Alaska students still lag far behind other states in test scores

Alaska's scores on national math and reading standardized tests remained about the same or a bit better this year than two years ago, but the state continues to rank below the national average, according to results released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Education.

Otherwise, Alaska's average scores remained relatively stagnant on the nationwide tests, which are given to a random sampling of students every two years.

In Alaska, fourth-grade students scored four points below the national average on the math test, the same as two years ago, using a scale that ranges from 0 to 500. The average score of eighth-grade students in reading slipped below the national average by four points, but stayed about the same as in the past. In eight-grade math, the average score fell one point below the national average and two points below the state's 2013 score.

Nationwide, math scores dropped for the first time in 25 years on the tests administered by the National Center for Education Statistics. For Alaska, the tests are the only common yardstick to see how students in grades 4 and 8 stack up with their Outside peers, said state Department of Education Commissioner Mike Hanley.

"I consider it to be valuable and reliable testing. It's how we compare ourselves to other states," Hanley said. "We are informed by them. There are no repercussions based on the NAEP. It's a nationally mandated test."

Hanley said that it's difficult to pinpoint one thing that drives the state's below-average test scores. But he noted that the state's old academic standards, which were replaced in 2012, didn't set the bar high enough.

This year's tests also again showed massive achievement gaps between Alaska's white and minority students, mimicking a persistent nationwide trend.

In Alaska, Native students in grades 4 and 8 scored more than 40 points less than their white peers on the reading tests. In math, Native students in eighth grade scored 38 points less than white students and in fourth grade they scored 27 points less.

"Unfortunately it's a consistent story that we have and we haven't figured out how to get around it," said Diane Hirshberg, director of the Center for Alaska Education Policy Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

"We have a consistent issue with schools not successfully meeting the needs of, especially, our rural indigenous students," Hirshberg said.

High teacher turnover and inconsistent staffing plague rural schools, she said. Some teachers may have lowered expectations for students in rural schools, too, she said. "Rural and indigenous students can excel, but you need high expectations."

Hirshberg said that people can only glean so much from the test scores because they don't separate Alaska's rural students from urban students and they don't break the results down by school district.

Ron Fuhrer, president of Alaska's largest teachers union, said Wednesday that the standardized tests paint all of Alaska's students with the same brush and only provide information on a small snapshot in time.

"A classroom teacher working one-on-one with a student is the best judge of what that student needs to grow," he said.

The test results do attempt to break down the scores by income level, separating students who qualified for free or reduced-price school lunches from those who do not. Alaska students who did qualify scored between 23 and 32 points less on the tests than their peers who did not qualify.

Hanley said that while the state's moving in the right direction, "We have a long way to go."

"It's not an easy thing to address. How do you address poverty? How do you address opportunities in rural Alaska? How do you infuse that culture that is so critical?" Hanley said. "We have a lot of inherent challenges, but we're still trying to meet those needs."

At a glance: How did Alaska rank among other states and jurisdictions?

• In fourth-grade reading, Alaska ranked lower than 41 states and jurisdictions, higher than one and about the same as nine.

• In eighth-grade reading, Alaska ranked lower than 32 states and jurisdictions, higher than four and about the same as 15.

• In fourth-grade math, Alaska ranked lower than 29 states and jurisdictions, higher than four and about the same as 18.

• In eighth-grade math, Alaska ranked lower than 23 states and jurisdictions, higher than 12 and about the same as 16.