Teaching in Alaska

There are really two different worlds you need to understand when thinking about living and teaching in Alaska: urban and rural. The differences are startling.

Living or working in the urban areas of Alaska is much like anywhere else in the Lower 48 – but with better scenery and fishing! Urban in Alaska isn't "urban" like major cities in the Lower 48, either. Even Anchorage, Alaska's largest urban area, would just be a small city in comparison with most cities you've been to in your experiences in most US states. Juneau, in fact,  would be considered a small town.

Sure, you may have to plug your engine block heater in up in Fairbanks to keep the car from locking up in winter, and you have to learn to drive on snow-covered roads. But, you still perform most of your day-to-day tasks the same way as you always have.

Your job search for Alaska's urban settings will be much like a search with any school district in the Lower 48. If are looking at for a position in Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks, Juneau or Kenai Peninsula areas, you don't really need to do things much differently in terms of your search strategy. All of these districts have fairly specific hiring procedures, and although your job search here will link to their openings, you really need to also go to their own Applitrack websites, and follow their guidelines for applying. 

• Alaska 's Big Five Districts - How ATP & and the districts with their own Applitrack sites differ

Cover all your bases with applying to Alaska's urban districts – their internal applications often have very specific procedures. Use ATP's Applitrack searches, but make sure you know what other requirements exist for the Big Five districts.

The vast majority of Alaska is not connected to the existing road system – the Bush – is a hugely different thing.

Technically, demographers don't really have a word that adequately describes our diverse and scattered collection of over 250 small villages, towns and remote outposts. See our About Alaska page for more details about our "Last Frontier" setting.

Alaska statutes define "rural" as meaning a community with a population of 5500 or less, and not connected by road or rail to Anchorage or Fairbanks, or with a population of 1,500 or less and still connected by road or rail (AS 14.43.600-14.43.700). The vast majority of the state of Alaska meets this definition. There are other definitions.

Just like rural Australia, and parts of Africa, the remote places in Alaska are collectively referred to as "the Bush".

A study done by the Regional Education Laboratory at Education Northwest a few years ago found that about 64% of Alaska's districts, 53% of its schools, and 40% of its population are in the Bush (REL Northwest). McDiarmid and others have found that the majority of jobs for teachers new to Alaska are found in Bush settings. Teachers leaving Bush schools frequently are headed to road system districts. Therefore, if you are coming up from the Lower 48, it is not unreasonable to expect that you may begin your Alaskan career in rural Alaska.

Although statistically speaking, rural school districts lose more teachers in a typical year, this doesn't mean that all districts in the Bush have high turnover. In fact, a few rural districts have regularly had among the lowest turnover in Alaska. Turnover varies from year-to-year, site-to-site, and in relation to district leadership changes, as well as regional events and trends.

In fact, you may choose to make a career of Bush education. The respected role of career Bush educator is still found in Alaska. There are some very talented teachers and principals who would not work on the road system for twice the money, and all the fresh produce you could offer.

Many of these professionals have worked in a variety of villages over the years, and are almost living legends in education circles. Likewise, there are many well known "teaching couples" in the Bush.

Career Bush teachers and principals have made significant contributions to the lives of Alaska's village students, and are proud to excel in this particular niche of education. They have lived in, and raised their families in some of the most unique and spectacular settings on earth. Some have come up "just for a year or two", and never left.

We have a page on this website that links to the blogs of teachers and administrators currently working in rural Alaska. It's a great way to gain insight into the daily lives of Bush teachers and their families.

If you know someone who would be a good "Featured Teacher" entry, just send us the link to check. 

Or, you can email us with suggested entries.

• ATP's Featured Bush Educators – User-suggested rural educator blogs

Village residents are pretty comfortable in their world, and skilled at living there. You it will probably go better for you if you just accept that there is a learning curve, and embrace the experience.

Newcomers need to view this as a true cross-cultural experience - whether they move to a Native village or regional hub with more of a mixed population. Why?

Everything is different:

Buying food and supplies, getting around, the smells and scenery, social expectations, and local lingo will all be different. Frankly, you will feel like you've landed on a different planet your first day off the plane.

Moving from the Lower 48 to the Bush is truly a cross-cultural experience. This is like moving overseas in many ways. That is one reason that candidates with Peace Corps experience, or other successful situations where they have adjusted to another culture, are highly prized.  We aren't trying to discourage you. Quite the opposite. But, we do want to help you make informed decisions. It's better for all concerned in the long run.

Be aware that the vast majority of district interview teams will not lie to you. They don't want to replace you at Christmas, and they definitely have a vested interest in making you successful in their schools. If you ask the right questions about the village they are considering you for, you most often will get an honest, candid answer.

How do you become an informed candidate in the eyes of the school districts?

• • Do your research on the districts, and villages on this site, and using your favorite search engine.
  • Learn from the resources on this page what some of the instructional challenges will be.
  • Get a sense of what you are willing to accept in terms of lifestyle adjustments, social isolation, cross-cultural stressors, etc.
  • Factor in the recreational, and life experience opportunities available in each possible location.
  • Get a short list of districts and sites before you begin contacting potential employers.
  • Ask intelligent, thoughtful questions during your interviews, but don't grill your interviewers.
  • Despite all the advice in the world, be prepared to keep an open mind!

The instructional issues facing Bush teachers vary greatly from school-to-school. What follows are just generalizations. Your mileage may vary, and we do not mean to paint with too broad a brush here. 

Alaska Accountability Under ESSA

As most of you likely know, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation,  which drove school programs for those receiving Title I funds,  has been replaced by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).  An understanding of ESSA is necessary here, as Title I funding is determined by povertly levels, and rural Alaska has more than its share of poverty using traditional measures. If interested in the nitty gritty details about the differences between the two acts, here is an ASCD comparison chart that explains things pretty well.

For our purposes, it's important to note that virtually all rural Alaska districts receive significant Title I funds, and that the new law seems on the surface to allow more flexibility in the statewide approach Alaska EED can take.  The devil is in the details, though, and much of the new rule making work is currently either "proposed", or in flux at the moment.

It's also important to note that many of the regulations Alaska EED has in place, or is putting in place, are designed to meet ESSA requirements, but impact teacher certification and status, as well as statewide achievement testing regulations. Under ESSA, Alaska is at a minimum required to test grades 3 through 8 and once in high school.

Tracking the Changing Regulatory Landscape

In Alaska, changes to regulations have three phases. Alaska EED recommends regulatory changes to the Alaska Board of Education. They propose the changes, which then go out for a comment period. Then, the Board adopts and/or modifies the regulations.

You can track what's happening by using these links for each phase:

• Proposed Regulations - Regulation changes proposed by the Alaska State Board of Education & out for comment
• Adopted Regulations - Regulations adopted after comment period
• Recently Filed - About to become law, with effective dates projected

In addition, Alaska's mandatory statewide testing program (PEAKS) has just returned its first results for the 2016-17 school year.  Technical problems made testing a nightmare for schools in April, 2015, and testing was halted in the middle of the testing window.  This means Alaska did not complete the required testing cycle for 2015-16, and had to obtain a waiver for statewide testing that school year from the US Department of Education. The Alaska State Board of Education removed the Commissioner soon after that, and indicated it desired a new direction for EED under ESSA.

The new Performance Evaluation for Alaska’s Schools, or PEAKS information can be found on the Alaska EED Assessments page.

Alaska regulation changes were recently enacted that:

• Did away with of the Highly Qualifed status reporting requirement
• But,  still reports on the qualifications of teachers
• Removed student testing data as a required component of teacher evaluation

Because many of proposed changes have and will continue to impact things such as teacher certification procedures and requirements, and district staffing and staff development approaches to rural and small schools, in particular, it's important for candidates considering a move to Alaska to track what is going on.

What Do the Changes Mean for Rural Alaska Teachers?

Remember that there are many differences in what defines effective instruction for rural, poor and cross-cultural settings within the profession. Try not to let your personal or political leanings creep into the dialogue with districts. It's best to be well-versed on multiple viewpoints.

A meta-analysis of the research on successful programs done by Northwest Regional Education Lab puts teachers at the center of what works with at-risk students:

The primary characteristic of successful programs for at-risk youth seems to be a strong, even intense level of commitment on the part of the instructional staff. Traditional roles and role relationships are not as important as taking the proper action to achieve school/program goals. In both cases, there must be a clear belief that students can and will succeed.

The US Department of Education in recent years has focused on the belief that only scientifically valid instructional interventions can make a difference. These are frequently pre-packaged instructional programs and interventions that districts adopt, not a set of classroom or teaching practices.

• U.S. Department of Education What Works Clearinghouse – Great for learning about various vendor's packaged curricula for NCLB schools. Includes a database of interventions for math, and overviews of other core areas.  If a district uses a package curriculum solution, it is likely explained in this database.

Many schools in rural Alaska face the problems found in low socio-economic status (SES) settings everywhere. While not all Bush communities are Low SES settings, the lack of a cash economy in most isolated villages is the norm.

This "lack of a cash economy" term doesn't mean jobs don't exist in the Bush. They do, and money is certainly used. However, in many villages the school, and a few other employers offer the only regular wage earning jobs available.

Because of this, school aides, janitors, cooks and secretaries are often holders of highly desired positions, and sometimes are individuals with significant influence in the village. Subsistence lifestyles – hunting, gathering and fishing for a living – are very common, and jobs that pay cash wages are frequently limited, or seasonal, such as fire fighting and fishing.

Most of Alaska's rural schools are considered Title I eligible. Title I is a program that gives additional federal education dollars to schools that qualify due to having high percentages of Low SES students. With the dollars come guidelines that can effect both the school, and the teachers who work there.

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and now the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) have placed additional pressure on rural schools to be held accountable for student achievement levels. The national use of "Adequate Yearly Progress", or AYP measures is no longer valid, but Alaska will to test at the very minimum students in grades 3 through 8 and once during high school, and report those scores.  The hope is that ESSA will allow more state-level control and decision making about suitable solutions.

Likewise, although the concept of "Highly Qualified" teacher status seems on its way out, there will be the requirement for Alaska schools to report on which students are being taught by teachers who do not have Alaska certification for courses being taught, or who teach outside of the grade level of their current certificate.

For the last couple of years, Alaska EED and districts put a great deal of time, energy and money into preparing for using student testing data as part of new teacher evaluation frameworks.  Even though Alaska as of summer of 2016 appears to be moving away from requiring test data in evaluation of teachers, many of the districts have already adopted one of the two most popular national models that link together both staff development on effective practices, and teacher evaluation.

• Marzano Framework - " A research-based teacher evaluation model which identifies the direct cause-and-effect relationship between teaching practices and student achievement now works in alignment with a companion leadership evaluation model to facilitate a system-wide common language of instruction. Both models help teachers and leaders make the most informed decisions that yield the greatest benefits for their students." This includes iObservation.
• Danielson Framework "A research-based set of components of instruction, aligned to the INTASC standards, and grounded in a constructivist view of learning and teaching. The complex activity of teaching is divided into 22 components (and 76 smaller elements) clustered into four domains of teaching responsibility.... The Framework may be used as the foundation of a school or district’s mentoring, coaching, professional development, and teacher evaluation processes, thus linking all those activities together and helping teachers become more thoughtful practitioners. "

It is unlikely that much else will change in the near term with the Alaska Educator Evaluation and Support (EES) system EED and districs have been heavily vested in:

Many districts are quite concerned with data driven decision making now, data analysis, measuring time on task, and other concerns that revolve around accountability.
Be ready to address questions about whether or not you could teach a packaged, direct instruction method - particularly in reading and math - if the district uses one. Most in rural Alaska do have these to some degree.  Often, they are schoolwide initiatives that may require non-traditional roles for certified teachers, such as all staff teaching intervention classes, no matter what their certificate is in.
Why should you care? Not everyone wants to, or is able to teach highly scripted lessons, or highly structured curriculum components. Find out if the districts you are interested in have mandated instructional packages, and a little about how they work.

On the other hand, if you are skilled at using any of the tools a district is using, this will be a serious plus on your interview sheet.

Common direct instruction, as well as highly structured intervention solutions commonly used in Alaska districts include the following easily Googled terms:

Reading First
Star Math
Accelerated Reader
Success for All (SFA)
Differentiated Instruction
Explicit Instruction
Rti / RTI - Response to Instruction / Response to Intervention
AIMSWeb
DIBELS
Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS)
Cross-Cultural Issues
Because most of the schools in the Bush are located in Alaska Native communities, it is wise to educate yourself about the various cultural subgroups in the state, and cross-cultural education issues. Our page for researching potential locations has lots of links to help you find out which Alaska Native subgroups live where, and to learn a bit about each culture before you interview.

Teacher Loan Forgiveness Programs
Most rural, and many urban Alaskan schools with low income populations are eligible for various teacher loan forgiveness incentives. There is a database of which schools qualify as "low income" by year. You can apply even if the service was in the past, not your present position.

There are very specific criteria that allow some teachers in low income schools to get part or all of their loans paid off. The rules vary by loan type, certification area, school, and number of years you teach there, but range from $5,000 to 100% of your teacher loans forgiven or cancelled.

Again, this is not just for new teachers. If you meet the listed Stafford or Perkins loan criteria, and taught in one of these schools, you should really check it out. The list that the U.S. TCLI folks keep goes back to 1998, and as long as you fill out the form, and have the Chief Administrative Officer of the district you worked for sign it, you may get some repayment help. You can get credit for service in eligible schools that you've worked in since 1998. It's pretty cool, and I don't know why this program isn't better known!

You will need persistence. All of these programs place the burden on YOU, the teacher to pursue the right forms from your bank servicing (which typically does not want you to pay off early), the student aid offices of the schools you were enrolled in at the time of the loan. You then have to track down the certifying official in the school district you worked for in those years, and get their signature. Many districts are not well versed in the program, but it's usually the HR Director, Business Manager or Superintendent who will need to sign.

The database you want is called the "Teacher Cancellation Low Income (TCLI) Directory".  It lists each year the designated public and private nonprofit elementary and secondary schools approved by the U.S. Department of Education as having a high concentration of students from low-income families.

TCLI Directory Database
https://www.tcli.ed.gov/CBSWebApp/tcli/TCLIPubSchoolSearch.jsp

Here is an export I did for LAST school year for Alaska schools and districts, sorted by district. As you can see, most of Alaska is represented (383 schools) on the approved list.  I tried to do this for 2017-18, but the data was searchable, but not exportable.  The number of Alaska schools eligible for TCLI designation does not vary much year-to-year, but there are some slight differences, so you must actually verify a school's status for each year you work there.  Be aware that although the vast majority of rural Alaskan schools qualify, there are exceptions in communities where parental income statistics are skewed by commercial fishing or other sources of income.

TCLI List for Alaska: 2016-17 SY - Filtering turned on to search by district or school name
http://www.alaskateacher.org/downloads/TCLI-AK-2016-17SY.xls

In order - from best to worst - the loan forgiveness / cancellation programs are:

1) Federal Perkins Loan Cancellation Program - this one ROCKS. Almost all teachers in TCLI schools benefit, even during first two years, and you can have up to 100% "cancelled"!

2) Federal Teacher Loan Forgiveness Program - Between $5,000 (everyone) and $17,500 (Special Ed, HS Math & Science) forgiven if in TCLI qualified school with 30% or more poverty level. Most rural Alaska schools will qualify.

3) Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program - Aimed at public service employees, but school teachers count. Sort of a mythical thing. Started in 2007, but criteria say that you have to have 120 on-time,  full amount,  monthly payments before any benefit can be  had. That means, however, that NOBODY has gotten a penny, and won't until 2017. So, worth this is worth tracking if you qualify, or feel you might.

Whether new to the state, or an old hand, you can use the database above to search by year for eligibility of the building you were working in, or will work in. The list does not change much year to year for rural Alaska, so although not a guarantee, it's likely that a school on the list year after year in the past will also be on the list if you go to work there.

Studies of successful Bush teachers in Alaska identified the following characteristics:

• Skills to assist all students in meeting high standards – Effective rural teachers use a variety of techniques to assure that all children progress. Differentiated instruction is one such approach.
• Intellectual breadth and curiosity – Most village teachers must teach subjects outside their fields.
• Multiple talents and practical skills – Rural communities need teachers who can do more than teach school but can also lead or coordinate extracurricular activities and enrich the school environment.
• Political skills – In small communities, teachers must be astute politicians and be wary of community politics.
• Interpersonal savvy – In Alaska Native villages, teachers must decipher the unwritten rules of cross-cultural communication. They will be judged on their personal as well as professional qualities.
• High academic expectations and varied teaching strategies – Effective rural teachers have a strong academic orientation and do not use cultural differences to excuse low achievement. They also have many teaching strategies to use in different situations.
• Entrepreneurial spirit – Effective village teachers form educational partnerships with the community, and design education that fits particular places.

You should also be aware that multigrade schools are quite common in the Bush. These have three or more grade levels combined for instruction, and require some quite different skills than a graded classroom.

We have some links on our Multigrade Teaching page that should help you understand how and why education in this setting is both challenging and rewarding.

Finally, one of the best sources of information is our ATP Forum. Post your questions about requirements, districts or villages. Anonymous postings are fine. You may be surprised who responds...we have many experienced Bush teachers, district administrators, and Alaska EED officials subscribed!

Here is a list of resources that you may find useful as you consider teaching in Alaska, but particularly in the Bush.

• Teacher Retirement System – Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits – This website is designed to provide all necessary information regarding TRS benefits, which include pension, medical, disability, and death benefits.
• Lessons Taught, Lessons Learned – Ray Barhardt's 1981 classic collection of articles by rural teachers

Good luck, and let us know if you find resources we should add, or discover broken links.