Stakeholder Collaboration

Getting In Touch

As Alaska develops its State Plan for submission to ED for approval, ESSA provides the opportunity to conduct meaningful and timely consultation with education sector stakeholders across the state. In addition to the required and established processes for encouraging and aggregating public comment, DEED is initiating the formation of additional stakeholder opportunities to ensure broad stakeholder involvement in development of Alaska’s State Plan.

Our Stakeholders

The Public at Large

All Alaskans will have multiple opportunities to provide input and feedback on the State Plan at various stages of development through an online survey. At a minimum, options and considerations and public comment periods on the draft State Plan will be posted online for public review. Additionally, numerous resources and materials will continue to be made available on DEED’s ESSA website.

Five identical webinar presentations on the ESSA State Plan were held by DEED in May and June 2016. Watch the webinar presentation on the ESSA State Plan. The PPT slide deck is available under the Presentations section at the bottom of this page.

DEED encourages Alaskans to visit the Draft State Plan tab to provide input and feedback on the State Plan.

The Alaska ESSA State Plan Advisory Committee

A 43-member group of stakeholders representing school districts, educational organizations, and educational partners across the state who will review and provide recommendations on the options related to the three areas of the State Plan. Nominations for committee membership were submitted by superintendents and educational organizations and partners. Final membership selection was completed by DEED to ensure a balance of stakeholder representation based on requirements set out in ESSA.

The Advisory Committee membership representation includes the following:

• A minimum of one district representative each from: Anchorage School District, Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District, Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, Juneau School District, and Lower Kuskokwim School District.
• Two or three district representatives each from: Southeast, Northwest, Southwest, Southcentral, and Interior.
• Additional representation includes at least one member from Alaska’s organizations, including those representing educators, parents, businesses, and non-profits.

DEED meets with the Advisory Committee on a monthly basis via webinar for in-depth presentations and discussions on the implementation of ESSA and the current work at DEED that intersects with ESSA. These webinars provide a valuable opportunity for DEED to deliver progress updates to the Committee and engage their expertise and critical thinking. The Committee is an important partner in helping to communicate the ongoing work to the public, serves as content experts, and helps educate Alaskans.

Focus Groups

Focus Groups are job or interest-related groups of stakeholders that join together as part of an organization or for an interest-related conference. Examples include, but are not limited to: the Association of Alaska School Boards, Alaska Parent Teacher Association, Alaska Federation of Natives, Tanana Chiefs Conference, Alaska Association of Student Government, Alaska Superintendents Association, Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals, and the Alaska Staff Development Network Spring Leadership Conference.

Overview presentations on the three key elements of the State Plan will be made to Focus Groups through live and recorded webinars and in-person working conferences. These presentations will take place until approximately the end of June 2016. Input and feedback opportunities on the key State Plan elements will be made available to Focus Groups through in-person surveys, online voting tools, and online surveys.

Since December 2015, DEED has:

• Collected nearly 4,000 stakeholder comments to date.
• Held or participated in over 40 meetings/conferences.
• Met with (via webinar and/or in face-to-face meetings) nearly 1,000 stakeholders.
• Formed an ESSA Advisory Committee consisting of over 40 members representing school districts, educational organizations, and educational partners, which has met consistently since January 2016 to discuss the application contents and stakeholder feedback.

The table below outlines the various stakeholder meetings that DEED has engaged in, as well as meetings planned for spring 2017.

State Leadership

The Governor, the Alaska Legislature, and the Alaska State Board of Education & Early Development will receive regular updates from DEED leadership on the ESSA stakeholder engagement process via in-person and webinar presentations. Alaska state leadership will also be responsible for considering policy changes based on State Plan recommendations.

Materials

Materials related to the timeline and requirements of ESSA:

• ESSA Tribal Consultation Overview (pdf)
• Joint Education Committee (pdf)
• Principals’ Pre-Conference (pdf)
• Alaska Federation of Natives Convention (pdf)
• Alaska Association of Student Governments (pdf)
• Governor’s Council on Disabilities & Special Education (pdf)
• Alaska Superintendents Association Fall Meeting (pdf)
• Dear Tribal Leaders letter (pdf)
• Hispanic Affairs Council of Alaska (pdf)
• Tanana Chiefs Conference (pdf)
• AK ESSA State Plan Webinar Presentation (pdf)
• ASDN 2016 Spring Leadership Working Conference (pdf)
• Briefing to the Joint Education Committee (pdf)

Resources

Documents and tools that support stakeholders in building a knowledge of the timeline and requirements of ESSA:

• Map of Advisory Committee Membership (pdf)
• Advisory Committee Membership List (pdf)
• DEED ESSA Webinar Press Release (pdf)