Delivering Supplemental Educational Services in Alaska

1. Delivering Supplemental Educational Services in Alaska Updated February 2010

2. There are 53 school districts in Alaska

3. Education in Alaska: • Approximately128,975 students, spread out over 586,412 square miles. • Approximately 37% of our 506 schools have fewer than 100 students. • Most schools are inaccessible by road. Our largest district, North Slope, is 88,000sq. miles (slightly larger than Minnesota) and has just 11 schools and 1,868 students. • Approximately 100 schools, 20% of Alaska’s total, employ three or fewer teachers. • There are 109 different languages, over 90% of them Native Alaskan languages, which are the primary home language in several districts. Nunapitchuk – Population 466 (note there are no roads – boardwalks connect the school with other buildings) Lower Kuskokwim School District Home of Anna Tobeluk School – K-12 160 Students, 146 Low-Income Required to Provide SES

4. Alaska School Improvement: • Alaska’s AYP is measured by • Standards-Based Assessments in • grades 3 - 10. • 118 Title I schools are identified for • School Improvement in 2009-2010, • serving approximately 24,164 students, 17,830 of them low income. • Approximately 26 school • improvement sites are able to offer • choice in 2009-2010. Alaska • regulation requires the rest to offer • SES in the 2nd year rather than the • 3rd. • Approximately 74% of students in • school improvement sites are low • income and qualify for SES • services.

5. State Standards: • Alaska standards are organized as both general content standards, and as Performance Standards (Grade Level Expectations). SES programs should be aligned at the Performance Standard (Grade Level Expectation) level wherever possible. These standards can be found in the document: “Alaska Standards: Content and Performance Standards for Alaska Students” on the web at - http://www.eed.state.ak.us/standards/ Savoonga, Population 686 Bering Strait School District Home of Hogarth Kingeekug School K-12, 235 students, 222 low income Required to provide SES

6. There are 2.4-3.3 students per instructional computer in Alaska. • Approximately 75% of schools in use Macintosh computers exclusively. • 90% of schools report they have internet access at the classroom level. • Few schools report they rely on only dial-up access, but many schools do not have land-based cable, and rely on satellites, which can often delay transmission. • Availability of parts, technical assistance, and well-trained tech staff in remote areas is an ongoing challenge. Internet Connectivity Kivalena, Population 388 Northwest Arctic Borough Schools K-12 - 111 students / 82 low-income Required to provide SES

7. Per Pupil Amounts • Vary widely within the state – 25 of 53 districts currently required to • participate in SES – Average Per Pupil Amount is $1,420.00 • Low is $1,116.00, High $2,076.00 for 2009-2010 • Per Pupil Amounts and basic school info by district can be found in the • “SES Per Pupil Amounts, Site and District information” document at: http://www.eed.state.ak.us/nclb/SES.html Subsistence Activity Typical village home Anaktuvuk Pass North Slope Borough

8. Other Potential Rural Issues: • Local Hire - Because villages can be so small and average education may be low, it is sometimes difficult to hire and train staff locally. • Teacher Time – Teachers in the bush “multi-task” and coach sports, run the library for the community, manage federal grants, or mentor after school, and may not be available for hire. • Computer Labs – Often the only computers in the village are at the school. In order to use on-line providers, the school must open and staff computer labs, which may cause scheduling or staffing conflicts. Noatak, Population 455 Northwest Arctic Borough District Home of Napaaqtugmiut School K-12 152 students, 120 low-income Required to Provide SES

9. Urban Issues • Alaska has 5 “Urban” districts, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Matanuska-Susitna, and Kenai-Peninsula Borough. • These schools are still the center of their communities, and many after school programs and activities take place in the buildings, making use of school space a critical issue. • Some of these districts are still not connected by road and are far from provider base offices in the “Lower 48”, making travel to these cities for training of staff or set-up of programs expensive. Anchorage, population 274,000 The largest single community in Alaska 106 Schools serving 50,086 students, 16,556 low-income. 20 schools in improvement in 2009-2010

10. Contact Information Alaska Department of Education and Early Development 801 West 10th Street, Suite 200 P.O. Box 110500 Juneau, AK 99811-0500 http://www.eed.state.ak.us/nclb/SES.html Supplemental Educational Services / Choice Coordinator: Sheila Box, Education Specialist Sheila.box@alaska.gov (907) 465-8743 or fax: (907) 465-2989