by Channel 2 News staff
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Preliminary results for Alaska's standardized testing show students statewide scored better in nearly every subject this year.
The state Department of Education released the figures Tuesday, reporting gains in the number of students who passed reading, math and science tests, but declines in writing.
The test scores are key to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Schools that don't meet annual benchmarks are subject to state-imposed consequences and improvement plans.
Last year nearly half of Alaska's schools failed to meet those goals.
"When you see percentage points going up four or five percentage points that's good news," Eric Fry with the Department of Education and Early Development said.
The department plans to publish district breakdowns of test scores by the end of the month.
