By DAVID BOYLE
At its recent mid-June retreat, the Anchorage School Board worked hard to set low goals for teaching students how to read and do math.
Watch the retreat session and listen to the discussion on YouTube:
It is encouraging that the school board has set achievement goals for its staff and students. Goals for math and reading should be basic for any school district.
The retreat recording was not initially posted, but at my request Board President Andy Holleman did work to ensure the recordings were posted on YouTube for the public to hear. You can fast-forward through it and hear different parts of the discussion and presentation, which is revealing. Listening to the discussion is helpful to understand why they set such low, yet achievable, goals.
Here are the reading, math and graduation goals set by the board:
What percentage of students do you believe should be able to read at grade level and what percentage of students should be proficient in math?
Shouldn’t at least 50% of our students be able to read by 3rd grade? Shouldn’t at least 50% of our students be able to do math by 8th grade?
From the goal graphic above, it doesn’t look like the district believes that.
The district’s goal is that only 46.4% of third-grade students should be able to read at grade level by 2028. That’s not aspirational. It would seem they looked for a low number they might be able to achieve so they could be successful.
Goals should be aspirational. When one challenges a child to meet a high goal, many students will reach that goal and excel. That leads to self-worth, pride, and further student encouragement.
So, if you enroll your child in the district’s kindergarten this year, chances are less than 50/50 that your child will be able to read at grade level by the time your child is ready for fourth grade.
What parent would take a less than 50% chance that their child could read by third grade?
That child will have a very difficult time succeeding in other subjects such as math, science and social studies if he/she/they/them cannot read.
The saying goes, “A child learns to read by 4th grade so she can read to learn thereafter.”
Here is a chart from The Centre for Education and Youth that shows the relationship between reading and success in life:
As you can see, the future does not bode well for those students who are less literate.
An even greater question is, “If a school district cannot teach a child to read, what is it teaching?”
But there is some good news. In the current 2023 AK STAR test less than one-third (32.4%) of ASD current 3rd grade students read at grade level. So, it is an improvement if 46.4% read at grade level by 2028.
But how many of these 3rd grade students will read at grade level in later grades?
The board also set math proficiency goals at its retreat. It believes that only 41.5% of its 2028 8th grade students should be proficient at math. That’s not aspirational either.
This spells doom for many students who like STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes.
Those 2028 8th grade students are today in the 5th grade. That student cohort scored 40% in math proficiency in 2023 in the AK STAR. This is just slightly below the goal set for them by the time they reach 8th grade.
But, once again, there is good news — sort of. In the 2023 AK STAR tests less than 35% of 8th graders were proficient in math. So, the district is hoping that the 2028 8th grade students will at least improve by six and a half percentage points.
Again, the question is, “If a school district cannot teach a child to do math, what is it teaching?”.
Finally, the Anchorage School District sets a graduation goal of 90% by 2028.
This presents a real contradiction: How can the graduation rate be so high if students cannot read at grade level and do math at grade level?
Maybe, just maybe, some of these students will not be able to read their diplomas.
It is clear that the district will probably achieve its very low goals. And it will declare success. But will students be able to achieve their goals? And will they be successful in life?
These reading and math goals were on the Aug. 20th agenda for the ASD School Board. Here is a link to the agenda.
You can listen to the school board here.
Woodrow Wilson’s socialist dream come true.
A barely educated serf populace capable of doing basic work but not able to threaten their betters.
Public education is child abuse. Just that simple.
“……….A barely educated serf populace capable of doing basic work………”
Except that they’re increasingly and quickly becoming incapable of doing basic work, and they admit that themselves already. One of their excuses for allowing the wholesale violation of immigration law is that the immigrants “perform the jobs that Americans won’t do”. And they’re correct. And the system is grooming these complete losers not to work. That’s part of their goal. Their vocation is to bleed the system to allow their sloth.
We are teaching our toddlers to read Go Dog Go. Tie administrators’ salaries to reading and math proficiency.
College will of course have to lower the threshold for entry again too. All the while being very happy to take a promissory note for fees to get them to that point of entry.
I’d like to know the percentage that will be employable at age 18.
Little kids are in school for 7 hours each day. There is no excuse for them not being taught to read, write, and understand math.
At my school kids get a mandated 9 hours of reading and 5 hours of math each week, and their scores have improved. But school isn’t the fun it was when I was a kid. I’m the music teacher, and classroom teachers get panic attacks if I want to have a concert rehearsal during the school day, because there is no time for them to make up the required minutes of teaching curriculum they’ll lose. It’s very serious business. One teacher complained that there was literally no time during the week when she could read her class a book “just for fun.” Kids are at school for 6.5 hours, with an hour for lunch and recess. When I was in elementary school we had three recesses. We got to finger paint, take field trips, learn about science, learn about other countries. In today’s schools there is a HUGE emphasis on reading and math. And a lot of absenteeism.
Reminds me of my favorite performance review comments:
Set low standards and failed to meet them.
Your tax $$$ at work. Cheers –
Might be helpful to hear from Eaglexit sponsors how this will not be a problem in their new community.
ASD and their employees seam to be ok with mediocre results.
They have little or no ability or want to increase the knowledge of the students.
They are doing the minimum and asking for more money every year what a wonderful job to have or you can do a crappy job and results and not be fired for it but get a pay raise For incompetence.
“……..how low can you set your goals and still claim victory?………”
There is no limit whatsoever, and they will prove that claim for me.
If the government schools won’t do it the parents have to step up to fill in the gaps
Or get them out.
I know we put a lot of responsibility to teach our kids to read at school, but reading should start at home at a very, very young age. The responsibility falls on the parents and grandparents to start this process at home. Our schools want to put all the kids from a community into one class room instead of separating them out into those who can and cannot read at grade level. This holds back the kids that can read and also hurts the kids that cannot read by putting them in a larger classroom that cannot put the time in needed to help them achieve more. The kids That cannot read at grade level or not getting help at home. As a society, we cannot change this. It is just the way it is and always has been. My point is the kids need to be tested and separated at an early age to Give more help to the ones that need help, and don’t hold back the kids that are getting help at home.
Those goals are pathetic. I am completely dumbfounded. I see a lot of assumptions in them. Apparently, the Anchorage School District believes that our students are incapable of learning basic skills and, also, that the teachers they hire are incapable of teaching. What in the world are they doing all day? Think about any other job. Would you still have a job if your productivity is only 32% of what it could be? What if a nurse only gave meds to 32% of his/her patients? What if an airline’s maintenance inspectors only get 32% of an aircraft certified as safe for flight?
When I was in nursing school, a fellow student nurse was jubilant because she passed an exam with a score of 70%. When the instructor saw her celebrating, he told her, very loudly, that she had nothing to celebrate. He asked her if she were in the hospital with a serious illness, which 30% of the needed knowledge to take care of her would she want her nurse to forget?
These numbers have real consequences, not only for the future economy and success of this state but also for the lives of the children. Do you really want the children of Anchorage to be ignorant? There is no reason for our students to have such low scores. The Board might want to read up on the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies.
The rest
Of he day is to be spent teaching them to be “gender dysphoric” so they can be transitioned ax early as possible
82% of the population can’t comprehend simple math. Thank goodness I’m in the other 25%.
Don’t blame teachers; they have absolutely no say in what is being taught in school…none!
School curriculum is pushed out by NEA National, NEA-Alaska, and District School Board Members, with approval from Alaska Department of Education & Early Development. I might not have the correct order of approvals, but I know teachers don’t approve the curriculum. That is made at a much higher level of authority.
Teachers can only teach to the organized, structured curriculum. Any older long-time teachers with the “Defined Benefit” pension package, will lose their complete retirement funds if they are fired, or quit prior to their vested retirement age.
If parents and interested parties want changes to the locals schools, it starts with YOU. Run for your local School Boards, be part of the process to take back our schools.
Bellamy/Bryantt with their band of hooligan school board members are to blame for this disaster.
They could tell the NEA to go pound sand but instead they embrace their indoctrinated scheme.
AKWildRose, I agree that teachers, for the most part, are not the problem. But running for school board will also not solve the problem due to the structure of the election process. You see, school board members are elected at-large, just like running for the mayor. No board member is elected to represent his/her/they/them constituents in a specific district.
So, the at-large election dilutes the power of the voters–just what the NEA wants and gets. If one were elected by a district similar to Assembly members, then one would have to answer to a specific constituency. This current at-large election system would appear to violate the Voting Rights Act by diluting the voting power of minorities and low income citizens.
Without electing school board members by a specific district, nothing will change. The south side of Anchorage will get the better teachers while the northeast side of Anchorage will get the lower performing and rookie teachers.
As to the question of what should be the goal metrics?
99 percent of non disabled kids should be at grade level. Minimum of 80% of kids with an IQ above 90.
To my way of thinking making grade level is the MINIMUM standard.
What part of Anchorage’s corrupt, perverted, child endangering, pornograhic, overpriced, underperforming education industry is worth salvaging?
.
Why worry about education-industry “goals” when the perpetrators of this racket are not accountable for money they waste or deliberate damage they do to the minds of children entrusted to their care?
I voted against the new goals. My reason was they are too low and starting from as low as the ASD proficiency levels are now, it should be able to do better. Speaking just for myself and not the ASD or the School Board.
Dave Donley
Dave Donley, thank you for voting “no” on the so-called goals. We appreciate that. And, surprisingly, even Pat Higgins voted “no” as well. Keep up the good work. We are listening.
Hi Dave, I truly don’t know how you are able to sit thru the school board meetings. It must be extremely frustrating, as it is for us as parents and taxpayers. I appreciate what you do in fighting for the kids. It’s truly heroic in this political environment. The threats are everywhere. Sincerely,
Something that I haven’t seen mentioned in the comments yet is that the only metric used to determine if students are at grade level in reading and math is the AK Star test, and as a data point it is almost completely meaningless. At least at the high school level, the students know darn well that their test results have no actual impact on them (unlike the high school qualifying exams that students used to have to pass to graduate high school). Trying to convince young teenagers (only the Freshmen take this test for reading and math) to try really hard and do their best when they have no skin in the game is a losing proposition. Plus, parents can opt their kids out of the test, and often the parents who are that involved are the ones whose students are doing well academically. So while I definitely think there has been a drop in % of students who are at grade level, and do find that concerning, I do not think we have any real idea of what the numbers actually are because the AK STAR testing data is deeply flawed, to the point that I don’t think it tells us anything meaningful.
Hi Dave, I truly don’t know how you are able to sit thru the school board meetings. It must be extremely frustrating, as it is for us as parents and taxpayers. I appreciate what you do in fighting for the kids. It’s truly heroic in this political environment. The threats are everywhere. Sincerely,
Since the advent of the Department of Education in 1979 it’s been a slow regression of learning in the schools. I would like to see the dismantling of the department & forced reduction of the administration in all districts. Much like competition in the free market, it would be a race to the top.
It isn’t that they don’t think that a higher percentage of children should meet the standards. It is that they do not think that _they_ will be able to teach enough children well enough to meet the standards. I think that we should believe them about that…..
What a disgraceful report on the educational system. Decades ago I taught my 6-year-old son to read from a lesson book using the time-honored Phonics. He was reading fluently in 5 WEEKS, not 3 years. It’s not rocket science, folks. I never spent one minute in a School of Ed classroom.
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