There are many Interior Alaska families who send their children to public schools or publically-school-them-at-home through a publicly funded program who have expressed deep concern over Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  Alaska was one of the very few states remaining in the U.S. that had not adopted CCSS, but it appears that this may be changing.  Click here for the official press release about this from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (we’re sorry for the lateness in sharing this news – I just found out). 

        While the press release doesn’t use the word “adopted” in regards to CCSS, we can be sure that the state has implemented, and will implementing standards, that achieve the same end results as CCSS, as they are implementing the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium which is there to determine whether students are meeting CCSS expectations.  The following is quoted from their website (click here for the page, if you’d like):

“Teachers and parents need information about whether students are meeting the expectations set by the CCSS. Smarter Balanced is developing an assessment system that will measure mastery of the Common Core State Standards and provide timely information about student achievement and progress toward college and career readiness. Educators will also have access to a robust library of formative assessment resources and tools that they can use in the classroom to address the individual needs of their students.” 

        Click here to read an article from the SBAC website titled “Alaska Joins the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium”.  If you read it, please be sure to read the last paragraph titled “About Smarter Balanced”.  It could not be more clear – Alaska has fallen in line, and plans to continue to do so, with CCSS.

        There is also a cached page from the Alaska DEED, found by clicking here, that shows how our state educational system is aligning with CCSS, though we are not officially listed on the CCSS site as having officially adopted their standards.

        Praise to The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Alaskan parents have a CCSS-FREE alternative for their children’s education.  This is for parents to exercise their right to independently homeschool.  To learn more about this option, click here.