Standards FAQs

Alaska proposes new standards for English language arts and mathematics in the public schools

Speak out about Alaska’s student standards

The State Board of Education & Early Development welcomes your comments on proposed new standards in English language arts and mathematics for public school students.

All public comments will go to the State Board for their consideration. The State Board, which has the authority to adopt state standards, is scheduled to decide the issue in June 2012. The State Board could choose to adopt the standards as proposed, adopt them with changes, or not adopt them.

If the new standards are adopted in June 2012, the state will work with school districts to align their curriculum to the new standards. The department expects that students would first be assessed in the new standards in spring 2016.

Why are new standards being proposed?

The new standards would guide the education of students from kindergarten through grade 12 so that Alaska’s high school graduates are ready for postsecondary education, career training and the workplace. Alaska’s current standards do not reach this goal for two main reasons: they stop at grade 10, and they are not rigorous enough.

Currently, many Alaska’s high school graduates who enter bachelor degree programs at the University of Alaska need remedial courses in English and/or mathematics. Those students are more likely to drop out of college. Employers also say high school graduates are not fully prepared for the workplace. Only about a third of Alaska students score proficient or above on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a rigorous test in English and math given to large samples of fourth-graders and eighth-graders in each state.

Alaska’s high school graduates must be prepared to compete for jobs, even within Alaska, with people from across the United States and the globe. The proposed standards would increase our students’ skills in academic English and mathematics. These skills are important in business, industry, government, and science and technology.

Briefly, how do the proposed standards differ from current standards?

The proposed standards for English language arts cover reading, writing, vocabulary, and speaking and listening. Our current grade-level standards cover only reading and writing. Speaking and listening are important skills in postsecondary classrooms and the workplace. In addition, the proposed standards expect students to develop their language skills in the context of many subjects, not just literature. This is important because employers say that employees are not always skilled in reading and writing informational documents.

Finally, as an appendix to the standards, Alaska educators will provide lists of recommended literary and informational texts that challenge students to build knowledge, gain insights, and broaden their perspective.

In mathematics, students will be taught the content of some standards a grade earlier than they are now so that students in the earlier grades are well-prepared for high school. In high school, students will develop a depth of understanding and the ability to apply mathematics to new situations, as college students and employees must do. The proposed standards align with expectations for students from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

How were the proposed new standards created?

For nearly two years, the Alaska Department of Education & Early Development has worked on the standards with rural and urban Alaskans from around the state, including representatives of universities, career and technical programs, and industries. Working groups also included teachers and other specialists in English and mathematics; school districts’ curriculum coordinators; librarians; high school teachers of career and technical subjects; and teachers who work with struggling schools, students with disabilities, English language learners, economically disadvantaged students, and students of diverse ethnicities.

The Alaska reviewers compared Alaska’s current standards with new nationwide standards in reading, writing and math for each grade from kindergarten to 12, and with new nationwide college-ready and career-ready standards, which define what students must know and be able to do to be ready for postsecondary education or careers.

The review process incorporated the best of Alaska’s current standards, added new standards, and revised standards for clarity. Reviewers paid attention to what was developmentally appropriate to each grade level. They made sure that each grade level gradually built toward a high level of skill and understanding in grade 12 students.

The nonprofit National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment reviewed Alaska’s proposed standards in detail. The University of Alaska will review the standards to determine whether they will lead to high school graduates who are ready for college without remediation.

The result is a set of standards created by Alaskans but comparable in rigor to new standards that are being adopted around the United States.

The department expects that many curricular materials that will be developed for the new nationwide standards would be relevant to Alaska's proposed standards.

How would the new standards be used?

The proposed new standards provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn so that teachers and parents know what they need to do to help students.

School districts would use the standards as the framework for their curriculum in English language arts and mathematics. In turn, teachers would use their district’s curriculum to determine their lesson plans.

The standards do not tell teachers how to teach. The standards do not preclude the use of culturally relevant teaching methods. The standards represent a goal. Educators locally will determine how to meet this goal.

The standards in English language arts and mathematics are not meant to imply that those are the only important subjects in school, or that school-based knowledge is the only important type of knowledge. The department proposed new standards in English language arts and mathematics because those subjects are fundamental to many other subjects in school and to many occupations and aspects of daily life.

The department would use the standards to develop assessments for students. The results of these assessments will show whether students have advanced skills, proficient skills, or less than proficient skills in English language arts and mathematics.

For families, the assessments help you understand your students’ readiness for postsecondary education and careers. Classroom grades and the observations of teachers and families also show how students are performing in school.

For all Alaskans, the assessments allow us to see how students are doing schoolwide, districtwide and statewide. Citizens, policymakers and administrators locally and at the state level will be able to see the bigger picture of student achievement. At the same time, educators can look at results for subgroups of students, such as economically disadvantaged students or students with disabilities. That helps school districts understand where to target their resources.

The assessments allow Alaskans to see whether more students are becoming proficient over time. The federal government currently requires states to have standards and assessments, and to use the assessment results to hold school districts accountable for increasing student achievement. Alaska has a similar statute.

If the State Board approves the proposed new standards, what are the next steps?

The Alaska Department of Education & Early Development will prepare brochures that summarize the standards at each grade level for families and for educators. Parents, students and teachers will be able to understand the expectations for students in English language arts and mathematic at each grade.

Just as Alaskans have high expectations for students, we must have high expectations for the educational system at the local and state level. Implementing new standards requires a transition period. Students will be educated for nearly four years under the new standards before they are assessed in them.

This provides time for school districts to closely align what is taught in the classroom to the new standards. The state, as well, must align new assessments with the standards.

The department will provide school districts with a clear understanding of the differences between Alaska’s former standards and the new standards, and offer online guidance in making the transition. Additionally, the department will continue to provide districts twice-yearly institutes on curriculum and alignment.

How can I comment on proposed new standards?

You can review the proposed new standards online at www.eed.state.ak.us/regs/, where you also can submit comments electronically.

If you would like a copy of the standards mailed to you, contact Eric Fry at 907-465-2851 or eric.fry@alaska.gov or Dorothy Knuth at 907-465-2802 or dorothy.knuth@alaska.gov.

You may submit comments in writing by fax or mail. Fax comments to 907-465-4156 attention Dorothy Knuth. Mail comments to Alaska Department of Education & Early Development, ATTN: Dorothy Knuth Regulation Comments, 801 West 10th Street, Suite 200, P.O. Box 110500, Juneau, AK 99811-0500.

The deadline to submit comments prior to the State Board meeting is May 12. If you would like to make your comments in person or telephonically at the June 7-8, 2012, State Board meeting in Anchorage, see www.eed.state.ak.us/State_Board/ in late May, when the agenda will be posted.

How can I read more about it?

The current standards and the proposed standards are at www.eed.state.ak.us/tls/assessment/2012AKStandards.html

Summary of proposed English language arts standards

The reading standards require students to read increasingly complex texts so that by the end of high school they are ready for the demands of college-level and career-level reading. The standards require that students grow in their reading comprehension; as they advance through the grades, they are able to gain more from whatever they read. The reading standards assume that students must be able to read well in all their courses. Students are expected to read challenging informational texts in subjects such as social studies and science, as well as literature.

The cornerstone of the writing standards is the ability to write logical arguments based on substantive claims, sound reasoning, and relevant evidence. The standards begin to teach these skills in the earliest grades. Students will be expected to conduct research in short, focused projects and longer in-depth projects. Research skills – in order to gather information before writing or speaking -- are emphasized throughout the language arts standards.

The language standards provide opportunities for students to develop their vocabularies through conversation, direct instruction, and reading. The standards emphasize word meanings and nuances of words, steadily expanding students’ repertoires of words and phrases. Thus students build an ability to communicate with greater precision and complexity.

Oral uses of language are common in postsecondary education and the workplace. The speaking and listening standards require students to gain, evaluate, and present complex information, ideas and evidence through speaking and listening. An important focus of the speaking and listening standards is discussion of academic topics in one-on-one, small-group and whole-class settings. Formal presentations are valued. But so are informal discussions in which students collaborate to answer questions, build understanding, and solve problems.

Summary of the proposed mathematics standards

The mathematics standards stress both procedural skills and conceptual understanding. This ensures that students absorb the critical information they need to succeed at higher levels. When students have deep understanding, they do not need prior instruction to be taught again the following year.

The mathematics standards seek to develop the following types of expertise: 1) make sense of problems and persevere in solving them; 2) reason abstractly and quantitatively; 3) construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others; 4) apply mathematics to solve problems in everyday life; 5) use appropriate tools strategically; 6) pay attention to precision; 7) look for and make use of structure; and 8) notice repeated calculations and look for general methods and shortcuts.

In kindergarten, the standards follow successful international models and recommendations by focusing on the number core: how numbers correspond to quantities and how to put together numbers and take them apart (the beginnings of addition and subtraction).

The standards for kindergarten to grade 5 provide students with a solid foundation in whole numbers, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals. With this foundation, students in kindergarten to grade 5 can do hands-on learning in geometry, algebra, probability and statistics.

The middle school standards are robust and provide a coherent and rich preparation for high school mathematics. Students who have mastered the mathematics skills through grade 7 will be well-prepared for algebraic concepts in grade 8.

The high school standards set a rigorous definition of readiness for postsecondary education and careers. Students develop a depth of understanding and the ability to apply mathematics to new situations, as college students and employees do.


Please Note: This document will be updated to be responsive to questions from the public. This version was posted online on January 19, 2012.