Like many other states, Alaska remains steadfast planning to use test scores as the sole or primary indicator of student and success. Because of historical and cultural issues, however, Mr. Jones and Mr. Ongtooguk do not believe that a test alone will solve the pressing educational problems of Alaska Natives. ALASKA, LIKE other states, is a place where the chasm between educational ideals and current realities is wide and deep. Policy makers here stand on the brink of implementing high-stakes testing as a means of bridging that gap. A high exit exam is place and has now been given to 10th-graders three times, but the time line for using it as a graduation requirement has just been pushed back to 2004. There are also tests given grades 3, 6, and 8, called tests, that are intended to gauge how students are progressing toward the exit exam. A school designator is being developed to use the test scores from the exit exam and benchmark tests as a means of sorting and classifying schools into one of four categories: distinguished, proficient, deficient, and in crisis. This designator system will begin with the results from the spring 2002 testing. Rewards and consequences for schools have yet to be determined. As Alaska follows other states using testing as a means of improving schooling, the issue of equity for Alaska Natives looms large. For many years, Alaska Natives have been justly concerned about the quality of education delivered to their youngsters. Issues range from underfunding of schools rural villages, to run-down facilities, to an ongoing history of transient teachers who often teach out of field and do not adapt well to a small rural setting. Moreover, many Alaska Native parents have come to understand that the local instruction and grading systems have not served their children well, as the students leave their schools for college and are assigned to remedial classes. Faced with paying college tuition to obtain what amounts to a high education, many of these youngsters soon drop out. Such failures have economic implications that affect the self- sufficiency of Alaska Native societies as a whole. Alaska Native businesses, nonprofit organizations, governments, and communities employ about one out of five workers Alaska. Currently, however, very few Alaska Natives are employed technical fields such as engineering, graphics, computer hardware and software, and networking. Schools are not producing enough qualified Alaska Native graduates for the positions available. For many Alaska Natives, this is an unacceptable situation. Thus many Alaska Natives favor a statewide test that might be a more accurate indicator of their children's learning than the grades that have proved to be so misleading. Many also hope that holding schools accountable for test results will lead to better college and job opportunities for their sons and daughters. So far, the test results have been disturbing, however, showing a large achievement gap. The table below compares statewide percentages of Alaska Native and white students passing the spring 2001 high exit exam, which consists of three tests.1 Reading Alaska Native 37 White 78 Writing Alaska Native 23 White 56 Mathematics Alaska Native 22 White 53 As the table shows, white students pass the exam at more than double the rate of Alaska Native students. In order to receive a high diploma, students must pass all three tests. While student-level data have not yet been released for the latest round of testing, previous test administrations there have been some rural districts, primarily Alaska Native, which not a single student passed all three tests. And so those interested providing a better education for Alaska Natives face a dilemma. On the one hand, a state test appears to offer a means of counteracting a long history of low standards. …
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Jan 1, 2005
Derek E G Briggs + 1
Open Access
