New Alaska Student Learning Assessment To Begin Fall 2021Posted & Edited By MARY KAUFFMAN
June 13, 2021
The new assessment will replace the current PEAKS English language arts and math summative assessments for 3rd through 9th grade students. Included in the innovative assessment system developed in collaboration with NWEA will be interim assessments and other culturally relevant resources to influence future instruction, improve student outcomes, support teachers, and inform parents. The Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA) and the Alaska Superintendents Association (ASA) have worked for the past several years with the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) to improve the usefulness of the assessments given to Alaska’s students. The effort to provide innovative meaningful assessment has been centered on the need to make the most of English Language Arts and Math testing for students, educators, and families. The new statewide assessment, announced yesterday by DEED, replaces the current PEAKS English language arts and math summative assessments for 3rd through 9th grade, beginning this fall. The system was developed in collaboration with NWEA a not-for-profit, research-based assessment developer. It includes interim assessments and other culturally relevant resources to influence future instruction, improve student outcomes, support teachers, and inform parents. “We are excited for this announcement!” said Dr. Lisa S. Parady, Executive Director of ACSA. “Everyone involved with the statewide assessment has recognized its shortcomings, but it has taken a sustained effort to develop a better tool. We commend DEED Commissioner Johnson for his leadership and taking the time to get it right. The key to better assessment is to better reflect learning throughout the school year, so that teachers can then tailor instruction to students’ individual needs and parents and guardians can better understand their students’ progress. We are moving in the right direction for Alaska.” Kerry Boyd, Superintendent of the Yukon-Koyukuk School District and President of ACSA/ASA, noted that “We will work closely with DEED, NWEA and educators across the state to support the implementation of the new assessment system across Alaska to empower families and educators to plan for each child's needs. We look forward to using this new tool to drive instruction and better support our students, teachers and communities.” The department says the new system will reduce the number of standardized tests for most students in Alaska and will provide teachers immediate results from interim tests. Next steps include developing an assessment implementation plan and additional resources. ACSA and our members look forward to being closely involved in implementation working with DEED and NWEA, and in providing professional training to support educators with the new system in order to best support our students in Alaska. According to the Alaska Department of Education, forty-nine of Alaska’s 54 school districts already administer NWEA’s MAP Growth assessments three times throughout the school year in addition to the state-required PEAKS assessment. Alaska’s new assessment system is said will streamline the testing experience for students, families, teachers, and administrators by consolidating assessment and reporting to one platform. Once fully implemented, the new assessment system will reduce the number of standardized tests for most students in Alaska and will provide teachers immediate results from interim tests. “We must answer essential questions for every student about their learning. An effective assessment system is essential for student success and educational effectiveness,” DEED Commissioner Michael Johnson said. Johnson said, “Alaska’s innovative assessment will provide parents and teachers with valuable information to adapt instruction to meet the needs of individual students and help ensure the most appropriate and effective learning opportunities possible. In addition, the interim assessments will provide parents with information they need to feel confident their students are learning and progressing.” “Actionable data on where students are at and what they are ready to learn next is critical to teachers, especially in the post-COVID era, and so is a systems-level view for educational leaders and policymakers seeking to support Alaska’s families and schools,” said Jason Mendenhall, President of State Solutions at NWEA. “We are excited to partner with Alaska to increase the connection across assessments serving both of these critical needs so that collective impact on student learning outcomes is maximized.” Alaska school districts will administer MAP Growth interim assessments in the fall and winter to measure student performance independent of grade level. In the spring, they will administer a summative test that produces not only summative proficiency scores for accountability, but also MAP Growth scores, so districts can measure fall-to-spring academic growth without administering MAP Growth in the spring. According to NWEA, the Alaska Innovative Assessment System will:
The Alaska Department of Education stated in a news release, the department will be working with teachers, administrators, tribes, partner organizations, and families to develop an assessment implementation plan and additional resources to support an excellent education for every student every day. A new webpage with additional information regarding the new assessments and contact information will be available at education.alaska.gov. Alaska schools will begin using the new assessment system starting in fall of 2021.
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