Alaska K-3 reading scores rose within the school year, state says

Alaska schools closed the 2025-26 year with 4,264 fewer K-3 students reading in the lowest category, the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development said Thursday.

The share of K-3 students scoring "Well Below Benchmark" on the mCLASS DIBELS 8 composite fell from 39 percent to 26 percent, according to the department. The department reports these as beginning-of-year and end-of-year results, so the movement is within the 2025-26 school year rather than against the year before. Students "At Benchmark" rose from 24 percent to 28 percent, and those "Above Benchmark" rose from 21 percent to 32 percent, adding 3,771 students at or above grade level. Sixty percent of Alaska K-3 students reached benchmark or better, and the department said Alaska students showed average or better DIBELS 8 growth compared with peers nationwide throughout the 2025-26 school year.

The department credits the Alaska Reads Act, signed in 2022 by Governor Mike Dunleavy and co-sponsored by former Senator Tom Begich, which requires districts serving K-3 students to use materials grounded in the science of reading and to submit annual multi-tiered support plans to the department. All K-3 students are screened each fall using Amplify mCLASS, and districts report scores by July 15. Reading specialists work directly with the lowest-performing 25 percent of K-3 schools.

"While we take time now to celebrate the progress in early literacy, we know long-term success requires consistency and sustained effort. Improving student achievement is a marathon, not a sprint or an education fad," Commissioner Deena Bishop said.

"The evidence is clear. Alaska's primary teachers are making a positive impact on student learning," Dunleavy said.

The release quotes no one outside the administration. The Association of Alaska School Boards has argued the Reads Act operates as an underfunded mandate, saying districts carry the cost of intensive interventions and staffing, particularly in rural communities. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 22 percent of Alaska fourth-graders scored at or above proficient in reading, and 47 percent scored at or above the lower Basic threshold, a gap the K-3 screener data does not directly address.

AK STAR results for grades 3 through 9 are scheduled for release in early September.