Kick-Off Committee Meeting

Dena’ina Civic & Convention CenterApril 20, 2017

#akedchallenge

Alaska’s Education Challenge:Current Context and Public Survey

Brian Laurent, Data Management SupervisorAlaska Department of Education & Early Development

Thursday, April 20, 2017

Introduction• DEED’s Data Management

Supervisor since Sept. 2013• Oversight of data collections,

accountability implementation, and assessment reporting

• 10 years in Alaska (Juneau and Dillingham)

3

Agenda

• About Alaska’s Schools• The need for Alaska’s Education Challenge• Survey of Alaskans – topics for committees

4

About Alaska Schools – The Basics

• 53 school districts plus Mount Edgecumbe High School• 507 operational schools in 2016-2017• Almost 130,000 K-12 students on 10/1/2016• Majority-minority student population• 8,109 graduates during the 2015-2016 school year• The public school system includes traditional,

alternative, charter, correspondence, and residential boarding schools.

• On 10/1/2016, 9.4 percent of all K-12 students were enrolled in public correspondence schools.

5

Alaska K‐12 District‐Level Enrollment as of October 1, 2016

10 25 36 59 70 93 93 109

117

118

127

166

184

203

217

244

265

274

287

301

305

313

337

340

378

387

396

432

444

458

467

474

537

577

636

683

801

866

1,07

41,

316

1,68

21,

767

1,88

11,

969

2,00

32,

287

2,38

64,

109

4,22

04,

716

8,87

813

,644

18,7

2147

,488

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

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Enrollment as of October 1, 2016“Big 5” Districts vs. Non‐“Big 5”

36.5%

14.4%10.5%

6.8%

3.6%

28.1%

Anchorage Matanuska-Susitna Fairbanks North Star Kenai Peninsula Juneau All Other Districts

The system is working for some students…

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… but the system is not working for allstudents

9

What is PISA?

• The Programme for International Student Assessment is administered every three years “to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students”

• Approximately 540,000 students completed the assessment in 2015

• 72 participating countries and economies (two countries excluded from rankings)

• The major domain in 2015 was science 10

PISA website: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa

2015 PISA StatisticsScience Reading Math

U.S. overallrank 25 24 40

U.S. averagescore: 2015

vs. 2012

Not measurably

different

Not measurably

differentLower

Education systemsscoring

similarly to the U.S.

Norway,Austria, France

Portugal, UK, Chinese

Taipei, Spain

SlovakRepublic,

Israel, Croatia

What is NAEP?

• National Assessment of Educational Progress• Administered every other year to a representative

sample of students in grades 4 and 8• “…built from a content framework that specifies

what students should know and be able to do in a given grade.”

• State-level results only• 2017 NAEP window: January 30-March 10• Transitioned to a digitally based assessment 12

NAEP website: https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/

2015 NAEP Grade 4 ReadingAverage Scale Score by State

213

221

190

200

210

220

230

240

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Note: Alaska ranked 49th out of 52 jurisdictions.

2015 NAEP Grade 8 ReadingAverage Scale Score by State

260264

230

240

250

260

270

280

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Note: Alaska ranked 42nd out of 52 jurisdictions.

2015 NAEP Grade 4 MathematicsAverage Scale Score by State

236240

210

220

230

240

250

260

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Note: Alaska ranked 42nd out of 52 jurisdictions.

2015 NAEP Grade 8 MathematicsAverage Scale Score by State

280281

250

260

270

280

290

300

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Note: Alaska ranked 33rd out of 52 jurisdictions.

Statewide Standards and Assessments

• 2005-2014: Standards Based Assessments (SBAs)• 2012: State Board adopted more rigorous English

Language Arts (ELA) and Math standards• 2015: Alaska Measures of Progress (AMP)

• First computer-based summative assessment in Alaska• Comparisons between SBAs and AMP are NOT possible

• 2016: No assessment data available• 2017: Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools

(PEAKS) 17

SBA Results by Content Area: Statewide, All Students

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Reading % Proficient Writing % Proficient Math % Proficient

AMP English Language Arts Results:Statewide, All Students, 2015

35.4%40.0% 42.2%

37.5%

30.0% 31.2% 32.9%28.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10

AMP Mathematics Results:Statewide, All Students, 2015

40.5% 38.8%34.6% 31.9% 29.7%

25.8% 26.3%20.2%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5 Grade 6 Grade 7 Grade 8 Grade 9 Grade 10

Teacher New Hires

• About 8,000 teachers each year• In 2016-2017, 10.5 percent were new hires

• New Hire = Any teacher designated by the district as new to the district.

• Big 5 districts all had New Hire percentages of less than 10 percent

• 30 districts had New Hire rates of at least 20 percent

21

Percentage of Chronically AbsentStudents by School, 2015‐2016

22

Statewide rate = 26.4%

Note: Chronically Absent is defined as any student who was absent from school for at least 10 percent of the school days in which the student was enrolled.

147

202

67

346

<20%

≥20% and <40%

≥40% and <60%

≥60% and <80%

≥80%

Four‐Year Graduation Rate:Statewide by Subgroup

76.1%

53.9%54.7%

68.4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016

All Students Students with Disabilities English Learners Economically Disadvantaged

Shifts in Graduation Requirements

• July 1, 2014• Repeal of the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination

(HSGQE) requirement is effective (HB 278)• Beginning of College/Career-Ready Assessment (CCRA)

graduation requirement• ACT• SAT• WorkKeys

• June 30, 2016• Repeal of CCRA graduation requirement is effective (HB 44)

• Now• Students must meet all local requirements to receive a

diploma24

Final Notes about Data

• Subpar U.S. performance compared to other countries

• Low/subpar Alaska performance compared to other states

• One in three students met the standards on AMP• One in 10 teachers is new to the district• One in four students is chronically absent• Graduation rate below national average, even with

shift in graduation requirements 25

Survey of Alaskans

• First step in Alaska’s Education Challenge• Open throughout February• Survey participants were asked to provide their

ideas for topics to be discussed by the committees• Up to five ideas per committee (up to 25 total)• Anonymous• Respondents were asked to provide their role and

home community26

Survey Responses

• 1,383 respondents• 18,575 ideas for topics• 109 communities represented• Responses were coded into one or more of 47

broad categories• Education Northwest provided support for the coding of

responses into broad categories

27

Where do the respondents reside?

Note: Out of 1,383 respondents, 1,142 provided their home community.

28

Who responded to the survey?

38.1%

24.2%

8.1%

4.5%

3.6%

2.8%

2.3%1.9%

14.6%

Educator

Parent/guardian

Other district/school employee

Retired

Grandparent

Principal

Business/private sector

Higher education

Other

Note: Out of 1,383 respondents, 1,142 provided their role.

29

What did the respondents say?Student Learning Committee

30

Improvements in buildings need more

state funding.

Permanent funding

situation instead of year by year

funding.

Make educational

funding a priority for AK.

What did the respondents say?Educator Excellence Committee

31

Provide professional development

funding to Pre-K teacher

assistants.

Teachers attend professional

development to take back skills to

use in the classroom

immediately.

What did the respondents say?Modernization and Finance Committee

32

Leverage --eliminate

textbooks. Transition to fully digital.

Have master teachers mentor newer teachers

by distance delivery.

In a fiscal crisis, this seems unrealistic. Technology costs money and we don't have it.

What did the respondents say?Tribal and Community Ownership Committee

33

Having elders mentor in

classrooms on a regular basis.

Allow for flexibility and local control in all situations, with

enforceable accountability.

What did the respondents say?Safety and Well‐Being Committee

34

Understand drugs and

bullying are a problem.

Adopt trauma-informed

approaches to discipline and

education alike.

Every school needs a nurse. They provide

another person to talk to.

Final Notes about the Survey

• Statewide representation• Over half of respondents identified as either an

educator or parent/guardian• Topic overlap between committees• Topics are broad enough to include a wide range of

responses (e.g. for and against)• How do the survey responses lead to

transformational change to the educational system? 35

In closing…

• The need for systemic change is apparent.• What does systemic change look like in a state as

diverse as Alaska?• How can data inform transformational changes to

Alaska’s public education system?

36