifically based reading research and does not include the three-cueing system model of reading instruction; and [that the] (b) three-cueing system model of reading instruction is an approach to foundational skills instruction that involves the use of three different types of instructional cues which include semantic, syntactic, and graphophonic.”

Revisions to the Nebraska Department of Education’s Rule 20: Regulations for the Approval of Teacher Educator Programs went into effect in June 2024. Per Section 005.02H: Instructional Strategies, candidates “build reading and writing skills through the application of the science of reading.”

Does your state have an approved curriculum list?

No. The NDE provides guidance on the selection and implementation of high-quality instructional materials through the Nebraska Instructional Materials Collaborative. The site has tools and resources including links to EdReports reviews of core materials for mathematics, English Language Arts, foundational skills, and science.

Was evidence-aligned reading instruction a consideration for the curriculum review?

The Nebraska Instructional Materials Collaborative (NIMC) website provides direct links to EdReports reviews of reading foundational skills programs. The site is updated to include new resources to guide the selection and implementation of evidence-aligned instructional materials, such as Curriculum Evaluation Guidelines – The Reading League and Knowledge Matters Review Tool – Knowledge Matters Campaign. The NIMC also provides tools, resources, and research for educator preparation program faculty.

Please describe any other instructional-materials work related to the science of reading with links, where applicable

The NDE is a member state of the Council for Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) Instructional Materials and Professional Development Network (IMPD). Nebraska districts report the core instructional programs in use for mathematics, English Language Arts, foundational skills, and science. Since 2019, district adoption of high-quality, evidence-based materials for K-5 English Language Arts has grown from 7% to 80%. 

Through a partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska’s Multi-tiered System of Support (NeMTSS) network, districts have access to the Program Comparison Tool. This resource provides information about core and supplemental materials and is intended to help districts make informed decisions about programs. Users can search programs by their evidence base using ratings from the What Works Clearinghouse, Evidence for ESSA (ESSA), or the NeMTSS Evidence-Based Practice classification system. 

Districts awarded federal funding through the Nebraska CLSD Program may select and implement high-quality, evidence-based instructional materials using guidance provided through the Nebraska Instructional Materials Collaborative. 

A representative sample of Nebraska English language arts, mathematics, and science teachers participate annually in the RAND American Instructional Resources Survey (AIRS). The AIRS survey focuses on what instructional materials are used in schools, and what factors support their use. The 2024 AIRS survey included questions regarding teacher engagement with foundational reading practices. While 7 of 10 Nebraska elementary teachers received professional learning on evidence-based foundational reading practices, only 11% indicated that it prepared them to a great extent.

The NDE provides guidance for educator preparation programs as they select science of reading-aligned resources for use in Methods coursework: Recommended Texts & Readings.

Does your state mandate or provide guidance on early screening?

Yes. The NDE, in collaboration with the Nebraska Workshops on Reading Development Strategies (WORDS), issued new guidance, Nebraska Reading Improvement Act and Early Reading Assessments: Making Informed Decisions about Assessments, which provides an analysis of components of currently approved screeners. The guidance is an update to a previously developed evaluation tool, the K-3 Reading Assessment Evaluative Rubric.

Please describe any other assessment work related to the science of reading with links, where applicable

The NDE is conducting an extensive review of its approved universal screeners in partnership with the National Center for Intensive Intervention (NCII) and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Buros Center for Testing. These efforts will  strengthen the identification of reading difficulties  and narrow the list of approved screeners for the 2026-2027 school year: Updated Approved Assessment Communication. 

Nebraska Revised State Statute 79-11, 157.01 requires information about districts’ implementation of the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act, including which approved assessments are used across K-3 and how students performed on those assessments, as well as information on students who have been evaluated for a specific learning disability, including dyslexia, in the area of reading. Prior to the 2023-2024 school year, public school districts were not required to provide aggregated assessment data. All districts must now report their K-3 screening data to the NDE annually on or before June 15th of each calendar year.

The Nebraska’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (NeMTSS) Framework outlines 4 “Essential Elements,” including Data-Based Decision Making, and provides guidance on effective assessment practices, tiered support, and common definitions. The Framework also provides a Shared Glossary of Terms that was developed as part of the NDE’s ongoing coherence work and standardizes language between multiple NDE offices and Nebraska educators and stakeholders.

The Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS: Answers for Nebraska) is an interlocal  partnership between the NDE, Nebraska community colleges, the Nebraska State College System, the University of Nebraska System, and the Nebraska Department of Labor. NSWERS provides data literacy education and promotes the use of data to further evidence-based policy and practices. A 2024 report, NSWERS Brief on Early Reading Proficiency in Nebraska, examined longitudinal reading proficiency rates  to show that Nebraska students with better reading skills in third grade are more likely to graduate high school on time and attend college.

Does your state have policy or guidance related to MTSS that incorporates information on the science of reading and/or evidence-based literacy practices?

The Nebraska’s Multi-Tiered System of Support (NeMTSS) Framework includes guidance on the science of reading and evidence-based literacy practices. 

In Summer 2025, the NDE released a Literacy Comprehensive Needs Assessment (L-CNA) that is aligned to the NeMTSS Self-Assessment Tool. The L-CNA is a tool for districts to review current evidence-based literacy programs and practices and prioritize areas for improvement. 

The NDE is conducting a research study of the implementation of Individualized Reading Improvement Plans (IRIPs) for students identified with a reading deficiency. The study will inform updates to existing guidance: IRIP Guidance Document – Nebraska Department of Education that is aligned to the revised Nebraska Multi-Tiered System of Support Framework.

Does your state have policy or guidance related to instruction and/or professional development?

Yes. In response to Nebraska Revised Statute 79-2607, the NDE established a statewide Literacy Advisory Panel. The panel of Nebraska literacy experts developed a comprehensive rubric to define the essential components that must be addressed in science of reading professional learning to meet the requirement that Nebraska teachers be “adequately trained”. The NDE has published an Approved Provider list of vetted providers who meet these standards.

Legislative funding in 2024 created the Nebraska Literacy Project, a professional learning system that establishes a regional coaching network to provide “sustained professional learning and training regarding evidence-based reading instruction for teachers who teach children from pre-kindergarten through third grade.” The professional learning system also equips teachers with professional learning and resources to support families with the development of foundational reading skills in the home environment.

NDE staff participates in and collaborates with Learning Forward Nebraska (LFN) – a statewide professional learning organization charged with providing support to staff developers, across the state, in implementing the professional learning standards and elevating the importance of context-specific professional learning for teachers and leaders.

Does your state have state-developed guidance documents or training courses related to the science of reading?

In 2025, the NebraskaREADS initiative released a new series: Foundational Literacy Instructional Routines. This resource guide was developed to provide Nebraska educators with consistent, systematic, and explicit routines to enhance the delivery of evidence-based instructional practices and comprehension strategies for use across all tiers of instruction. The series includes a webinar series, developed in partnership with Nebraska MTSS Webinar series supports foundational literacy instructional routines – NeMTSS Framework | Nebraska Department of Education. The webinars are intended for leadership teams and administrators to learn about the Foundational Literacy Instructional Routines resource and the importance of using instructional routines. They are also for teachers to watch and see demonstrations of the routines in action.

The Nebraska WORDS Project was developed by faculty at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in collaboration with partners at the Nebraska Department of Education and the Nebraska MTSS initiative. Several Nebraska districts are participating in the WORDS Project and are receiving sustained support and professional learning for kindergarten through third grade (K-3) teachers in order for them to deliver effective reading instruction and assessment.

The University of Nebraska-Omaha offers a Literacy Workshop series for Nebraska educators. Foundational Skills of Early Literacy is a 5-session workshop that builds knowledge and instructional practices focused on early literacy foundational skills. With a focus on the components of foundational skills—print concepts, phonological awareness, phonics, automatic word recognition, and fluency—participants will be able to identify concrete strategies to support student learning and practice. The workshop helps to build knowledge and skills of evidence-based early literacy instruction and provides resources to support K-3 educators’ planning and instruction. 

Please describe any grant work that names the science of reading and/or evidence-aligned instruction including links, where applicable

The Nebraska Department of Education was a recipient of literacy funds through the federal Comprehensive Literacy State Development (CLSD) Program. The purpose of the CLSD Program is to advance literacy skills through the use of evidence-based practices, activities, and interventions, including pre-literacy skills, reading, and writing, for children birth through grade 12, with an emphasis on disadvantaged children, including children living in poverty, English learners, and children with disabilities. The NDE provided sub-awards to 46 eligible entities across the state to engage in evidence-based practices to improve literacy outcomes for K-12 students.

Has your state reviewed standards for alignment to the science of reading?

Yes. Nebraska’s Revised 2021 College- and Career-Ready Standards for English Language Arts have an updated K-5 Foundations of Reading strand that has a much stronger alignment to the science of reading than legacy standards. 

The NDE has also provided a supplement to the standards: Key Instructional Shifts for English Language Arts, that defines the roles of school leaders, teachers, and students in foundational reading development, text complexity, balancing literary and informational text types, and explicit writing practices.

Please describe any other standards work related to the science of reading with links, where applicable

The NDE released an Integrating Literacy Defining Document that provides common language for elements of the science of reading and evidence-based literary practices and instruction.The guidance aligns language used in other resources and emphasizes the explicit and systematic approaches that lead to improved reading outcomes.

The NDE has adapted a series of Instructional Practice Guides, which allow instructional leaders to provide content-specific feedback to classroom teachers through cycles of observation. Nebraska schools that are recipients of CLSD grant awards, as well as newly placed Regional Literacy Coaches, will use these tools to assess growth in standards-aligned instruction: Instructional Practice Guides – Nebraska Department of Education.

The NDE worked in collaboration with Educational Service Unit (ESU) staff developers and ELA educators to develop 2021 ELA Standards Rollout Resources, which include a series of learning modules to accompany the revised standards. The series provides information and resources about foundational skills and standards-aligned instruction and materials.

Does your state have guidance or resources for families related to the science of reading?

Yes. The NebraskaREADS website has tools and resources for families. The Read-At-Home Plan for Student Success is a widely accessed resource that is available in six languages. It provides at-home activities that are organized by phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

The NDE has established a Family Literacy Advisory Committee which meets monthly and includes representation from schools, libraries, Educational Service Units, literacy associations, early childhood education programs, and community partners. The Family Literacy Advisory Panel created a Family Literacy Toolkit  which enables schools to self-assess current family literacy activities and access resources to implement evidence-based practices. Most recently, a Family Literacy resource site has been created to catalog literacy resources.

Do you have policy or guidance regarding how to leverage evidence-based practices to support secondary students?

Yes. In collaboration with REL Central at Marzano Research, the NDE developed a series of condensed practice guides from the Institute of Education Science (IES) for use by Nebraska educators. The collection includes a Quick Start Guide and an introductory resource that describes the evidence based for classroom instructional practices:   Intro-Nebraska-Practice-Guide-Summaries.pdf.  Within the collection Improving Adolescent Literacy are several resources that guide educators of secondary students.

The NDE, in partnership with TNTP, offered a  Foundational Literacy for Grades 6-12 for secondary educators. Participants completed 6 online modules and attended a 2-day in-person capstone workshop. Another collaboration with Student Achievement Partners also provided a course: Improving Reading for Older Students. Through special funding, the course was provided to all 17 of our Educational Service Units throughout Nebraska.

Does your state have state-developed guidance documents or training courses related to the science of reading and Multilingual learners?

The newly published Foundational Literacy Instructional Routines series provides guidance to Nebraska educators with systematic and explicit strategies that help all students, including Multilingual learners, become successful readers and writers. The resource emphasizes the importance of evidence-based practices and comprehension strategies tailored to meet the needs of diverse learners.

The NDE’s Nebraska English Learners Program provides a resource, Supporting EL/MLs with Literacy and the Science of Reading – Nebraska Department of Education, that is coherent with other initiatives related with the science of reading and statewide literacy initiatives. The Nebraska EL Program offers other guidance and resources, such as: 

• Supporting English Learners in Content-Area Standards – Nebraska Department of Education
• 5 Marginal Shifts for ELs in Any Classroom by the AIM Institute.

The NDE’S Practice Guide Summaries – Nebraska Department of Education includes a collection of resources: Effective Literacy Instruction for English Learners.

Does your state have licensure or program approval criteria to ensure Educator Preparation Programs are aligned to the science of reading?

Revisions to the Nebraska Department of Education’s Rule 20: Regulations for the Approval of Teacher Educator Programs went into effect in June 2024. Per Section 005.02H: Instructional Strategies, candidates “build reading and writing skills through the application of the science of reading.”

The NDE issued guidance to support educator preparation programs with the implementation of Rule 20: Rule 20 Guidance: 5.02H Instructional Strategies – Google Docs. The guide includes a comprehensive overview of the science of reading and evidence-based literacy practices,   the essential knowledge and dispositions pre-service teachers should have as they enter the field, and recommendations for stages of implementation. The guide also includes a “Content Integration Tool” which is a syllabus review tool adapted from the Reading League’s Science of Reading and Structured Literacy Syllabi Refinement Tool.

Do you have a “contact us” website that we can share publicly on TRL Compass?

Nebraska Literacy Project: https://www.education.ne.gov/nebraskareads/nebraska-literacy-project/

Nebraska CLSD Program: https://www.education.ne.gov/clsd-2/

Please describe and link to any other work you would like to share that relates to the science of reading

The Nebraska Literacy Project launched in 2025 and identified new statewide literacy goals: 

1. Increase third-grade proficiency on the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) ELA to 75% by 2030.
2. Increase the % of Nebraska K-3 students who meet the Nebraska Reading Improvement Act approved assessment thresholds.
3. Ensure 100% of Nebraska educator preparation programs are implementing evidence-based instruction for teachers grounded in the science of reading.

The Nebraska State Board of Education remains committed to systemic efforts for improving early literacy and has encouraged local school districts to establish policies that promote early literacy instruction based on the science of reading with an Early Literacy Position Statement.

Use the interactive state map to find descriptions of state-level policy adoption, guidance, and practices related to the science of reading. State policy may include legislation incorporating training or practices related to the science of reading or state education agency guidance regarding policy, professional development, curricula, instruction, or assessment.

Filter by specific topic area(s) to find state-specific work: 

The Reading League expresses gratitude to our collaborators and associates within the state education agencies for sharing their state-specific data. This data will undergo semi-annual updates, contingent upon the availability and resources of the respective state agencies. For any inquiries, clarifications, or updates, please reach out to compass@thereadingleague.org.