Mat-Su Superintendent discusses challenges, opportunities for Valley students

Education in Alaska comes with its own set of challenges, and it’s up to school and district administrators to find ways to meet them.

In recent years, the state has re-tuned its standardized testing regime to make it more rigorous. Mat-Su Superintendent Monica Goyette says that in older tests, it was possible in some instances for a student to be labeled proficient in a subject while testing in the bottom third of students nationwide. She says the state’s new test, PEAKS, has raised standards significantly.

“They’re significantly more rigorous….For example, in third grade, to be proficient on the PEAKS reading, you have to be in the sixty-first percentile or higher.”

Even with tougher standards, however, Alaska still lags behind the rest of the country in standardized testing results. Goyette says one national assessment has Alaska last among the fifty states.

The most recent round of PEAKS results show the Mat-Su Borough School District out-performing the statewide average in almost every instance. Superintendent Goyette says part of the reason for better results is the fact that there aren’t as many barriers, such as teacher turnover, to education in this area as there are in more remote communities.

“There are so many challenges that don’t provide for an optimal learning environment, so I expect that we do that. But we can do much better on those assessments, and we did improve from last year.”

Another issue being monitored by school district administrators is poverty in the Valley. Superintendent Goyette says the poverty rate among students has risen significantly in the past two decades. Now, all but two of the district’s large elementary campuses qualify for the Title I program, which focuses on schools with high poverty. She says living in poverty can have a significant impact on a student’s education.

“Let’s say you have a learning disability and you place poverty on top of that. It just places them at even more risk for falling behind.”

While multiple challenges face the school district, there are programs in place to help improve the educational experience for Valley students. One program, which was piloted in the Northern Valley, gives access to computers and tablets to all students, including those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to use modern devices for learning. Beyond access to the device itself, Goyette says the program also broadens class options.

“Students often don’t have access to the variety of courses that you might have in a very large high school, like additional language or AP courses. So, with the Rural One-To-One Initiative, literally thousands of courses open up to them through online learning.”

While it’s easy for programs to look good on paper, parents and public officials often want concrete results. The Mat-Su School District’s vocational and technical programs seem to provide those results in at least one important area. According to Superintendent Goyette, participation in those programs correlates with a higher graduation rate.

“In our district, students that take at least two courses in sequence, like two welding courses or…new teacher educator prep, they have a 95% chance of graduating, whereas our seniors as a whole is 83%.”

Superintendent Goyette says improving educational opportunities is a never-ending process, but that she believes Mat-Su schools are on the right track.

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