Alaska Education

The Tundra Drum, a newspaper covering the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, is reporting that the Platinum School has had to close its doors because the building’s power went out and the water pipes have frozen solid.

Location of Platinun, Alaska

Continue reading Alaska school frozen shut

Gov. Sarah Palin cut a controversial school incentive program out of her proposed education budget for this next year.

The $4.8 million program is zeroed out in the budget the governor sent to legislators to approve.

Continue reading School Performance Incentive Program cut from governor’s budget

The Arctic Sounder, a paper covering news in Northwest Alaska, had an aticle this week about Kotzebue High School being named one of the 12 best high schools in Alaska.

“Academic and enrollment data analyzed from more than 21,000 public high schools across the U.S. was the basis for the recognition, said Neil Caffin, public relations director for the Northwest Arctic Borough School District.

…

One of the characteristics of top-performing high schools is that their students achieve performance levels in reading and math on standardized state tests that exceed statistical expectations given their levels of student poverty, Caffin said.

The best high schools serve the least advantaged student groups well by producing proficiency rates on state tests for economically disadvantaged students that exceed state averages for this group, and by providing students access to a college-level curriculum.”

Continue reading The Best High Schools in Alaska