Alaska says 4,264 fewer K-3 students ended the year reading at the lowest level

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

The share scoring "Well Below Benchmark" fell from 39 percent to 26 percent. Students at benchmark rose from 24 to 28 percent, and those above it from 21 to 32 percent, adding 3,771 children reading at or above grade level. Sixty percent of Alaska K-3 students finished at benchmark or better.

Those figures compare the start of the school year to the end of it, not this year to last.

The department credits the Alaska Reads Act, signed in 2022 by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and co-sponsored by former Sen. Tom Begich. It requires districts serving K-3 students to use materials grounded in the science of reading, screens every K-3 student each fall, and sends reading specialists into the lowest-performing quarter of schools.

"Improving student achievement is a marathon, not a sprint or an education fad," Commissioner Deena Bishop said. Dunleavy said Alaska's primary teachers "are making a positive impact on student learning."

The Association of Alaska School Boards has argued the Reads Act operates as an underfunded mandate, with districts carrying the cost of intensive intervention and staffing, particularly in rural communities.

The screener also measures something narrower than reading overall. On the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress, 22 percent of Alaska fourth-graders scored at or above proficient in reading, and 47 percent reached the lower Basic threshold.

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