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Alaska Department of Education reviews AK STAR design, 2025 results and reporting timeline

Alaska House Education Committee · January 30, 2026

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Summary

DEED officials said AK STAR (the Alaska summative assessment integrated with MAP Growth) served about 68,100 students in 2025 and produces district and state reports; DEED explained the summative reporting timeline—district files in July and state reporting by September—reflects hand‑scored writing items and vendor data processing.

Kelly Manning, deputy director for the Division of Innovation and Education Excellence at the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, and Karen Meline, DEED administrator for standards and assessment, briefed the House Education Committee on the AK STAR assessment design, reporting, and 2025 results.

Meline said AK STAR is an integrated assessment that uses MAP Growth items aligned to Alaska standards and that about 68,100 students statewide took the spring assessment. DEED reports four proficiency levels (advanced, proficient, approaching proficient, need support), and Meline summarized 2025 ELA and math results across grades and districts, including a statewide 2025 ELA figure of 32.7% of students scoring proficient or above in the reported slide set.

Manning explained why summative reporting takes longer than MAP Growth’s immediate spring returns: AK STAR includes hand‑scored items (writing) and additional federal reporting and validation steps the vendor (NWEA) performs. She said DEED has reduced reporting delays compared with earlier years, with district‑level data available in July and state results now typically released around September, earlier than prior cycles.

Lawmakers asked clarifying questions about graphical presentation of the data and requested that DEED include the full range of reporting categories (need support and approaching proficient) in the district bar graphs. Meline and Manning said they would provide more granular district breakdowns and answer follow‑up questions about cut‑score setting and the projected‑proficiency reports available during fall and winter MAP administrations.