By Tyler Dahlgren

Get SET Nebraska, a collaborative effort between the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools (CYFS), and ESU 13, was born from unique collaboration. 

And that’s exactly how the statewide mentorship and professional development program designed to retain special education teachers and support school administrators will live on. 

Back in October, we told you their story. “Making a Mentor” was the headline, and the passion of the people behind it was the heart. At that time, the team was preparing for the unknown while searching for continued funding. They built a sustainability team consisting of Special Education directors, Educational Service Unit (ESU) staff, NDE and NeMTSS staff.

“We had a lot of different people that were giving us visions of what they would like to see and how they could potentially help us get there,” said Project Manager Dr. Pam Brezenski. “We asked them for their vision. We wanted to know, ‘How do we keep Get SET alive?’”

The answer came in the form of three primary goals that are currently being checked off the list. The most significant shift is the program's new permanent home. While it was born out of research and regional collaboration, Get SET is officially moving its resources and digital presence to the NDE Office of Special Education (OSE) website.

“It will live on,” Brezenski said. “By shifting the program over to the NDE website, we ensure that every district in Nebraska, from the largest metro schools to the most rural districts in the Panhandle, has continued, free access to these toolkits.”

The "why" behind Get SET is easy to see, especially in the eyes of a supported first-year teacher. The "how", on the other hand, is rooted in rigorous data. Dr. Amanda Witte, a research associate professor at UNL, has spent years testing the Get SET model. The results, she says, have been overwhelmingly positive.

“The idea was always to use these five years to develop and test the program, and we’ve successfully done that,” Witte said. “We’ve found it to be a super successful tool, and now the plan is to release it far and wide.”

A key part of that release involves a sophisticated shift in how Nebraska tracks its teachers. The team has integrated Get SET’s data collection with the NDE’s existing data systems, allowing districts to use the Nebraska Education Profile (NEP) data visualization tools to see a direct correlation between their mentorship efforts and teacher retention.

Dr. Micki Charf, the Assistant State Director and Assistant Administrator at the NDE Office of Special Education, said this is a vital service for districts navigating the ongoing educator shortage. 

“Each district in Nebraska is unique,” Charf continued. “Some have the human capital to build their own induction programs, while others simply can’t. By keeping these materials accessible and free, we are fulfilling that need. We want districts to look at their NEP data and see if their inputs, like using Get SET, are impacting their outputs, which is keeping those amazing teachers in the classroom.”

The data points are revealing, and the word of mouth effect has been as powerful a tool as anything. Brezenski has shared Get SET Nebraska’s plight at several conferences this year, and despite being in the final stages of the grant, interest is actually growing.

“It’s kind of like it’s catching fire now,” Brezenski said. “We already have seven to eight schools signed up for next year before we’ve even started the main recruiting push. I think it’s because we’ve communicated that this isn't a rigid, one-size-fits-all mandate. It’s adaptable.”

The Get SET toolkit is designed to be layered onto existing district initiatives, rather than replacing them. This plug-and-play strategy has turned early adopters into lifelong champions.

“The greatest compliment we receive is when people tell us how easy it was to implement into their current program,” said Brezenski. “I recently heard from an educator who told me, ‘Oh yeah, I was even using parts of it this year. This stuff is amazing.’”

As the team prepares for the future, they are focused on the “Keep the Flame Alive” webinar on April 22nd. The four-hour session is designed to train a new cohort of 22 individuals from various organizational structures who will act as regional ambassadors for Get SET. Those are Get SET’s champions, and the goal is to ensure that even after the grant funding ends, the knowledge remains localized.

“We want to get them fired up,” Witte said. “We want to make sure they have a good handle on what the program contains so they can help folks in their districts identify who might be a good fit and provide continued guidance.”

Understanding the busy schedules kept by administrators and educators in general, the Get SET team has prepared what they call “turnkey” resources. They’ve built a comprehensive packet of email templates, flyers, and connectivity tools so that regional leaders don't have to reinvent the wheel.

“We know they don’t have a lot of time,” Brezenski added. “We’ve put it all in a package they can just tweak and send. It gives them every resource they could possibly need to reach out to people.”

The original story of Get SET Nebraska was one of collaboration, an alignment of a state agency, the state’s flagship university, and an ESU from The Panhandle. As the program enters its next chapter, that collaboration has expanded to include the teachers and administrators who used the program and refused to let it fade away.

By April 20, the registration for the upcoming webinar will close, marking the beginning of a new phase. The flame the team has fought so hard to keep alive will be passed to local leaders across the state.

For the special education teachers who will enter Nebraska classrooms this coming August, they hope to make the path a little smoother, the slope a little less steep, and the support system a little stronger.

There’s a future for Get SET Nebraska, and it’s bright. The program will live on, thanks to a group of dedicated Nebraskans who decided that "Making a Mentor" was worth every single ounce of their collective efforts. And then some.

For more information on Get SET Nebraska's "Keep the Flame Alive" webinar, click here!