With one policy change, Alaska can improve learning, reduce poverty and ensure more students are on the path to success in career and college. Alaska invests huge sums into public K—12 education but […]
Video: Alaska Students Must Read by 9
Testimony on SB 111 – Read By 9
This is a copy of the verbal testimony APF provided to the Senate Education Committee on April 10, 2021. Click here to open a printable PDF of the testimony in a new tab. […]
Test-Based Promotion Policies are the Motivation Students and Schools Need
It’s no surprise that reading is a critical skill for young children to learn. In fact, by third grade, students “stop learning to read and start reading to learn.” This means it is […]
Top-Paying Majors at University of Alaska, Ranked
The Texas Public Policy Foundation has released an interactive tool that classifies programs at universities based on average annual earnings, monthly loan payments, students’ average debt-to-earnings ratio, and gainful employment equivalent status. The debt-to-earnings ratio is calculated by dividing the median debt […]
Alaska’s Cost of Higher Education, Ranked
Given the recent budget woes of the University of Alaska (UA) system and falling enrollment for nearly a decade, it is reasonable to wonder if earning a degree in Alaska is a sound economic investment for students. In other words, do Alaskan students leave […]
Report: Funding Students Instead of Institutions in Alaska
By Corey A. DeAngelis, Ph.D. Foreword Perhaps no societal function has been more disrupted during the 2020-and-ongoing pandemic than K-12 education. A world in which schools actually closed their doors to students […]
Celebrating National School Choice Week
National School Choice Week is underway, and families across the country are celebrating and participating in a variety of events. National School Choice Week (NSCW) shines a spotlight on effective education options for […]
Read by Nine or Fall Behind: Alaska’s Students Are Set up to Fail
Early in 2020, legislation was announced again to address the third-grade literacy crisis facing Alaskan children. Year after year, the problem has been discussed and legislation with viable solutions proposed—only to go nowhere. Finally, in […]
Slippery Slope of Government Schools as Family Substitute
This article originally appeared in Must Read Alaska on December 23, 2020. At a recent Kenai School Board meeting, and as reported in Must Read Alaska, an impassioned argument was made to get young […]
We Can’t Afford to Wait Any Longer to Open Our Schools
By Win Gruening This article was originally published in Must Read Alaska on November 26, 2020. Is anyone paying attention? Scientific evidence continues to mount that K-through-12 schools can operate with face-to-face learning […]
Memo to Policymakers: Help Teachers Focus on Reading
By Robert Pondiscio This article originally appeared on the Thomas B. Fordham Institute website on November 19, 2020. At the tail end of a recent symposium titled “Why children can’t read—and what we can do […]
Podcast: Bob Griffin and Casey Dschaak Talk Education
In this episode, APF’s Senior Education Research Fellow Bob Griffin joins Casey Dschaak on the Alaska Conversations Podcast. Listen now as they discuss Alaska’s educational policies, including the Alaska Reads Act. They also […]
Video: Pandemic Pioneers – Homeschooling with Leigh Sloan
“Kids learn differently, and they need different opportunities.” Watch the video to hear from Leigh Sloan, a homeschooling parent who has found—and provided—just the right education to fit her children’s unique needs, interests, […]
Amicus Brief: Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools v. Heinrich
On November 19, 2020, the following amicus brief was accepted by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin in the case Wisconsin Council of Religious and Independent Schools v. Henrich. APF joined the Liberty Justice Center, […]
PEAKS Performance 2019: Victories for Alaska Charter Schools
The Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools (PEAKS) exam measures the performance of students and schools in both mathematics and English language arts (ELA). Routinely, Alaska’s schools woefully underperform on state and national standardized […]
University Tuition Freeze: A Surprising Way to Raise Revenue
In the midst of falling enrollment and an ill-timed change of leadership, the University of Alaska (UA) is currently struggling to cut a bloated budget. The UA system, which includes three main campuses […]