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PEAKS Test results for Districts L-Y: One is 98+ percent below proficiency in math

Suzanne Downing
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19
PEAKS Test results for Districts L-Y: One is 98+ percent below proficiency in math

PART II: ARE ALASKA SCHOOLS AN ‘EDUCATION DESERT’?

PEAKS achievement testing scores have been released by the Alaska Department of Education. See Part 1, with scores from Districts A-K at this link.

The scores from Districts L-Y:

Lake and Peninsula Borough School Districts: 85.96% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 87.71% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Lower Kuskokwim School District: 94.18% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 87.71% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Lower Yukon School District: 97.09% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 98.58% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District: 54.46% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 58.79% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Mount Edgecumbe School: 78.38% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 70.27% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Nenana School District: 53.72% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 76.02% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Nome Public Schools: 79.00% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 79.70% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

North Slope Borough School District: 87.59% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 84.69% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Northwest Arctic Borough School District: 89.96% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 88.85% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Pelican City School District: 75 percent below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 75% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Petersburg Borough School District: 29.96% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 43.22% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Pribilof School District: 70.73% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 87.80% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

St. Mary’s School District: 86.11% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 78.70% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Sitka School District: 44.32% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 53.34% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Skagway School District: 13.85% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 21.54% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Southeast Island School District: 48.18% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 67.27% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Southwest Region School District: 94.36% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 90.77% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Tanana City School District: 76.67% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 90.00% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Unalaska City School District: 45.95%  below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 50.90% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Valdez School District: 47.65% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 54.55% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Wrangell School District: 50.68% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 43.84% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Yakutat School District: 51.28% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 72.50%non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Yukon Flats School District: 85.48% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 92.62% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Yukon-Koyukuk School District: 68.81% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 80.21% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Yupit School District: 95% or more below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 95% or more non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Are Alaska schools an ‘education desert’?

Suzanne Downing
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36
Are Alaska schools an ‘education desert’?

PEAKS TEST RESULTS FOR DISTRICTS A THROUGH K

Thirty-nine percent of Alaska students scored at a “proficient level” in English language arts, while 35.7 percent scored at a proficient level in mathematics, and 44.6 percent scored at a proficient level in science on the latest Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools assessment and Alaska Science Assessment.

The shocking numbers reveal how many students are non-proficient in Alaska schools. See the A-K districts scores below and  link to the L-Y districts’ scores here.

About 76,400 students participated in the spring 2019 PEAKS and science assessment, which gauges school improvement efforts across the state. The test was adopted in 2012, and was first administered in 2017.

Students score on a scale that is divided into four levels of achievement: advanced, proficient, below proficient, and far below proficient.

There were some good news items in the report:

  • The 2017 grade 4 student class achieved growth over three years in English language arts proficiency.
    In Grade 4, they scored 38.8 percent proficient. By Grade 6 they had improved to 45.5 percent proficient.
  • Also, Grade 9 students in 2019 achieved a 5.2 percent increase in math proficiency than Grade 9 students tested in 2018. This was the second year the Grade 9 math PEAKS assessment emphasized Algebra 1 concepts.
  • Those who are English learners improved slightly in both English language arts and math proficiency, improving in English language arts by nearly a percent year over year, up to 9.9 percent proficient.
  • Eighth-graders who took the science test in 2017 scored 46.9 percent proficient. For the same class, when they took the 10th grade science test, they improved to 53.6 percent proficient.

Here are the Spring PEAKS results for Districts A-K:

Alaska Gateway School District: 85.96% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 87.71% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Aleutian Region School District: 58.33% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 75.00% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Aleutian East School District: 8.03% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 68.03% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Anchorage School District: 57.78% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 60.56% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Annette Island School District: 71.52% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 73.94% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Bering Strait School District: 93.33%  below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 91.07% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Bristol Bay Borough School District: 79.25% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 74.55% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Chatham Strait School District: 62.50% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 67.82% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Chugach School District: 61.08% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 83.13% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Copper River School District: 54.42% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 61.50% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Cordova School District: 47.24% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 53.99% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Craig School District: 59.09% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 70.35% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Delta / Greely School District: 48.58% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 44.55% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Denali Borough School District: 44.39% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 58.25% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Dillingham School District: 69.04% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 68.62% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Fairbanks North Star Borough School District: 58.16% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 60.70% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Galena School District: 41.04% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 66.29% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Haines Borough School District: 35.43% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 55.56% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Hoonah School District: 79.37% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 77.42% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Hydaburg School District: 81.40% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 88.37% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Iditarod School District: 87.50% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 91.51% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Juneau School District: 53.72% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 59.12% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Kake School District: 47.27% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 65.45% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Kashunamiut School District: 98.24% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 97.66% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Kenai Peninsula School District: 52.32% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 50.07% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District: 53.56% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 56.27% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Klawock City School District: 76.79% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 83.93% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Kodiak Island Borough School District: 59.26% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 59.93% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

Kuspuk School District: 90.16% below proficient to far-below proficient in English; 89.12% non proficient to far-below proficient in math.

[L-Y districts linked here]

STANDARD TESTS, COMMON CORE

Education Week reports that there’s a steady erosion in the number of states using the PARCC or Smarter Balanced Common Core aligned tests, with five fewer this year than in 2018. Alaska is the only state using the PEAKS test.

Common Core was all the educational rage a decade ago, when 45 states were planning to use it by implementing the PARCC or Smarter Balanced assessments. Today, only 16 states are using those tests.

[See Education Week‘s fourth survey of state tests since 2014.]

Like Alaska, 31 other states use “non-Common Core consortium” tests. The number of states that require students to take college admissions tests or pass an exit exam to graduate is unchanged from 2017.

MRAK Almanac: Fundraisers, health fairs, book signings

Suzanne Downing
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0
MRAK Almanac: Fundraisers, health fairs, book signings

9/6: Alaska Republicans hold a fundraiser with beer, brats and Congressman Don Young. Must Read Alaska’s  will be there, at the home of Cynthia and Ken Henry, Anchorage hosts. See flyer above.

9/6: Book signing in Juneau at Rainy Retreat Books for MaryLou Spartz and John Greely’s new book on the “Princess Sophia, Disaster on our Doorstep.” Starts at 5 pm.

9/7: Fairbanks Families Partnership free Health Fair brought to you by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, 11 am – 3pm Pioneer Park.

9/7: The Cape Fox Corporation 46th Annual Meeting of Shareholders starts at noon at the Ted Ferry Civic Center in Ketchikan. The Native corporation has about 300 shareholders.

9/7-8: The 55th Annual Parade of Homes in Anchorage, with dozens of homes from local builders open to the public, Saturday 10 am – 6 pm and Sunday 12-6 pm. Information here.

9/8: Hobo Jim in concert with a fundraiser to benefit the Knik Museum, from 1-3 pm, at the museum, 13.9 Knik Goose Bay Road. This is a fun event for the whole family. While you’re there, you can explore the Knik Museum and learn about the history of a community that predated Anchorage, Wasilla, and Palmer. Raffle tickets will be sold with prizes including Mahay Jetboat Adventures, and Talkeetna Air Taxi.

9/ 10-13: International gathering of sovereign wealth funds meets in Juneau, with representatives from more than 30 nations. Environmental protesters are planning to rally to dissuade these financial experts from investing in fossil fuel.

 

 

Alaska Life Hack: Duck, moose season starts with a bang

Suzanne Downing
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4
Alaska Life Hack: Duck, moose season starts with a bang

BUT HUNTERS ARE GETTING OLDER, AND THAT’S A PROBLEM

Waterfowl hunting season in Alaska started a half hour before sunrise on Sunday, which meant some residents of the Oceanview neighborhood in Anchorage were awakened by shotgun fire coming from the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, which is Anchorage’s urban waterfowl hunting grounds.

Down in Juneau, the the Mendenhall Wildlife Refuge opened for youth hunters age 16 and under, accompanied by an adult for the first two days of waterfowl hunting season.

Moose season also started in some places on Sept. 1.

Units 7 and 15 on the Kenai now require moose hunters to take a brief orientation class online before heading out in search of their freezer meat. This new requirement is comprised of a set of short videos and a 19-question quiz. It will soon be required statewide, but for Units 7 and 15, you’ll need to have your certificate on your person while hunting this season. Alaska Fish and Game want to be sure you can really count the tines on a moose’s head.

WHERE ARE ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE?

These days, fewer and fewer youth are participating in hunting, according to a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service survey that says while 14 percent of Americans age 16 and under have fished, only 4 percent have hunted.

On the other hand, we’re raising a nation of wildlife watchers: 34 percent of those 16 and under who were surveyed said they participated in watching wildlife. As expected, those living in metropolitan areas hunt the least, while those in rural America hunt the most.

The participation rate in hunting increases as people age, until they hit 65, and then it starts to decline.

In 2016, the breakdown in the ages of hunters was:

  • 3 percent, ages 16 and 17.
  • 4 percent, ages 18-44.
  • 6 percent, ages 45-64.
  • 4 percent, ages 65-75.
  • 2 percent of 75 and over.

And therein lies the problem.

Baby boomers, who make up the largest cohort of hunters, are aging out of the sport. In a few years, many of them will no longer be actively buying permits and hunting, and the youngsters of America are not being raised to fill the duck blinds.

Hunting writers say that not only could the overall hunting ranks plunge by 30 percent, the money that hunters supply in the way of licenses and tags is a critical part of wildlife and game management. Those funds could dry up.

Hunters pay more than 83 percent of the game management in Alaska, with Pittman-Robertson funds coming from taxes on ammo and hunting licenses, and equipment for hunting. The money comes back to Alaska for game management. “Dingle-Johnson” is the angler tax, and that’s how Alaska pays for sport fishing management, access, trail improvement, disabled access and more. Those funds are the piggy banks — state dollars held in reserve by the federal government that Alaska Department of Fish and Game draws on.

In other words, without young people taking up the sport, hunting in America may be in a death spiral.

[Read more on this topic at Outdoor Life: Why we are losing hunters and how to fix it.]

Will hunting go the way of Bristol Bay salmon, an industry that is now been largely taken over by Washington State? If a new generation doesn’t step up and hunt, Alaska’s moose will still need to be harvested, and more out-of-state permits may be sold.

“Hunt with your kids, not for them,” says the Safari Club Educational Foundation. And that’s even more important than ever for Boomers, Generation X, and Millennials because of this fact: If Alaskans are not recruiting and retaining license holders, they won’t have anyone to proxy hunt — or fish — for them when they get old.

Unionizing temporary campaign jobs? It’s now a thing

Suzanne Downing
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11
Unionizing temporary campaign jobs? It’s now a thing

ALASKA DEMOCRATS SEEM TO FAVOR BIG-UNION ELIZABETH WARREN

In a Labor Day announcement, Al Gross, candidate for U.S. Senate on the Democratic ticket (as an “independent”), announced his campaign is unionizing under the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. The 30-second Facebook announcement sounded like an April Fool’s joke, but Gross appeared sincere.

This, after a career as a high-flying surgeon, raised questions about his campaign judgment and priorities, since his campaign seems to be a one-man operation, with wife, kids, and a contractor or two. It doesn’t quite pass the giggle test. But as a dark horse, if he’s looking for some coattails in Alaska, maybe the unions will bite on this gimmick. For now, however, the unionizing of his family may have to do.

Unionizing campaign staff is a thing with Democrats in 2019. All the big “Dem-Sens” have done it: Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who has the largest unionized campaign staff of the pack, at over 200 paid staffers.

This is a new era for unions, and if Warren keeps ascending, she could be in a good spot with the major unions backing her for the Democratic nomination.

But campaign jobs are notoriously unstable. No only are campaign workers extremely temporary, they are perhaps the most exempt workers of all — they only last until the money runs out, or there’s a win, or until the campaign implodes because of other dynamics. And most campaign workers are volunteers who work for paid staffers and who might get alienated by their union overlords.

Working in a political campaign is not a cookie cutter experience. Every campaign must adjust and adapt to a constantly changing political and fiscal landscape. A scandal may erupt. A person may not get elevated in the campaign because they haven’t won the trust of the candidate. People typically take sick leave when they can, and vacations when the campaigns come to a close.

Other campaigns are run by contractors with expertise in the area and who have other clients and campaigns they are managing.

WHO DO ALASKA DEMOCRATS FAVOR? 

At the straw poll at the Alaska State Fair booth of the Mat-Su Democrats, Elizabeth Warren, with the big union campaign staff, was far and away the favorite candidate of the approximately 600 participants in the poll. Here’s the breakdown of the poll after the fair closed on Monday:

  • Warren: 35.2 percent
  • Sanders: 18.5 percent
  • Buttigieg: 13.3 percent
  • Biden: 9.6 percent
  • Harris: 9.6
  • Yang: 7.3 percent
  • O’Rourke: 2.4 percent.

Get your egg-sucking leech out: Kenai River opens at Cooper Landing for boating, fishing

Suzanne Downing
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2
Get your egg-sucking leech out: Kenai River opens at Cooper Landing for boating, fishing

Part of the Kenai River will be reopened for boating Wednesday from 6 am to 6 pm, after recent rain dampened fire activity and lowered the potential for conflict between boaters and local residents who were staging for possible evacuation.

The river will be open to boaters from the Cooper Landing state boat launch to Sportsman’s Landing.

The river will remain closed to boating from Sportsman’s Landing to Skilak Lake to reduce traffic on roads and make it easier to quickly deploy firefighters and resources in fighting wildfires on the Kenai Peninsula, officials said.

For the section of the river that is open, drift boats are popular, as are rafts with rowing frames. Lure fishing for rainbow trout is catch-and-release on the upper Kenai. The fish haven’t seen a lure for two weeks during the fire, and are eating salmon roe; the three flies that will likely work will be any egg pattern, egg-sucking leech, and flesh flies, according to Must Read Alaska’s sportfishing adviser.

The Cooper Landing School will also be open on Wednesday, Sept. 4.

Fire danger has decreased over much of the Kenai Peninsula, but residents and visitors should remain aware and prepared for changing conditions. For statewide fire information, visit the AICC website at https://fire.ak.blm.gov/ or http://www.akfireinfo.com.

Cold case arrest in Shelley Connolly murder

Suzanne Downing
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0
Cold case arrest in Shelley Connolly murder

Alaska State Troopers said 62-year-old former Alaskan Donald F. McQuade was arrested in Oregon in connection with the death of Shelley Connolly in 1978.

Back in 1978, Connolly was found sexually assaulted and beaten, dead along the railroad tracks. She had been dragged behind a vehicle, and then dumped along the tracks near Beluga Point, Mile 109 of the Seward Highway. Her death was determined to be due to a blunt blow to her abdomen, which caused a lacerated liver.

The teenager had been seen in the parking lot of Chikoot Charlie’s in Spenard earlier that day, and later at Leroy’s Diner. According to news reports from that time, her broken fingernails and debris showed she had fought to try to climb out of the ditch after being raped and dragged.

Oregon police arrested McQuade without incident on Friday. Based on DNA technology not available at the time of Connolly’s death, McQuade has been charged with Connolly’s murder.

Investigators made the connection earlier this year: DNA evidence pointed to a set of brothers, and they narrowed their search down to McQuade after finding he had been in Alaska during the time of the murder.

At the request of the Cold Case Unit, the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory developed a DNA profile of an unknown male, based on biological evidence collected during the autopsy. No match was generated from the DNA, which was loaded into the CODIS system in 2003. But this year, investigators submitted the material to Parabon Nanolabs, and using genetic technology, the lab was able to link the DNA to McQuade, who was 21 at the time of the girl’s death and living in Anchorage.

“Investigators have spent years analyzing this case looking for a viable lead. I have an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction that all that work has paid off,” said Investigator Randy McPherron of the Alaska State Trooper’s Cold Case Unite. “More than anything, I am relieved to be able to provide Shelley’s friends and family a sense of justice and the knowledge that Shelley was more than a name on an unsolved homicide sitting in a filing cabinet somewhere. Every single victim matters to us.”

Walmart gets out of gun and ammo business

Suzanne Downing
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26
Walmart gets out of gun and ammo business

Walmart on Tuesday announced it will stop selling handguns in Alaska, the only state where it still sells them. The decision is in response to the mass shooting at an El Paso, Texas Walmart a month ago that left 20 people dead.

America’s largest retailer said that nationwide it would also stop selling handgun ammunition and “short-barrel rifle ammunition,” such as .223 caliber and 5.56 caliber. It will sell off all of its inventory first and is asking customers to no longer open carry in the Walmart and Sam’s Club stores around the country, even if state law permits it.

Walmart will continue to sell long-barrel deer rifles, shotguns, and the ammunition for those firearms.

Walmart has 9 stores in Alaska, according to its website, including nine super centers, and two discount stores.

Formerly with AK Dems, Jay Parmley back in South Carolina

Suzanne Downing
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10
Formerly with AK Dems, Jay Parmley back in South Carolina

Jay Parmley, who was executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party for 2-1/2 years, has been rehired by South Carolina Democrats. Parmley left Alaska this summer, and at the time said he was moving to Florida with his husband and mother-in-law.

Parmley is from Oklahoma, but has worked in several states for the Democratic Party and its subunits.

In 2012, he resigned his North Carolina post after a former male staffer accused him of sexual harassment — showing him a photo of a penis — and unwanted physical advances. The employee later sued, saying he was fired because he blew the whistle on Parmley.

[Read: NC Democratic Party ex-staffer sues over sexual harassment]

About the same timeframe, Parmley’s ex-girlfriend accused him of infecting her with HIV.

Even with that baggage, Richland County, SC Democrats hired Parmley in 2012. In 2016, Parmley was then whisked away by the Alaska Democratic Party, where he has been the ED for three years; he followed former Alaska Rep. Kay Brown in that role.

Now he’s back with the South Carolina Democratic Party, where he will help the 2020 efforts to upset U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham. It’s also a pivotal election year for the presidency, although South Carolina has historically been a red state. There is no gubernatorial election in South Carolina in 2020.

[Read: NC Democratic Party ex-staffer sues over sexual harassment]

In Parmley’s spot in Alaska, the Alaska Democratic Party has hired a former Mark Begich staffer, Lindsey Kavanaugh.

[Read: Road to White House: AK Democrats hire new executive director]

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