New student progress reports were released from the state Department of Education and Early Development Tuesday.
Superintendent Sean Dusek said in a press release Tuesday that the majority of the district’s schools were doing very well.
“While every school is working hard to improve, we have some schools that will develop plans to address specific areas identified through their designation,” Dusek said. “I appreciate the efforts of our staff in ensuring high student academic achievement and the attitude of continuous improvement. We look forward to next year’s results as we expect even more student learning growth.”
The rating system is new and replaces the Alaska State Performance Index, which used a star system of rating. The new ranking, called System for School Success Reports, is a federal requirement of the Every Student Succeeds Act. Each school in the state is ranked on a 100-point scale based on student growth and proficiency in state assessments, chronic absenteeism, high school graduation and student growth in learning English for students who are enrolled as English Language Learners. Every year each school will receive an index score.
The average index score for schools on the peninsula was 54.12. Aurora Borealis Charter School in Kenai is the highest rated at 93.48 and the lowest rating of 18.9 is at Nanwalek School. Nearby school districts had similar ratings with the average school in the Anchorage School District ranking 54.63 and the average school in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District at 55.72.
Elementary, middle and high schools have different focus areas when it comes to scoring. Each school is given a designation, including comprehensive support and improvement, targeted support and improvement and universal support.
“The primary purpose of these school designations is to provide information for families, tribes, communities, educators, and policymakers to plan and support an equitable education for each student in Alaska’s public school system,” Alaska Education Commissioner Dr. Michael Johnson said in a Tuesday press release.
Find individual school rankings at education.alaska.gov.
