Alaska

Over half of Alaska students fall under proficient test scores

Published

11 months ago

December 18, 2024

Over half of Alaska students fall under proficient test scores

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Over half of Alaska’s students do not make the proficiency benchmark in English Language Arts and mathematics. That’s based on test results from the Alaska System of Academic Readiness (AK Star) for the 2023-24 school year.

“We’re underperforming because we’re not meeting the standards set out, you know, by the State of Alaska, which was designed for Alaskan educators,” Deena Bishop, with the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, said.

During the last school year, around 68,000 students underperformed on the testing for both subjects. Similar numbers were also seen the year prior.

In the Anchorage School District, in both English Language Arts and Mathematics, only 35.5% of its students hit at least proficiency. Those low test scores ranged from 3rd grade to 9th grade.

“The 3rd graders in this report, they were kindergartners who started on Zoom,” Kelly Lessens, on the Anchorage School Board, said during the Nov. 19, school board meeting. “If you talk to a 4th-grade teacher this year, they’ll say, a lot of those kiddos are still missing foundational content.”

COVID-19 is just one indicator people noted had an impact on youth education.

“Test scores have been coming down since COVID,” Corey Aist, the President of the Anchorage Education Association, said. “COVID set a very bad precedent for attendance and expectations. Not only expectations for our students and families but for our community.”

According to Bishop, COVID-19 created bad practices but she claims it shouldn’t be an excuse anymore.

“We need to focus on learning, focus on the children that we have, and move forward,” Bishop said. “We need to engage kids, have them come to school, provide high-quality education, support our teachers in doing so and changes will be made. Student learning will increase.”

Bishop was unable to pinpoint a specific reason why test scores remain low across the state. Moving forward, she said investment in early education is the tactic they’re doing to increase student performance. Bishop noted that her department is not trying to raise test scores but to improve student learning. For that, she said, investment is key.

“You’ve seen investments made into public education coupled with strong policy,” Bishop said. “Let’s find a way to have courses, where kids are engaged…investing in career and technical, investing in reading.”

But for Aist, there is a list of things that he said have an impact on student test scores. Ranging from class sizes, staffing numbers, and an increase in students needing special accommodations.

“You can’t talk about test scores without first talking about the learning environments in which those test scores are taken. We have a staffing crisis,” Aist said. “We should do more research on what is actually happening there, to counter, to talk about, to speak to the test scores in better context.”

Aist says funding is needed to create a competitive atmosphere to keep staffing. It’s all a part of investing in education and the community.

“Education is an investment in our communities, in our state, and in our future population, and without that, we continue to drop down below. And the funding that was proposed in the budget is completely inadequate to compete and retain our educators. They are going to continue to leave…its a spiral downhill. We need to do more,” Aist said.

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Alaska

Egan Center closes as shelter for Halong victims

Published

11 hours ago

November 5, 2025

Press Room

Egan Center closes as shelter for Halong victims

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The Egan Civic and Convention Center in downtown Anchorage closed Tuesday night as a shelter for hundreds of Alaskans displaced by ex-Typhoon Halong last month.

The announcement came as over 300 people who were evacuated from Western Alaska communities were being moved from both the Egan Center and Alaska Airlines Center on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus into private, non-congregate shelters.

Shelter operations from the Egan moved to the Spenard Community Recreation Center at 2020 West 48th Avenue. That location will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The strong storm made landfall over Oct. 11-12 on Alaska’s western coast, leaving a path of destruction in dozens of villages in the Kuskokwim delta area. One person was confirmed dead and two others were still missing.

The Spenard rec center shelter will be temporary, according to Bryan Fisher, director of the homeland security division.

“Closing the Egan Center doesn’t signal the end of our shelter support mission or diminish the urgent need to transition more people into non-congregate housing,” Fisher said in a prepared release.

While shelter operations ended at the Egan Center, the building will still be used as a United States Postal Service center for incoming mail for those displaced by Halong. That service will stop at the end of November, authorities said.

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Alaska

Anchorage assistance center opens for Western Alaska storm evacuees

Published

2 days ago

November 3, 2025

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Anchorage assistance center opens for Western Alaska storm evacuees

The Alaska National Guard transported 205 people displaced by Typhoon Halong from Bethel to Anchorage in a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft on October 16, 2025. It was the second of multiple flights to transport people who evacuated Kipnuk and other affected villages in the region. (Marc Lester / ADN)

A new center opened Monday to provide disaster recovery services to Western Alaska residents displaced by ex-Typhoon Halong who evacuated to the Anchorage area, state officials said.

Available services at the hub include help with state and federal disaster recovery aid applications, business and homeowner loan application support, social services, and tribal identification replacement, the State Emergency Operations Center said in a statement Monday. State officials said the effort is in cooperation with Calista Corp.

The Disaster Assistance Center, located in the Calista building at 1400 W. Benson Blvd, Suite 110, will be open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 14, according to emergency officials. Evacuees needing a ride to the center can contact Alaska 211 by dialing 211 or 1-800-478-2221, emailing alaska211@ak.org or visiting alaska211.org.

Similar services have been offered in Bethel, where some displaced by last month’s disastrous Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta storm have also sought shelter.

State emergency officials in an update Sunday said that there have been 1,280 applications for state individual assistance and 491 applications for Federal Emergency Management Agency aid. The federal aid became available after President Donald Trump’s Oct. 22 federal disaster declaration.

The deadline for those seeking state aid is Dec. 9. It is Dec. 22 for anyone applying for federal assistance.

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Alaska

Planetarium in Fairbanks slated to open in a few months

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2025

Press Room

Planetarium in Fairbanks slated to open in a few months

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A planetarium at the University of Alaska Museum of the North in Fairbanks has been in the works for years. And it’s only a few months away from opening, according to University of Alaska Museum of the North Director Patrick Druckenmiller.

It has been an idea for decades, but construction began about a year ago on the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ campus in collaboration with the Geophysical Institute, Druckenmiller said.

“What this facility will essentially allow us to do, is welcome, when thousands of people per year that come to our museum an opportunity to see things like the Aurora in a planetarium setting. Because, of course, that’s not something they’re going to see when they’re visiting in the summer. But it’s also going to be the coolest, newest classroom on the UAF campus,” he said.

Druckenmiller said it will be Interior Alaska’s first planetarium.

“There are three others in the state, two in Anchorage, one in Juneau,” he said. “It’s also going to be the northernmost planetarium in North America, which is also kind of a cool claim to fame for our facility.”

The 65-seat planetarium is a roughly 5,700 square foot addition to the existing museum, he said.

“When you walk into the planetarium space, which you’re going to see is this big dome above your head. It’s about 11 meters, or about 36 feet, in diameter. And it’s actually sort of suspended from the ceiling. And it’s tilted at about a 17-degree angle towards the front of the room. That’s to help make people feel comfortable looking up and not having to crank their neck to look up at the sky,” he said.

The planetarium’s content will not be strictly space related.

“We intend to showcase a lot of other really cool aspects of things relating to Alaska and the Arctic. And of course, it’s indigenous peoples,” he said.

Druckenmiller is excited for the opportunity to use the planetarium to highlight University of Alaska research.

“For example, the Geophysical Institute is a major place for research into the atmosphere, other geophysical phenomena, including the aurora, solar physics, you name it,” he said. “This planetarium is now going to be a place to share some of that cool science, rather than us just simply bringing in science from elsewhere. We’re doing it here in Alaska. So, it’s a wonderful showcase for Alaskan-based research.”

The bulk of the building construction cost was paid for by two longtime Fairbanks residents.

Walt and Marita Babula’s $7.4 million donation funded much of the construction of the building, Druckenmiller said.

The planetarium will be named after them, the university said.

The Babulas want the planetarium to “enable space science education opportunities for K-12 and higher education students,” according to a statement from a university press release.

“We also envision the planetarium as a place that will spark the curiosity of Alaskans and visitors from around the globe about our Alaska culture and vast universe,” they continued.

“They, out of the incredible generosity of their heart, really wanted the museum to be a place where we could also have a planetarium to share all the wonderful things about space science and astronomy, particularly with the kids that live here in interior Alaska,” Druckenmiller said.

Other donors include the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, as well as Sarah and Cary Keller who have been longtime UAF supporters, according to the university. Michael and Lynn Rice Estate, Davis Constructors & Engineers and RESPEC also contributed to the project.

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