For the second year in a row, Alaska students are showing notable gains in reading proficiency, according to new data released by the Department of Education and Early Development. The upward trend is being credited to the Alaska Reads Act, a 2022 education reform initiative signed into law by Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Preliminary data from the 2024–2025 school year shows a jump from 44% of students reading at grade level at the beginning of the year to 60% by the end.
That marks a six-point improvement over the previous year’s gains, when students increased from 41% to 57%. According to the department, the year-over-year growth is outpacing national averages.
“This is promising evidence for our Alaskan students and their teachers as all the hard work and focus they have put in is coming to fruition,” said Education Commissioner Deena Bishop. “This achievement shows that the Alaska Reads Act was the right policy direction for our state, and more importantly, for our youngest learners. Congratulations!”
The Alaska Reads Act focuses on early literacy by requiring evidence-based instruction, teacher training, and targeted interventions for struggling readers. Its goal is to ensure that all students are reading at grade level by the end of third grade, considered a key predictor of long-term academic success.
“These results show why it’s critical to tie clear goals and strong commitments to education policy,” said Gov. Dunleavy. “The Alaska Reads Act proves that coupling funding with real reform works. We made the right decision, and students across Alaska are seeing the benefits.”
While the current data is preliminary, education officials say the consistent year-over-year growth is a strong indicator that the state’s investment in foundational reading skills is paying off. Final results are expected to be released later this year.
It’s a shame the legislature wrangled over enacting this legislation for as long as they did. I believe the initial effort started a decade ago. Nice to see something positive in education in AK.
Manley–The Alaska Reads Act was first introduced by Senator Tom Begich (D–Anchorage) and Governor Dunleavy in 2020. It was a bipartisan effort, and was easily passed in May 2022. There is no evidence that I could find that the legislature “wrangled” over this bill. The only challenge that I recall is that the governor vetoed funding for the first year, so it was difficult for schools to implement the act.
No, the legislature has been haggling over about what to do for many years. Advocacy groups like the Alaska Policy Forum having been beating the drum on the quality of education in ANC and AK for a very long time as well.
In one of their articles (‘https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2021/01/read-by-9-or-fall-behind/), Quinn Townsend notes, “Year after year, the problem has been discussed and legislation with viable solutions proposed—only to go nowhere. Finally, in 2020, the ember caught fire.” Yes, they finally did SOMEthing in 2020, but there was not less than a decade of gnashing of teeth before this act came to fruition.
There are a couple of guest writers from APF that offer articles about education topics to this site.
Let’s keep making changes and make Alaska grade again!
We all know what happened.
The bar was lowered.
Look into it.
I have a book my grandmother used in the 1920s to teach 2nd graders. I doubt college students could read it today.
Excellent observation. Not just college students but most of the faculty would comprehend it.
We are several generations deep into a steep decline from 97% literacy in the 1950s to 74% current literacy, at a modern standard 6th grade level.
Using the grade level standard of 1920 that is closer to their generations’ 4th grade level.
The education, wisdom and eloquence the authors of the Constitution displayed in 1775 is another benchmark to illustrate the dramatic decline of our “education” system.
Is this based upon the system that changed the structure for scoring?
Of same system from way back when. You know…… back when they taught history in schools.
Great news. Pass a law, throw obscene amounts of money at the problem, that’s all it took for children to read?
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News might be even greater if it didn’t come from education-industry officials reporting on themselves
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Are these not the very same education-industry officials whose hard work made Alaska “education” the failure it is today?
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Think they’ll risk their careers by saying something bad about themselves or their colleagues when they “report” to the legislator as required by the Alaska Reads Act?
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If we’re outpacing national averages, it might be fun to find out what they read at a certain grade in a top-performing school elsewhere in the country, see if a cross-section of Alaskan children in the same grade can read the same thing, or comprehend it.
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The Alaska Reads Act seems like a great idea. Problem is it allows the education industry to report on itself with no independent audit to verify what officials say.
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Amend the Act, insert language requiring in-person, independent audits of reading performance and consequences for failing to meet certain milesones, we’ll have a winner.
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Might take a bunch of laws, but how about doing the same for writing, mathematics, history, literature, getting perverts off the staff, porno out of the libraries, illegal aliens out of the system, could we be on to something?
Once again if benchmarks are being used to do the measuring this is a bait and switch. They are to be used for teachers to know how they can help a student. If the texts are not timed exactly for one minute or done correctly the results will be wonderful.if you think teachers will not cheat to look good you are incorrect. Now you have an additional $450 for students improving so you can bet they are soon all going to be making 100.
If benchmarks are not being used then please advise what the state is using!
Are you talking about Aims testing? I did that. I’m not a teacher. And I don’t cheat. Students gain nothing from cheating.
Curious if this is due to the exodus from traditional public schools and attributable to improved scores by students in charter schools and in home school programs. Both my grandkids are two grade levels ahead because they spend their days at grandma’s kitchen table being taught by someone who loves and cares for them rather than being indoctrinated in covid protocol, trans ideology and race-based virtue signaling.
Here, here
Hmm… I wonder if the end of the Covidiocy policies of masking, social distancing, school lockouts and general public education Covid lunacy had more to do with the increased proficiency than the legislation?
For the money paid for teaching they should be A students.
Mat-Su public schools have literally seen their students’ reading levels improve.
I believe this is due to parents pulling their kids out of public schools and placing them in private schools or home schooling them. This trend started during Covid. They noticed a rise of improved grades and more respectful behaviors and you’ll never convince me otherwise!
If students finished 2023 with 57 percent competence how did they start 2024 at 44 percent. This is the best argument for year around school. 3 months off results in a 13 percent decline? Something seems wrong about these numbers.
When we lived in the village most if not all of the kids could barely read, write, or do math yet they always passed and always graduated on time.
Sapper, I agree completely! Year round schools work!!!
When students have the entire summer off, the teachers spent weeks at the beginning of the next school year refreshing students on lessons from the year before. Colorado had year round school and the students scored much higher grades.
They tried that in California already. Didn’t work. But its another gimmick they’ll keep pushing to avoid real accountability ” we didn’t try MY idea , so I can’t be blamed!!”