Students at the Petersburg School District have seen strong results in last spring’s Alaska System of Academic Readiness statewide standardized test, also known as AK STAR. Students third through ninth grade were tested in English language arts and math.
Every tested grade level arrived above the state’s median score in both tests.
Districtwide, the amount of Petersburg students who scored “advanced” and “proficient” on both tests was 10% higher than the state average.
Superintendent Robyn Taylor said those numbers are great, but she’s focused on how much students are growing in a single year. That data is also looking good.
“People often get focused in on just what that assessment result is, but it’s really important to step back and look at the growth a student has made,” she said. “So, even a student who is performing well below the grade level average, we want to see that they have made gains.”
Many grades saw high levels of growth between tests. Elementary and middle school students experienced more than a year’s worth of growth in reading and math. Ninth graders achieved slightly more than one year’s growth in language arts and math.
Taylor said testing is not the entire story when it comes to student success.
“Testing is just one piece of a puzzle for what’s going on with a student,” she said. “There are so many other variables that come into play as to make the well-rounded, whole student that we’re looking at.”
In a message shared with the community, Taylor wrote that elementary families will receive individual testing data at parent-teacher conferences Sept. 24-25. Middle and high school families will receive the information by email.
