This isn't Lake Wobegon, where all the children are above average, but we've lived with the idea that most of the kids in Alaska are at least proficient on standardized tests.
Not anymore.
In what amounts to a startling change for Alaska public schools, new standardized tests taken by 70,000 students last spring present a far more pessimistic portrait about student achievement than we've seen in the past. The tests, taken by students in grades 3 through 10, are more difficult and the scores are lower.
To the extent that this tells families their kids need to work harder and that teachers and schools need to demand more, it's a good thing. A more realistic definition of "proficiency" is long overdue.
This is not so much an indictment of the public schools, as a recognition that a more complex world awaits students after high school. The unending blur of technological and societal change doesn't allow complacency, though we have been slow to adapt.
"The new standards were adopted in order to increase expectations for Alaska's students to be better prepared for career or college after graduation," said Margaret MacKinnon, the director of assessment and accountability for the education department.
Under the old test, about two-thirds of students or more earned "proficient" or "advanced" grades, with the rest in the "below proficient" or "far below proficient" categories.
Under the new test, the situation is just about reversed, with about two-thirds of the students failing to meet some of the standards.
Education experts dispute the use of the word "failing" and say these are new tests on new standards that can't be compared to the old tests. It is impossible to fail or pass this test because the Alaska Measures of Progress is not that kind of exam. And a majority of the students "partially met the new standards" for English and math. In other words, the glass is partially full, not partially empty.
Forget about comparing test scores to those of the past then, but acknowledge that the old system was overrated.
School district superintendents are just now getting a look at the scores for their districts, while principals should see them in about two weeks. Families can expect to see written reports in late November or early December, said Les Morse, deputy education commissioner.
As the results sink in, there will be a fierce debate in Alaska about what skills students need and how to measure progress. Those are perennial topics and rightly so. Questions about the shifting demands of the future are always with us.
The scores will vary by districts and schools as there are many factors that influence academic performance, ranging from the quality of teachers in the classroom to family income to the stability of a student's life at home.
The new untimed tests, with 140 questions in all, rely less on multiple choice and more on analysis and problem solving. The state adopted new standards in 2012 for English and math and the Achievement & Assessment Institute of Kansas is developing the testing system under a five-year state contract worth about $25 million. While the tests will be used to measure academic progress, the exams will not determine whether a student passes.
Alaska superintendents are giving mixed grades to the system so far. Some expressed dismay at the state school board meeting Oct. 9 at which the board approved the minimum scores for each of four achievement levels. Among the biggest complaints: the classroom instruction time diverted to test-taking and the results failing to show which specific education standards have been met or not by students.
"This is an injustice for the whole education system in the state of Alaska," said Dave Herbert, superintendent of the St. Mary's School District on the Yukon River Delta.
Other comments to the board included warnings that the new bar for academic performance has been set too high, but there was also support from those who like the idea of aiming high.
Mike Hanley, the state education commissioner, defended the process of developing the new system, saying that getting test scores to school districts and families is a crucial next step. The work continues and more details will be forthcoming.
Debate continues about the value and the shortcomings of standardized tests and no doubt they can be used to excess. The inability to compare performance in Alaska with schools Outside is one of the weaknesses in this system, but there are other tests that can serve that purpose.
As for our old test system, don't mourn its passing. For many years, scores on the Standards Based Assessment communicated a false message to students, families and schools about the level of academic achievement in Alaska. The system failed because it defined "proficiency" at a low level.
It was linked to the misguided federal No Child Left Behind law, which had the impossible goal of making every student in America "proficient" by 2014, an achievement even beyond the reach of Lake Wobegon.
Alaska scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a national test for students in grades 4 and 8, have long showed about one-third of children in Alaska scored at the "proficient" level or above. The average Alaska scores have been somewhat below the national results.
Hanley said the new state test will allow Alaskans to compare the results among schools and provide parents, students and teachers with vital information, as grades alone, which come with a high degree of subjectivity, do not give a complete picture on achievement.
"We've had valedictorians from some districts that have qualified for the scholars' program and gotten scholarships to the university, but had to take 100 percent remedial courses. Some of them never finished more than Algebra 1 in math," Hanley said.
The work to set the minimum achievement scores drew upon the combined talents of 128 teachers and other educators from across the state who reviewed the materials during the summer. They studied the difficulty of the questions and offered opinions on which ones students should be able to answer at the four achievement levels, proposing scores for each level.
It was only after two rounds of setting cutoff levels that they received the details on what percentage of students would be placed at each achievement level, based on the spring 2015 performance, under their tentative plans. More review and analysis followed by the group and by the education department.
The achievement levels are not attached to terms like "proficient," as was the case with the old test system. Instead, students will attain levels numbered 1 through 4, with the first two representing students who did not meet all the standards.
"Level 1 and Level 2 do not represent failure by students or teachers," the state Department of Education and Early Development said in a 2014 summary.
"We are asking students to meet higher expectations. This can't be achieved overnight," it said. "The standards are higher than before, and the tests require higher-order thinking. Over time, as students and teachers work with the standards, scores should rise."
That will be the ultimate test.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.