LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) — While many of Nebraska’s students are out for the Thanksgiving holiday, administrators are digging through their test scores to get a snapshot of how students are performing.
The results are mostly good, according to data released by the Nebraska Department of Education on Wednesday.
As the state works to improve literacy and other scores, this data gives educators a glimpse into what’s working, and who might need a little extra help.
The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System and Accountability Scores, or NSCAS, is a rigorous assessment of the state’s elementary and middle school students.
It tests students in grades three through eighth in English and math and fifth and eighth graders in science.
Science proficiency exceeded expectations, increasing six points over 2024, something Nebraska Commissioner of Education Dr. Brian Maher called “significant.”
In Lincoln Public Schools alone, scores for eighth graders went up more than 12%.
“We believe that work being done to increase high quality learning materials that align to our science standards, coupled with quality classroom instruction, has really helped to support this improvement,” Maher said.
English language arts and math scores remained flat this year, as the DOE pushes towards its goal of increasing third grade proficiency in English language arts to 75% by 2030.
Scores for the state’s juniors taking the ACT slipped slightly from last year, with English scores dropping from 45% to 43% and math and science scores one percentage point each to 41% and 48%, respectively.
Other data shows about 70% of Nebraska counties saw improvements in chronic absenteeism rates, something LPS is still working on, with their rate above 20%.
Maher said nearly 11,000 students took at least one Advanced Placement exam, more than 11% higher than 2024. Student success on those exams increased as well by more than 22%.
Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2025 KOLN. All rights reserved.