There has been much discussion recently about education funding for some of the smaller schools in Alaska. Most of this discussion has focused on whether or not small rural schools are viable and worth the cost. We believe the discussion should be reframed so that the question is, “Which schools are educating our children and should be rewarded for providing a good education for Alaskans?“. That is where the focus should be-on the students, not the building size.
In some of the 5 larger urban Alaska school districts there are schools which are not performing well. For example, in the ASD Clark Middle School failed No Child Left Behind 9 of the 10 years that the law applied to Alaska. And the District and the State did nothing to fix the problem, which they were required to do by federal and state laws. So, should we keep open Clark Middle School which has failed more than 1,000 students each year for many years? Or should we close the Cooper Landing School which has fewer than 20 students who scored a whopping 75% and 63% in English Language Arts (ELA) and Math on the new Alaska Measures of Progress test (AMP), respectively? Performance should matter.
The Alaska Policy Forum has examined those schools facing the minimum 25 student enrollment cliff. That is, should these schools be closed because their enrollment is less than 25? Here is a list of schools with an Average Daily Membership (ADM) of fewer than 25 students in the 2014/15 school year, according to the State Department of Education & Early Development, and whose legislative district they are in. We have analyzed the 2015 results of the new AMP test and sorted the schools into four classes. We have always believed the debate should shift from school enrollment to the quality of the education a particular school provides.
The AMP test categorizes students in four categories: 3 and 4 meet the standards, and 1 and 2 partially meet the standards. For our purposes, categories 3 and 4 represent proficiency.
In the future, we will look at the middle sized schools and sort them by the same criteria.
THESE ARE THE “EXTREMELY SMALL SCHOOLS” WITH 25 OR FEWER STUDENTS
CATEGORY 1: NECESSARY SMALL SCHOOLS
(Defined as having 10% or more of student test scores in the two highest AMP categories (3 and 4) in ELA or Math) (No Score means the number of students is too small without disclosing perhaps the students’ identities)
SCHOOL, DISTRICT LEGISLATORS % PROFICIENT
Chignik Lagoon School, Edgmon/Hoffman 33% ELA/ 33% Math
False Pass School, Edgmon/Hoffman 50% ELA / 50% Math
Gusty Michael School, Edgmon/Hoffman No Score / 20% Math
Igiugig School, Edgmon/Hoffman 45% ELA / 9% Math
Kokhanok School, Edgmon/Hoffman 33% ELA / 33% Math
Pilot Point School, Edgmon/Hoffman 14% ELA / 28% Math
William Sonny Nelson School, Edgmon/Hoffman No Score / 12% Math
Yakov E. Netsvetoff School, Edgmon/Hoffman 50% ELA / No Score
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Arvik School, Herron/Hoffman 8% ELA / 33% Math
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Beryozova School, Keller/Dunleavy 42% ELA / 49% Math
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Anderson School, Talerico/Bishop 26% ELA / 20%Math
Cantwell School, Talerico/Bishop 46% ELA / 68% Math
Circle School, Talerico/Bishop 10% ELA / 0% Math
Dot Lake School, Talerico/Bishop No Score /40% Math
Gladys Dart School, Talerico/Bishop 64% ELA /15% Math
Slana School, Talerico/Bishop No Score / 33% Math
Chenega Bay School, Stutes/Stevens 28% ELA/ 14% Math
Chiniak School, Stutes/Stevens 71% ELA / 71% Math
Yakutat Home School , Stutes/Stevens 12% ELA / 10% Math
Karluk School, Stutes/Stevens 25% ELA/ 37% Math
Tatitlek School, Stutes/Stevens 14% ELA / 14% Math
Port Lions School, Stutes/Stevens 31% ELA / 0% Math
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cooper Landing School, Chenault/Micciche 75% ELA / 65% Math
Hope School, Chenault/Micciche 54% ELA / 45% Math
Moose Pass School, Chenault/Micciche 60% ELA / No Score
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ella B. Vernetti School, Foster/Olson No Score / 11% Math
Extensions Correspondence School, Foster/Olson 66% ELA / 11% Math
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Klukwan School, Kito/Egan 32% ELA / No Score
Haines Home School, Kito/Egan 53% ELA / 36% MATH
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Klukwan School, Kito/Egan 32% ELA / No Score
Haines Home School, Kito/Egan 53% ELA / 36% Math
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Howard Valentine School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 56% ELA / 50% Math
Whale Pass School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 27% ELA / 38% Math
Naukati School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 58% ELA / 50% Math
Port Alexander School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 60% ELA / No Score
Port Protection School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 40% ELA / 20% Math
Pelican School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 28% ELA / 43% Math
Tenakee School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman 37% ELA / 25% Math
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hyder School, Ortiz/Stedman 14% ELA/ 29% Math
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Valdez Home School, Colver/Dunleavy 20% ELA/ 20% Math
CATEGORY 2: PROBATIONARY UNNECESSARY SMALL SCHOOLS
(Defined as schools with fewer than 10% mastery in ELA or Math )
SCHOOL, DISTRICT LEGISLATORS % PROFICIENT
Larsen Bay School, Stutes/Stevens 9% ELA / 9% Math
Johnny John Sr. School, Herron/Hoffman 9% ELA / 9% Math
Qugcuun School, Herron/Hoffman 0% ELA/ 9% Math
NWABSD Home School, Nageak/Olson 4% ELA / 0% Math
Jack Egnaty School, Edgmon/Hoffman O% ELA / No Score
CATEGORY 3: UNNECESSARY SMALL SCHOOLS
(Defined as schools with zero mastery in both ELA and Math)
Akutan School, Edgmon/Hoffman 0% ELA / 0% Math
Blackwell School Edgmon/Hoffman 0% ELA / 0% Math
Innoko River School, Edgmon/Hoffman 0% ELA / 0% Math
Twin Hills School, Edgmon/Hoffman 0% ELA / 0% Math
Cruikshank School, Talerico/Bishop 0% ELA / 0% Math
Tanacross School, Talerico/Bishop 0% ELA / 0% Math
Tsuk Taih School, Talerico/Bishop 0% ELA / 0% Math
Diomede School, Foster/Olson 0% ELA / 0% Math
CATEGORY 4: UNABLE TO CATEGORIZE
Chignik Lake School, No Scores/ No Scores
Chignik Bay School, No Scores/ No Scores
Lakeview Homeschool, No Scores / No Scores
Meshik School, No Scores/ No Scores
Pilot Point School, No Scores/ No Scores
Marathon School, Olson/Micciche No Scores / No Scores
Johnny Oldman School, Nageak/Olson No Scores / No Scores
Barry Craig School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman No Scores / 33% Math
Hollis School, Kreiss-Tomkins/Stedman No Scores / 20% Math
New Horizons High School, Colver/Dunleavy No Scores /No Scores
So, should we base the closure of schools on size or performance? Let’s incentivize performance and reward it. If a school has 10 students and they are excelling, keep it open. On the other hand, if a school is failing miserably, then either close it or fix it very fast before students’ futures are stolen from them.