First Five Nebraska is an initiative of Early Futures Partnership
First Five Nebraska is an initiative of Early Futures Partnership
Children who cannot read proficiently by the end of third grade face a daunting roadblock to their future education and professional success. Deficits in reading skills start much earlier than third grade. By getting ahead of the problem before children even start school, we can greatly mitigate the costs of assessment and intervention later in the K-12 system.
Nebraska senators introduced nearly 700 bills in the first 10 days of the current legislative session. Of those, we’ve identified six as priority bills and 90 others that have the potential to impact the earliest years of a child’s life.
For over 40 years I have researched the origins and development of dyslexia in children beginning with newborn infants and following them through age 13. Our work has shown the clear impacts of speech discrimination skills at birth on the development of language at ages 3 and 5, and subsequent impacts on reading skills at age 8.
Earlier this month, members of the Nebraska Legislature once again began their important work at the state Capitol.We have identified several bills with potential to affect early childhood and designated them as priorities this legislative session.
The Nebraska Legislature convened the first session of the 105th Legislature yesterday. Senator Jim Scheer was elected Speaker, replacing Senator Galen Hadley whose term ended in December due to term limits.
Senator Kathy Campbell continues our blog series by term-limited senators looking back over their eight years in the Nebraska Legislature. Thank you for your service to Nebraska Senator Campbell.
Falls City, Kearney, North Platte, Chadron, Sidney and Gering receive new Sixpence grants to create School-Child Care Partnerships that will serve nearly 600 infants and toddlers, more than half are at risk of arriving at school prepared to learn.
Senator Deb Fischer (R-NE) has reintroduced the Strong Families Act that would offer employers incentives to voluntarily provide paid family or medical leave to their employees.
LB773 was introduced to create the Early Childhood Workforce Development Task Force. Rather than have the bill advance this session, a strategic decision was made to work collaboratively with Governor Pete Ricketts' new Education and Workforce Roundtable to identify issues and solutions impacting students' in the early childhood-to-workforce pipeline.
Our nation’s new education law, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), was signed into law in December 2015. The law, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, seeks to improve opportunities and outcomes for students.