Alaska should decide what educational accountability really means

Among the borough's list of legislative priorities for the coming year is a request for clearer testing expectations for students enrolled in public correspondence programs, including the possibility of tying eligibility for student allotments to participation in AK STAR, the statewide assessment of English language arts and mathematics in grades 3 through 9. There's a reasonable argument behind the proposal. Alaska's correspondence schools occupy a somewhat unusual place in public education. Although students generally learn at home and are often described as homeschooled, they are enrolled in public-school programs operated by school districts. That distinguishes them from independently homeschooled students whose families are not affiliated with a public correspondence program. Families enrolled in correspondence programs can receive student allotments that pay for books, classes, supplies, tutoring, technology and other educational expenses. That distinction is important because it is the use of public money, not the fact that a child is educated at home, that gives the public a legitimate interest in knowing whether students receiving that support are making adequate educational progress. There is also a genuine information gap. State and district records show that only about 13% of Alaska's public correspondence students participate in state assessments. Locally, participation is similarly low: Only about 17% of eligible students at Fairbanks B.E.S.T. — the district's public correspondence program — participated in AK STAR during the 2024-25 school year. By comparison, roughly 80% of all eligible public school students statewide took the assessment. Those numbers make it difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about how correspondence students are doing. The proposed solution, however, raises another question of fairness. Alaska law specifically requires school districts to allow parents to withdraw their children from state-mandated standardized assessments. A parent whose child attends a neighborhood public school can therefore decline AK STAR without losing access to that child's public education. Conditioning a correspondence allotment on testing would effectively penalize a family for exercising a right that other families are free to exercise without consequence. That doesn't mean correspondence programs should be exempt from accountability, but it does mean that lawmakers should first decide what information they need and whether AK STAR is the best way to obtain it. The question becomes more important when we look beyond homeschooling. In 2024-25, only about 33% of Alaska students tested proficient or advanced in English language arts, with a similarly low percentage in mathematics. As classrooms become increasingly digital, there is growing concern and research surrounding the effects of screen-based learning on sustained reading and students' ability to comprehend, absorb, synthesize and summarize large amounts of written information. That raises a larger question than whether correspondence students should take another standardized test: Are we adequately teaching and measuring the skills children will need to think critically and independently in an increasingly fragmented, technology-driven information environment? That is not an argument for removing computers from classrooms. Students plainly need to know how to navigate a digital world. It is an argument, however, for looking more closely at how technology may be changing the way children read, learn and think. The ability to locate information quickly is valuable, but so are the abilities to remain with a difficult text, follow an argument over several pages, distinguish evidence from assertion, synthesize competing ideas and arrive at an independent conclusion. Those are difficult things to capture on any standardized test. The Assembly has raised a worthwhile question, and the Legislature should take it seriously. Public education dollars should come with reasonable expectations of educational progress, regardless of whether a student learns in a classroom or at a kitchen table. Accountability, however, should be more meaningful than simply requiring another test. Before the Legislature reaches for a testing mandate, Alaska should take a harder look at what educational accountability ought to mean and what a well-educated student should actually be able to do. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. If you're interested in submitting a Letter to the Editor, click here. The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574. Community Perspective Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer. Letters to the editor Send letters to the editor by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707), by fax (907-452-7917) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Writers are limited to one letter every two weeks (14 days.) All letters must contain no more than 350 words and include a full name (no abbreviation), daytime and evening phone numbers and physical address. (If no phone, then provide a mailing address or email address.) The Daily News-Miner reserves the right to edit or reject letters without consulting the writer. Sorry, there are no recent results for popular collections. Let us know what you're seeing and hearing around the community.