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Scores in English language arts, math and science are unmatched

By Gretchen Wehmhoff

Eleven years ago, Skagway Superintendent Josh Coughran hung a banner in the main entrance of the school. “Welcome to Skagway School, home of the highest achieving students in the State of Alaska.”

Now, over a decade later, Coughran reports that once again, the school topped testing scores in the state in the three main categories of ELA (English language arts), math and science.They haven’t missed a year.

The recent scores are from The Alaska STAR test for English language arts (ELA) and math, administered by Northwest Education Association, and the Alaska Science Assessment for grades 5, 8, and 10, managed by Data Recognition Corporation.

Skagway School’s current enrollment is 139 students. With 12 full-time teachers, the student-teacher ratio is about 11:1.

Coughran has been asked by legislators and scholars as to why Skagway School is consistently successful.

‘We have very little teacher turnover. We have several teachers with over twenty years of experience here and another group with about fifteen years of experience. That kind of stability is so valuable — especially at the elementary level. Our teachers know our curricula because they wrote it; they know the students; and they know students’ families,” Coughran shared

He believes parent support of the school and testing is a major plus.

“Other superintendents tell me they have far less parent support for state testing,” he said.

The Skagway participation rate for the school was 100% for the ELA/math testing.

Coughran says the community is extremely supportive of the school, its curricula and staff.

“We have some of the best teachers in the state of Alaska, honestly, I would put them up against any teacher workforce in the country. Our teachers do a phenomenal job. They are dedicated, student centered, and data driven.”

Coughran sees the future of education in Alaska depending on stable funding that districts can count on.

“What we need is a genuine commitment to education at the state level that provides forward funding not in peril of political gamesmanship.”

Coughran, in 2018 about the future of school success to a legislative survey.

‘On a larger level, one thing I see other states doing that would mean a great deal to every student is the idea of free college. I think we would be wise to put parameters on this and require some of the same type of components that the Alaska Performance Scholarship has in place, although much less stringent. I think this would be a game changer for Alaska, we would be able to ensure that a high school education translates to opportunity, our workforce would grow, and our young adults would get to experience the post secondary environment unencumbered by financial concerns.

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Skagway School tops the academic bar again