Alaska students’ test scores improved modestly last school year, according to results released Friday by the Department of Education and Early Development. But the gains were small — only about a third of students across the state are testing at grade level in English, math and science.
The test scores come as policymakers debate ways to improve the state’s struggling schools.
"We did have a few grade levels that showed some promising movement, especially in the area of reading in elementary school and then again in eighth grade, in reading and math," state Education Commissioner Deena Bishop said in an interview. "But overall, if we took all grade levels, generally, we were pretty flat."
Bishop said hopes to see improvement in reading scores in the next several years, since early data shows that the Alaska Reads Act is boosting literacy among young students. But the lackluster progress is a sign that public debates about the state’s school system need to move beyond funding, she said.
"Much of our discussions have been on everything other than student learning, and for me, when you do put priority on student learning and what they're supposed to learn and make sure our classrooms and teachers are able to do that, student learning improves," she said.
Earlier this year, lawmakers boosted formula funding for public schools across Alaska by $700 per student. It took overriding vetoes from Gov. Mike Dunleavy to do so. Boosting funding had been the top issue for the largely Democratic bipartisan majorities controlling the state House and Senate.
But it’s not one or the other when it comes to funding and student achievement, said Anchorage Democratic Sen. Löki Tobin, the chair of the state Senate Education Committee.
"She's saying we need to to now focus on student outcomes — as though that wasn't the whole entire focus of that dialog and discussion," Tobin said in an interview.
Despite a funding crunch, she’s glad to see test scores stay roughly flat rather than fall.
And Tobin said she’s optimistic about the future. She said she’s hearing from educators about the ways that the bill lawmakers approved this spring is improving classrooms across the state. A Southeast Alaska principal recently emailed her excited about the school year, she said.
"She's now been able to purchase reading curricula rooted in the science of reading for all grades, and she is excited about deploying it to all grades in her school," Tobin said. "She's hired back teachers. She's been able to reduce class sizes. They have been working with parents on their cellphone policy."
But Tobin said it’s clear there’s more work to be done. She co-chairs a task force looking at a wide variety of possible education policy changes created by the same bill that boosted funding.
Tobin said she’s especially interested in an upcoming presentation on chronic absenteeism.
That’s a focus for Bishop, too. More than 40% of the state’s students missed at least 10% of school last year, she said, with the highest rates of absenteeism among kindergarteners and first-graders. Chronic absenteeism surged during the pandemic, and Alaska has one of the highest rates of absenteeism in the U.S., according to data from the federal Education Department.
Fundamentally, Bishop said, that’s a problem that local leaders are best equipped to solve.
"Really looking at attendance and the research behind it demonstrates that it has to be looked at at the local level," Bishop said. "You have to really see, what is it that's keeping your students from school? Is it the school climate? Is it transportation? Is it the school time?"
But Bishop said there is a role for the state to play — possibly by providing financial incentives encouraging all kinds of improvements.
Lawmakers approved an incentive program in this year’s education bill that rewards districts based on students’ reading performance. But it’s unclear whether Dunleavy will sign a bill taxing out-of-state companies that would provide funding for the incentive program. He has until Oct. 1 to decide.
