Mission Statement The mission of the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy is to increase student achievement by affecting quality staff development and substitute teacher performance through the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy. The Goals of the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy 1. Increase the pool of quality substitutes in Northeast Nebraska. 2. Build a consortium that will self-sustain after the grant’s depleted. 3. Insure that quality instruction continues when substitutes are present via a formalized, consistent planning framework for substitutes. 4. Raise the level of student expectation regarding learning when a substitute teacher is present.   5.    Increase retention of first, second and third year teachers by raising entry level teacher confidence and competence.	Impact on Student Learning and Staff Development  The target audience for this proposal is the 8,000 K-12 students who attend school in one of the 10 northeast Nebraska districts that have come together to create the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy (NENTA). This project will positively impact their academic achievement by 1) facilitating excellent staff development opportunities linked to district strategic school improvement plans, and 2) by significantly improving the quality of instruction provided on days when substitute teachers are used. The ten districts have entered into a partnership with ESU # 1 and Wayne State College to create NENTA. This academy will oversee the selection and training of 60-65 teacher education majors who will then be available to substitute teach in any of the 30 school buildings operated by the 10 collaborating school districts. The teacher education students selected to participate in the project will possess qualifications that far exceed the current criteria for a local substitute certificate. For example, NENTA students will have accumulated over 60 credit hours, but at a 3.3 grade point average or better. And they will have completed sophomore field experiences as well as four professional education courses. The selected college students will benefit from targeted APL training, Mentor Teachers identified in each of the 50 school buildings, and a regular one-hour per week NENTA Seminar facilitated by Wayne State College Faculty and Mentor Teachers from participating districts.
Origin of the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy Fourteen school districts in northeast Nebraska have teamed with ESU # 1 and Wayne State College to create the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy (NENTA), an entity that will insert 70-85 qualified teachers into the northeast Nebraska substitute teacher market for a potential total of  3200-5200 substitute days per school year. This, in turn. will enable the nineteen districts to take full advantage of staff development  opportunities since capable, qualified substitutes will then be readily available. Additionally, the quality of substitute instruction in each of the participating districts will be significantly improved by consistent useof lesson plan formats from one district to another, by staff development  activities directed at substitute teaching performance, and by the substitute mentoring efforts that are built into the project. Further, the NENTA substitutes will enhance their own professional progression toward full certification through the project's concerted training and support activities.	Goal:  Improve Student Learning  The creation and operation of NENTA will result in thousands of northeast Nebraska students receiving improved instruction from their regular teachers who can more readily avail themselves of staff development opportunities, and also from a new pool of highly-trained, qualified substitute teachers who can facilitate on-going instruction in the absence of the regular teacher . Funding for the Project This three-year project is funded by an Excellence in Education Grant: Education Innovation Fund for $299,900 from the Nebraska Department of Education.  After the third year, the NENTA will become self-funded. School District Partners The following school districts are partners in the NENTA Consortium: Laurel-Concord, Winside, Wayne, Coleridge, Allen, Ponca, Wakefield, South Sioux City, Homer and Leigh.
Student Participant Profile Every student participating in the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy was selected to participate based on the following criteria: 1.  The student met ALL the criteria for the State of Nebraska Local Substitute Teacher certificate. 2   In addition, the student has completed all the criteria for Gateway Two in the Wayne State College Professional Progress Benchmarks.  That criteria includes:       a.  Successful Field Experience from Introduction to Professional            Education;      b.  Positive recommendations from all field experience cooperating           teachers;      c.  Successfully completing the PPST requirements for Standard            Teacher Certification.      d. Positive recommendations from the School of Education           Foundations faculty;       e. Positive recommendation from the faculty in Endorsement Area.       f.  Maintaining a 3.3 Education; Endorsement and Overall GPAs; 3.  NENTA Substitute Teachers hold a Nebraska Local Substitute Certificate connected to the 10 school district consortium and Wayne State College School of Education and Counseling. 4.  The student has distinguished themself as an emergent professional in Teacher Education through:           a.  Outstanding class attendance;           b.  Outstanding class participation;           c.  Attentive to professional grooming habits;           d. Commitment to punctuality;           e.  Assuming and seeking responsibility;           f.  Completion of assignments in a competent and timely manner;           g. Compliant with ALL OTHER REQUIREMENTS for a State of                Nebraska Local  Substitute Teaching Certificate; 5.  NENTA Subs have received 5 full days of training by APL        Associates of New York. 6.  NENTA Subs received 2 full days of training by the NENTA        Project Coordinators. 7.  NENTA Subs attend a one-hour weekly Seminar for continuing        education/enrichment  using school practitioners and        administrators, seminar leaders and project  coordinators.	Prologue for Education Students participating in the Teacher Education Program in the Wayne State College School of Education and Counseling must comply with the guidelines described in the Prologue for Education.   Code of Ethics for Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy The following Code of Ethics for the Northeast Nebraska Teacher Academy was adapted from the State of Nebraska Department of Education Code of Ethics for Teachers. Code of Ethics for NENTA   Email to NENTA Staff: Sandra Driskell, Coordinator: sadrisk1@.wsc.edu Dr. Tim Sharer, Director:  tishare1@wsc.edu         NENTA Seminar Syllabus
APL Associates Level One Instructional Objectives from Training Seminars  Day One List and Describe the 5 Basic Instructional Strategies.           Describe On-the-Clock.           Define Checking for Understanding.           Define Wait-Time and Wait-Time Extended.           Define Knowledge of Results and List the:                     1. Three Forms                     2. Two Criteria Describe Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation. Define Success. State the 4 Basic Learner Outcomes as a Result of the Application of                                Instructional Skills. Describe the Classroom Success Ladder. Describe the Heart of an Instructional Objective. State the 2 Basic Questions to Answer When Creating an Instructional Objective. Tell the 3 Criteria for an Anticipatory Set. State When to Use an Anticipatory Set. Describe the Key Characteristics of Closure. State When to Use Closure.              Day Two Describe Covert and Overt Active Participation. Share Both the Relationship and Sequence of Covert and Overt Active       Participation. List and Describe the Steps of the Interaction Sequence. Share the 6 Guidelines in Student Behavior Management. State and the Describe the 5 Components in the Process that will Result       in Successful Behavior Management (5 Steps to Get Kids Ready: If       You Want It - Teach It.). Describe a Process for Sharing Instructional Outcomes. Identify and Label the Instructional Skills Evident in the Model Lesson. Day Three Describe Time Management Guidelines and Strategies. State the Steps in the Process Designed to Break the Procrastination Cycle.  Describe the Components of Monitoring Map Process. Describe the Hit-Run/Push-Pull Strategy. Identify and Label Instructional Skills from the Teaching Episodes. Describe the Physical Characteristics in a Classroom that Impact Instruction. State the Guidelines for the Exit Option.	APL Associates Level One Instructional Objectives from Training Seminars Day Four Give Examples of Pleasant and Unpleasant Feeling Tone. Describe Factors that Impart Student Anxiety. Describe 3 Types of Reinforcers. Label Instructional Skills Evident in the Teaching Episodes. Share the Two Forms and the Two Criteria for Knowledge of Results. Describe the 10-2 Concept (Serial Positioning). Describe the 3 Step Maximum Concept. Describe Chaining. Day Five Define Practice Describe the Forgetting Curve Describe Base Groups as Part of Practice. Define Bell Ringer. State the Quantity Time Guidelines in Practice and Homework. Describe the One-Two-One (1-2-1) Process of Assigning Homework. Describe the Homework Guidelines Plus One. Identify and Label Instructional Strategies from Teaching Episodes. Describe the Two Modeling Options List and Explain the Rules of Interest

Mentor Teacher/Building Coordinator/Classroom Teacher Training Notes for the Use of NENTA Substitutes.