Region 16 Comprehensive Center’s work in Alaska is centered around supporting the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (DEED)’s strategic plan: Alaska’s Education Challenge. Our support centers on four areas: evidence-based reading instruction, standards refresh and refocus, school improvement, and assessments and data literacy. The goal of Region 16 Comprehensive Center’s work is to provide capacity-building support to DEED so that the agency can continue serving Alaskan students, districts, and communities effectively in their implementation of Alaska’s Education Challenge.
Region 16 Comprehensive Center and DEED have worked in collaboration with several additional partners to support Alaska’s Education Challenge, including SME Strategy. “It’s really inspiring to see both how passionate people are, and how much potential there is,” Anthony Taylor of SME Strategy shared. “It’s a great group to work with and I’m very optimistic about how we can come together and have a huge impact.”
Our collaboration has been transformative for staff at DEED. Director of Innovation and Education Excellence Susy McKenzie shared that our partnership was professionally stimulating and that the capacity-building work achieved through this partnership has provided direct benefits to students statewide.
“In working collaboratively, we’ve been able to create intensive resources and opportunities for educators and leaders in support of student learning,” said Amy Jo Meiners, Region 16 Comprehensive Center Alaska Education Specialist.