New test scores show Alaska students fall short in English, math

Alaska Education Commissioner Mike Hanley discusses the AMP results in Anchorage. (Photo by Ellen Lockyer/KSKA)
Alaska Education Commissioner Mike Hanley discusses the AMP test results in Anchorage. (Photo by Ellen Lockyer/KSKA)

Results of the new Alaska Measures of Progress standardized tests were released Monday in Anchorage.

General statewide results from the spring 2015 tests show that less than half the students tested meet proficiency standards in English language arts, and between 21 and 41 percent achieve proficiency in mathematics. Education Commissioner Mike Hanley said that in some school districts, 60 percent of students met the higher level results.

Hanley said that although the results show room for improvement, they also show that the education department has raised the bar to make the tests more difficult.

“If you look at Level 2, it says students may have gaps in knowledge,and skills, but still are capable of most grade level content,” Hanley said. “We felt that these terms of meeting standards and partially meeting standards really accurately reflected where students were. Previously we used terms like ‘proficient’ and ‘not proficient.’ Well, if you are not proficient, it seems like you didn’t get over this bar, you were not close, you didn’t make it. This recognizes that students are operating at grade level, have most of the standards under their belt, but may have some gaps they need to address.”

Hanley said he is excited about the data gained from the first AMP. Hanley said results will be baseline data for assessing the results of tougher state education standards.

“This is the new era, a new baseline, a new test. It is significantly different, the expectations are significantly different,” Hanley said.

The AMP tests are given to grades 3 through 10. Students score in four levels, from low to high. Students scoring in Level 3 and 4 are meeting the new standards, while students scoring in the first two levels only partially meet them.

Hanley said the new AMP scores are not comparable to the old standards, because the new tests are more difficult and use a different type of scoring. A breakdown of scores by grade and by school district is available on the department of education webpage.

Parents can expect student-level reports later this month.

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