Day: April 16, 2026

A professor at Furman University told the Alaska Legislature Task Force on Education Funding Wednesday afternoon that standardized test results might not be the most appropriate set of data on which to base education policy decisions.

During a routine presentation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, Paul Thomas backed a principle that legislators should not make decisions about students and schools based on a single standardized test.

“The key to understanding test data in Alaska is the information on poverty,” Thomas said.

Alaska’s NAEP scores of fourth- and eighth- grade Alaskans ranked lower than the national public in mathematics and reading in 2024. According to the Nation’s Report Card, approximately 69% of students performing below the 25th percentile are economically disadvantaged while economically disadvantaged students make up 48% of Alaskan students.

“Education policy and socioeconomic policy are really strongly connected,” Thomas said. “Test scores are a reflection of the socioeconomic status of the students.”

State education officials led legislators through a practice test of the Alaska System of Academic Readiness, commonly referred to as the AK STAR. Each fall, winter, and spring, Alaskan students in grades 3-9 take the MAP Growth assessment and each spring, Alaskan students take the AK STAR.

Kelly Melin, who works for the Department of Education and Early Development’s Assessments and Standards Administration, said the state’s standardized tests are designed to satisfy federal requirements set forth in the Every Student Succeeds Act.

“We’ve taken the power of an interim assessment and the need for a summative assessment as was dictated through ESSA and connected those to come up with what we have as AK STAR,” Melin said.

Kelly Manning, the department’s Director of Innovation and Education Excellence, said that the purpose of assessments is to measure the state’s ability to close the achievement gap and measure students’ ability to read at grade level by the third grade.

Statewide, about 33% of students tested at or above grade level expectations in language arts and 32% in math in 2025. Students in ninth grade demonstrated the greatest need for support in language arts and math.

The esting window for Alaska students closes on May 1. AK STAR results will be available to school districts in July and statewide in the fall.

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It’s the fourth year of the Chilkat Valley’s annual spring art festival and organizers are hoping a new grant will help them grow the festival event further. 

The Alaska Arts Confluence is still raising the funds it needs to match and receive a $4,500 Alaska State Council on the Arts grant. Board members said they’re about $1,000 away from meeting that goal. The group plans to use the funds to pay artists running workshops and expand the core things it offers during the two-week Artfest at the end of April. 

“The marketplace is going to be much bigger and the parade is going to be bigger,” Alten said.

The theme of this year’s parade is “Colors of the Wind.” The winner of the most creative float will get $100 and bragging rights. 

“This year we’d really like to get a bunch of art cars in the parade – people who have painted their cars or done fun things to their cars,” Alten said. 

The ArtFest calendar changes every year, depending on which local organizations participate, but that’s kind of the idea. Both Alten and Arts Confluence board member Charlie Moody described creating a space for organizations to launch the Chilkat Valley into summer with whatever local art they’d like to produce. 

“We’re really trying to help people promote and expand what we’re offering,” Alten said. “To make it something people look forward to, that visitors come for. There’s never really been much to do in April.” 

This year on the calendar, the Haines Arts Council’s workshops include songwriting and ballet. The organization is also in its second year of running a music, art & dance camp on Sunday starting at noon at the Chilkat Center. Tracy Wirak-Cassidy is running an ArtFest workshop teaching people about marine debris and then creating a mosaic with it throughout April; several afternoon art sessions are scheduled at the Haines library and the Lynn Canal Community Players are staging a comedic spoof on an Alfred Hitchcock film called “39 Steps.” 

The Arts Confluence is sponsoring a handful of workshops on May 2, including block printing, zine making, and felt art. 

The group is also organizing Live Art on the Trails which features performers showcasing their work on the CIA Trails in Haines. That event has been pushed back a week, to April 25th, due to the snow conditions on the trails. Moody said anyone interested in showing off their skills during that event can reach out to him or Clara Natonabah to get involved. As of Wednesday, there were three spots left open. 

Events are still being added to the Alaska Arts Confluence calendar. Organizers said the best place to find more information was at the website alaskaartsconfluence.org/artfest. 

Artfest ends after a day of events on Sunday May 3, starting with the parade at 11:30 a.m. and ending with a Jackson Emmer concert at the Chilkat Center at 7 p.m. 

Ultimately, Alten and Moody said they’d like to see the annual event grow into something that brings people together to practice art of all kinds, regardless of what the Confluence can organize. 

“There’s an economic benefit,” Alten said. “We know that about art festivals. Yukon Art Festival has grown by leaps and bounds. That’s what art festivals do, they grow.” 

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