Committee hears how NWEA MAP, DIBELS and AK STAR are used to inform instruction and statewide accountability

Superintendents and school leaders told the House Education Committee on March 14 in Juneau that modern assessment systems — benchmark, formative, diagnostic and summative measures used together — can give teachers actionable information to guide instruction and help districts show student growth over time.

Roy Getchell, superintendent of the Haines Borough School District, told members that the most important innovations in education over the last century involve “assessment and instruction” and described four assessment categories: benchmark (beginning-of-year measures such as MAP growth), diagnostic (special education or targeted screening tools), formative (daily classroom checks), and summative (end-of-year accountability tests, such as AK STAR). “These are the ones that are typically the most important for a classroom teacher,” he said of benchmark assessments.

Dr. Angie Galanos, superintendent/principal at Kake City Schools, said her district uses NWEA MAP and DIBELS 8 in tandem, administering each tool three times a year to monitor progress and to identify foundational literacy skills for targeted intervention. “We use both of those measurements three times a year, and it allows us to really make sure that we're monitoring and identifying any needs that a student might have immediately,” she said.

Presenters demonstrated sample teacher and parent reports from NWEA MAP and DIBELS 8 and explained how MAP’s growth percentiles and student-level trend lines can be used to set individual goals, spot decline, and predict proficiency on end‑of‑year tests. Getchell described the MAP quadrant report that displays achievement and growth and said it helps schools identify whether students demonstrate high growth, high achievement, or are showing low achievement despite growth.

Galanos emphasized that districts with low early-literacy proficiency can use DIBELS 8 to identify discrete skills — phoneme segmentation, vowel recognition and other foundational reading skills — that inform immediate classroom interventions. She said those tools are “valuable” and that the Alaska Reads Act offered resources to districts for early-literacy screening.

On funding and statewide administration, Deputy Director Kelly Manning of the Department of Education and Early Development told the committee the department covers the cost of MAP growth in grades 3–9 as part of the AK STAR contract and also covers the Amplify/DIBELS 8 assessment for districts that use it; districts that want MAP for K–2 typically cover that portion themselves. Manning said the MAP contract covers fall, winter and spring administrations and that the spring MAP is embedded in the AK STAR summative product the state uses.

Committee members asked about consistency between states and the value of linking a diagnostic/benchmark system like MAP to the statewide summative assessment. Getchell said Alaska’s approach allows linking MAP results to predict proficiency on AK STAR and gives teachers tools to intervene midyear rather than waiting for a single end-of-year snapshot. Members discussed local implementation, teacher buy-in, test frequency and the need for strong school leadership to turn data into instruction.

Why it matters: Committee members and presenters framed the assessment conversation around two priorities — accountability to the public and instruction that improves student outcomes. Presenters repeatedly said formative and benchmark measures are the most useful for teaching and that linked summative assessments provide the state-level accountability required by federal law.

What’s next: Committee members asked the department for additional detail on statewide use and funding; the deputy director confirmed state financial support for MAP (grades 3–9) and for DIBELS 8 where used. Members indicated interest in further discussion with the Department of Education about statewide assessment strategy and implementation supports for districts and teachers.