This individual profile provides information on Alaska's high school exit exam standards and policies. Some of the categories presented include: (1) State exit exam policy; (2) Type of Test; (3) Purpose; (4) Major changes in exit exam policy since the 2009-10 school year for financial reasons; (5) Subjects tested on exam; (6) Grade exam first…

This overview of the Alaska system for test development, scoring, and reporting explored differences and similarities between norm-referenced and standards-based tests. The current Alaska testing program is based on legislation passed in 1997 and 1998, and is designed to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Legislation. In…

This handbook is designed to serve as a resource for Alaskan district-level administrators in charge of planning, implementing and monitoring districtwide student assessment programs. The information is divided into 10 chapters, including: (1) aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction; (2) planning an assessment program; (3)…

The Alaska Educational Program for Intercultural Communication is developing a method of needs assessment which is unique to the state, possibly to the nation. The staff is comprised of highly creative and interculturally sentient people, all uncredentialed in evaluation. Their task has been to develop structures which foster communication where…

This publication reports on the status of public education in Alaska and provides policymakers with information for decision making. Under state law, each school district is required to report to its community information about the school district's plans and performance. This publication is a summary of those reports. Data are organized around…

The results of the 1977 and 1979 Statewide Assessment Tests in Alaska are presented. This assessment testing is part of the testing component within the Alaska Statewide Instructional Support System (SISS), and is based on specific objectives critical to a student's academic success. Objectives covered are: mathematics computation, mathematics…

Key findings of a pilot study of the Alaska Instructional Diagnostic System (AIDS) are summarized. The AIDS pilot test served to verify the appropriateness of the skills survey as well as the validity and reliability of the items. The AIDS testing system includes three components: (1) upper level skills surveys (grades 3-8); (2) lower level skill…

This report is an analysis of issues in Alaska's elementary-secondary education system, based on 25 position papers delivered at a Center for Northern Educational Research forum in 1973. The forum arose from the widespread perception of need for educational reorganization and a concern about equal educational opportunities for Native Americans.…

The Council of Chief State School Officers has raised some issues pertinent to the implementation of a national project to collect statistical indicators of academic achievement and to compare them across states. The United States Department of Education shares this concern, with an emphasis on sampling schools for a school level analysis which…

Nearly 15,000 students were administered the Alaska Statewide Assessment Test--virtually all fourth and eighth grade students. Preliminary results indicated that eighth graders made substantial improvements in both reading and mathematics performance. Fourth grade scores were basically unchanged since 1983. There was also little change between…

This report from a blue ribbon panel of experts convened by Disability Rights Advocates, Inc. and the Oregon Department of Education addresses the interplay between standardized examinations and students with learning disabilities. The report describes in detail the accommodations, alternate assessments, appeals procedures, and other safeguards…

This year the Center on Education Policy (CEP) analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps…

In 1985, reading and mathematics achievement tests were administered to nearly 15,000 fourth and eighth graders in Alaska. Educators comprising the Interpretive Panel developed a minimum and a desired level of performance. Scores below the minimum indicated a weakness; scores above it, a strength, and scores between, satisfactory achievement. The…