Connecting a Disjointed System: A First Look at Aligning Education in Alaska

Abstract

We’ve heard it before, but it’s still true: too many Alaska students don’t have the skills they need to move on to the next stage of education or to get good jobs. Too many drop out of high school, and too few of those who graduate go on to college or other post-secondary education—and among those who do go on to post-secondary education, many don’t graduate within four or even six years. Employers report that young people entering the work world directly after they graduate from high school (or right after they drop out) don’t have the reading, writing, and math skills necessary for many of today’s jobs, even entry-level ones. Alaska is not alone in these problems, but the high-school dropout rate is higher than the U.S. average and fewer graduates go to college. A third of Alaska’s high-school students don’t even graduate, and only about a third graduate and start college right away (Figure 1).