School administrators support literacy efforts but are wary of state overreach

Alaska students have been scoring lower in reading than their peers in other states for the past few years. It has been described as a statewide literacy crisis. A new bill in the state senate aims to implement early literacy assessments and intervention strategies to help students who are struggling with reading. While educators support early literacy efforts, some worry about the legislature setting education policy rather than school district administrators.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, Alaska has the lowest fourth-grade reading scores of any state. Governor Mike Dunleavy says it is a priority to make sure students are reading at grade level by the third grade.

That’s what the Alaska Reads Act aims to accomplish. The bill would assist school districts in creating early learning programs with help from the Department of Education and Early Development. It would also establish a reading intervention program for kindergarten through third grade. 

The bill’s sponsor Senator Tom Begich of Anchorage says the idea is to support schools in their efforts. 

“We have good teachers who want to teach reading. But if those kids come to school unprepared, all of their efforts fall apart. Not because the teacher is incompetent or the district isn’t doing everything in their power, but simply because they are unprepared to learn,” Begich says. 

While educators agree that literacy among early learners should be a priority, not everyone thinks the state should craft education policy to address it. 

Haines Borough School District Superintendent Roy Getchell thinks the state shouldn’t make blanket decisions about how schools teach literacy.

“It never hurts to have statewide pushes and focuses where you get collaboration. How can we improve things as a state together? I’m always up for that. But I believe the answers to our issues lie within our community, within our staff, within our school board, within our students, and within our parents,” Getchell says. 

Under the Alaska Reads Act, the Department of Education and Early Development would determine if school districts early education programs meet state standards. The bill would also create statewide assessments to identify reading deficiencies among students from Kindergarten to third grade. Schools would be required to offer intensive reading intervention services to those students with reading deficiencies.

If implemented, the bill could cost the state just over 91 million dollars over six years. At a meeting earlier this week, Haines school board president Anne Marie Palmieri said she had concerns about how that would affect funding for other education programs. 

“What I would like to see is more inclusion of school districts and their perspectives in the creation of legislation or whatever the proposals are,” Palmieri said. 

The bill also describes when districts should consider having a student repeat a grade due to a reading deficiency. At a meeting of the Senate Education committee, Alaska Association of School Boards Director Norm Wooten said this is a concern. 

“It just seems to me that retaining a child for a lack of reading proficiency may be more of a failure of the system rather than the fault of the child,” Wooten said. 

Senator Begich responded that the decision to hold a student back for a year is always up to parents, school staff and administrators. 

“Nothing in this bill will change the current retention policies in any district in the state. Every district in the state can retain a student today. Nothing imposes or directs or impells a district to do more than they normally would do,” Begich said.

The Alaska Reads Act is still in its early stages and is undergoing changes based on feedback from educators. The Senate Education Committee will hold public testimony on the bill on February 12.