Anchorage board reviews ‘on-track’ graduation metric; administration cites 95% correlation between ninth-grade on-track status and four-year graduation

At its Sept. 16 meeting the Anchorage School Board held a goal-monitoring discussion focused on the College, Career and Life (CCL) goal and interim Goal 3.1, which targets increases in the percent of students considered "on track" to graduate in grades 9–11.

The board reviewed the interim goal language: the district aims to increase the percent of students graduating college, career and life ready (measured by four-year graduation rates) from 81% in 2023 to 90% in 2028, and to increase the percent of students in grades 9–11 who are on track from 66.6% in June 2023 to 90% in June 2028. Administration defined "on track" as credits earned by the end of ninth grade (5.5 credits), tenth grade (11 credits) and eleventh grade (16.5 credits).

Administration said the district selected the on-track metric based on national research and a local validation study. Chris Opitz, senior director of assessment and evaluation, told the board that Anchorage data across three graduation cohorts show ninth graders who finish the year on track graduate in four years at a rate of 95%.

District leaders said the on-track metric is intentionally used alongside other measures — including a 2.7 GPA benchmark, career and technical education (CTE) concentrator status, early childhood literacy and numeracy metrics — to create a more complete picture of college and career readiness. The district described priority and universal action steps, such as ninth-grade teacher teams, staggered starts for freshmen, academy coaches and targeted supports for subgroups.

Board members sought more detail and raised concerns about gaps. Member Lessons said the credit-based metric is useful but not sufficient and asked for more focus on core-course completion (English, math, social studies). Member Bellamy, a former principal, said the metric is an important guardrail and asked how the district is closing gaps for English-language learners; ELL staff said AP participation among ELL students rose from 4.8% to about 10% districtwide after targeted actions and implementation of high school ELD courses.

Administrators and program directors described several targeted interventions: Wednesday night classes (federally funded, credit-bearing remote sessions for grades 9–12), a long-running back-on-track summer credit recovery program (154 students earned credits in 400 courses last year), expanded high school ELD courses (ELD 1–3), and professional learning communities (PLCs) focused on data literacy and individualized student monitoring. Migrant education staff and indigenous education leaders described locally targeted practices and PLCs intended to identify and push three students per grade at each comprehensive high school back on track.

Board members stressed funding vulnerability; Member Lessons asked how these interventions might be affected if the district’s budget shortfall persists. Administration responded that priorities adopted by the board reflect community choices and urged protection of the allocations that support on-track work.

No formal motions or votes were taken on policy changes; the meeting was a monitoring conversation and administration pledged follow-ups on specific requests — including more detail about AP-eligible course lists and ACPE/APS resources for college preparation.