History

February 23, 2024

Release of Time to Employment Products

NSWERS releases its fifth outcome suite of products, for Time to Employment, on insights+. These products show how long it takes for Nebraska public school graduates to obtain employment.

February 20, 2024

NSWERS Fourth Advisory Committee Meeting

The fourth NSWERS Advisory Committee meeting was held to review the Dual Enrollment Special Report and the Employment Location Brief.

February 1, 2024
NSWERS 2024 Dual Enrollment Report Cover Page

Public Release of Dual Enrollment Special Report

NSWERS releases its first-ever special report on dual enrollment. This report highlights the differences between students who participate in dual enrollment and those who do not.

December 10, 2023

Release of Postsecondary Persistence Products

NSWERS releases its fourth outcome suite of products, for Postsecondary Persistence, on insights+. These products show which Nebraska public students remain in public postsecondary institutions.

September 18, 2023

Release of High School Graduation Products

NSWERS releases its third outcome suite of products, for High School Graduation, on insights+. These products show data for Nebraska public high school students who graduate in four years or more.

August 29, 2023

NSWERS Third Advisory Committee Meeting

The third NSWERS Advisory Committee meeting was held to review organizational progress to-date and to solicit feedback on the design and development of NSWERS data products.

August 28, 2023

Release of Employment Location Products

NSWERS releases its second outcome suite of products, for Employment Location, on insights+. These products show where Nebraska public students work after formal education.

July 25, 2023

Further Enhanced Data Sharing Agreements

NSWERS secures signed data sharing agreements revised to accommodate v1.2 data collection from each NSWERS partner organization.

June 30, 2023

Release of College Going Products

NSWERS releases its first outcome suite of products, for College Going, on insights+. College Going products show data and analysis for Nebraska public high school graduates who attend a Nebraska public two-year or four-year institution.

June 30, 2023

Launch of insights+

The secure web platform insights+ is released. insights+ allows NSWERS' partners access to cutting-edge data and research products for all of NSWERS Six Stages of Analysis™.

May 12, 2023

Release V1.2.0 Data File Specifications

NSWERS releases version 1.2.0 of its Data File Specs which define and describe the K-12, postsecondary, and workforce data elements collected by the NSWERS data system and define validation rules for data quality.

May 3, 2023

Release of Work Group Summary

NSWERS releases a Work Group Summary document detailing the background, process, key insights, and future options produced by stakeholders during a series of data work group meetings held throughout the fall 2022.

May 2, 2023

NSWERS Second Advisory Committee Meeting

The second NSWERS Advisory Committee meeting was held to review organizational progress to-date and to solicit feedback on the design and development of the insights+ web platform.

April 26, 2023

Introduction of NSWERS insights+

NSWERS staff introduce the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) version of insights+ to the NSWERS Executive Council. Additionally, preliminary analyses for the first of eight NSWERS outcomes – College Going – was unveiled along with its corresponding data products.

Fall 2022

NSWERS Work Groups

Members of two data work groups, the PK-12 Records Linking Work Group and the Workforce Data Work Group, convene to focus on closing the gap between Nebraska’s education and workforce information needs and the availability of data.

June 30, 2022

NSWERS Data Collection, Version 1

This first official (non-POC) NSWERS data collection includes a 10-year tranche of historical student data from academic school years ending 2012-2021. Corresponding employment data for these students is matched (where available) back to 2009 in concert with the NDoL.

June 27, 2022

Enhanced Data Sharing Agreements

NSWERS secures signed data sharing agreements revised to accommodate v1.0 data collection from each NSWERS partner organization (no agreement with Central Community College).

May 26, 2022

NSWERS Information and Research Agenda

The Information and Research Agenda is developed to provide an overview of the information and research questions to be addressed by the NSWERS data system and how data elements will be used for analysis.

May 5, 2022

Release V1.0 Data File Specifications

NSWERS releases version 1 of its Data File Specs which define and describe the K-12, postsecondary, and workforce data elements collected by the NSWERS data system and define validation rules for data quality.

May 4, 2022

Launch of NSWERS Advisory Committee

The purpose of the committee is to make recommendations concerning the strategic direction of NSWERS, provide insight into the information agenda and related data products and services, and to contribute subject-matter expertise for NSWERS’ analytic activities.

April 19, 2022

Legislative Bill 1130: The NSWERS Annual Report

Signed into law by Governor Ricketts, this bill requires the filing of an annual report with the Clerk of the Legislature and the Governor, providing an overview of NSWERS’ research and analysis, additional data needs for future analysis, and organizational structure needs.

Winter-Spring 2022

NSWERS Data and Technology Committee

Data and Technology Committee members from NSWERS’ partner institutions meet to provide input and feedback into the design and implementation of the NSWERS data elements and specifications.

October 27, 2021

Proof-of-Concept Data Viz Release

The Proof-of-Concept (POC) Data Viz presents results of a pilot project (using data from the 2011 Nebraska high school cohort). The project was designed to support the development of policies, processes, procedures, and technologies for data collection and data sharing among NSWERS, its partners, and affiliates.

April 26, 2021

NSWERS Strategic Approach and Plan

The NSWERS Executive Council adopts the two-year Strategic Approach and Plan, a comprehensive set of goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics designed to drive the successful launch of NSWERS.

Spring-Fall 2021

NSWERS Staff Hired

NSWERS develops and implements a two-tiered organization hiring plan for necessary skills. The first tier is complete with the hiring of four professionals to fill core staffing needs.

March 31, 2021

Data Sharing Agreements for Proof-of-Concept

Data sharing agreements are signed to govern the exchange, maintenance, and disclosure of education information among NSWERS and its partners for the proof-of-concept data project.

January 20, 2021

NSWERS – Department of Labor Data Exchange Agreement

As directed by LB 1160, an agreement to exchange data between the Nebraska Department of Labor and NSWERS was signed.

September 1, 2020

NSWERS Leadership Hired

The founding Executive Director is hired to launch NSWERS. The Executive Director is tasked with establishing core operational capacities, building a team of dedicated NSWERS staff, and creating the procedural and technical structures necessary for the creation and maintenance of the NSWERS data system.

August 10, 2020

Legislative Bill 1160: The NSWERS Act

This bill provides legislative direction for the development of NSWERS as a comprehensive, sustainable, and robust lifelong learning and workforce longitudinal data system serving the needs of the people of Nebraska. The bill also directs the Nebraska Department of Labor (NDoL) to execute a memorandum of understanding with NSWERS to ensure the exchange of available data.

Fall 2019

Legal Formation as an Interlocal Entity

The NSWERS partners complete the legal formation of NSWERS as an interlocal public entity under the Nebraska Interlocal Cooperation Act for their mutual advantage regarding data initiatives.

May 8, 2017

NSWERS Proposal to Nebraska Education Leaders

The NSWERS proposal was provided to Nebraska's educational leaders as a roadmap for the organization and governance of NSWERS. The proposal outlined a sample organization and governance processes to manage the use, structure, support, and maintenance of the NSWERS data system to produce reports and research to inform policymakers and educators.

April 21, 2010

Data Sharing Memorandum of Understanding Signed

As directed by LB 1071, an agreement to share student data related to public pre-K, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education was signed by the Nebraska's public education entities (PK-12 and higher education).

April 14, 2010

Legislative Bill 1071: Student Data Sharing Agreement

This bill directs the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State Board of Education, the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges, and the Board of Governors for each community college area (collectively, “NSWERS partners”) to adopt a policy to share student data.

Legislative Bill History

 

LB 1130 (2022)

Legislative Bill 1130 was signed by Governor Pete Ricketts on April 19, 2022. LB 1130 requires the filing of an annual report with the Clerk of the Legislature and the Governor, providing an overview of research and analysis conducted by NSWERS, additional data needs for future analysis, and organizational structure needs.

LB 1160 (2020)

Signed into law by Governor Pete Ricketts on August 10, 2020, Legislative Bill 1160 – known as the Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Education Reporting System Act (2020) – supports the continued planning and development of NSWERS, envisioned as a comprehensive, sustainable, and robust lifelong learning and workforce longitudinal data system serving the needs of the people of Nebraska. Further, the bill directs the Nebraska Department of Labor to execute a memorandum of understanding with NSWERS to ensure the exchange of available data from the Nebraska Department of Labor.

LB 1071 (2010)

NSWERS has its roots in Legislative Bill 1071 enacted by the One Hundred First Legislature, Second Session, signed into law by Governor Dave Heineman on April 14, 2010. This bill directs the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska, the Nebraska State Board of Education, the Board of Trustees of the Nebraska State Colleges, and the Board of Governors for each community college area to adopt a policy to share student data. The resulting Memorandum of Understanding established an agreement “to share student data for the purposes of evaluation of and research related to public prekindergarten, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education to improve education in Nebraska.” 

In the fall of 2019, these partners advanced this cooperation and completed the legal formation of the NSWERS as a joint public entity under the Nebraska Interlocal Cooperation Act for mutual advantage regarding data initiatives.