Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Common Questions
• What tests are students asked to take?
• What are students learning?
• How’s my school doing?
• Who makes decisions about Wyoming
Education?
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Common Questions
What tests are students asked to take?
Students in grades 3 through 8 take the statewide Proficiency Assessments
for Wyoming Students (PAWS) in reading and math. Students in grades 4
and 8 also take the science portion of the PAWS test.
Students in grades 3, 5, and 7 take the Student Assessment of Writing Skills
(SAWS), which is used to measure a student’s writing skills.
Students in grades 9, 10, and 11 take EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT,
respectively. These standardized tests are indicators of college readiness
and used for college admissions in the United States. Students in grade 11
also participate in the ACT Writing test.
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Wyoming Student Assessment
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Student Assessment
Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students
(PAWS)
PAWS is the state test used to measure
student performance for both the state and
national accountability systems.
Once a year, Wyoming students in grades 3
through 8 take the PAWS.
PAWS tests student proficiency in both
reading and math in grades 3 through 8 and
in science in grades 4 and 8.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Student Assessment
Student Assessment of Writing Skills (SAWS)
Students in grades 3, 5, and 7 also take a test
called SAWS, which is used to measure a
student’s writing skills.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Student Assessment
EXPLORE, Plan, and the ACT – ACT Suite
EXPLORE, PLAN and the ACT are all part of the ACT College Readiness
Assessment Suite, which is produced by ACT, Inc.
Students in grades 9, 10, and 11 take EXPLORE, PLAN, and ACT,
respectively. These standardized tests are indicators of college readiness and
student achievement.
The state’s school accountability system uses data from all three tests in the
ACT suite, while the federal accountability system (AYP) uses only data from
the ACT at grade 11. The ACT is also used to help determine Hathaway
scholarship awards.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Student Assessment
What tests do students take?
Wyoming Alternate Assessment (Wy-ALT)
Students with significant cognitive disabilities in
grades 3-11 who cannot meaningfully
participate in the other assessments above,
even with accommodations, take the alternate
assessment. In 2013-14 and earlier, this test
was called the PAWS-ALT (or SAWS-ALT for the
writing test in grades 3, 5 and 7). Beginning in
2014-15, this test is called Wy-ALT.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Student Assessment
District and Classroom testing
Local districts, schools, and teachers
administer their own tests and use their own
assessment methods to gauge student
performance for their own needs.
• [Insert your local/district tests and other
assessment methods here]
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Common Questions
What are students learning?
Standards describe what students need to
know and be able to do by the end of each
grade level. They explain the knowledge,
concepts, and skills that each student should
acquire at each grade level so that Wyoming
students are both career and college ready by
the time they graduate high school.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming State Standards
What are students learning?
Standards do not define all that can or should
be taught; they simply outline end-of-year
expectations for all students to help create
equal opportunities to learn regardless of
where the student lives.
Wyoming has adopted standards in the
following content areas: English/language
arts, math, science, social studies, fine and
performing arts, foreign language, health
education, physical education, and
career/vocation training.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Content and Performance
Standards
What are literacy standards?
Literacy standards help students strengthen
their reading, writing, research, listening, and
speaking skills. To do so, students must
comprehend and evaluate complex text, write a
variety of expressive and expository pieces, and
use listening and speaking skills for a variety of
audiences at each grade level.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Wyoming Content and Performance
Standards
What are math standards?
Math standards are designed to build a strong
mathematical base of understanding for further
study in college and career training. A working
understanding of concepts such as numbers
and quantity, algebraic functions, geometry,
mathematical modeling, and statistics are built
upon each other as the student advances
towards graduation.
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Wyoming Content and Performance Standards
The state board sets the standards and the districts decide how they’re implemented
How [your district] is implementing
the new literacy standards.
How [your district] is implementing
the new math standards.
[Text]
[Text]
Curriculum Development
[Insert district approach to curriculum here.]
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Wyoming Content and Performance Standards
The state board sets the standards and the districts decide how they’re implemented
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Common Questions
What is accountability?
A simple definition of accountability is an
obligation or willingness to accept
responsibility or to account for one's actions.
In education, accountability means reviewing
how well teachers, principals, and
superintendents help students grow.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Accountability in Education
State and Federal Systems
Wyoming has two accountability systems: state and federal. The federal
system measures accountability using Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
calculations. AYP is an annual measurement of school quality required
under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) that allows the United States
Department of Education to determine how schools are performing
academically in each state.
Wyoming accountability is defined in the Wyoming Accountability in
Education Act (WAEA). This law is different from NCLB in many respects
and takes into account measures specifically related to educational goals in
Wyoming.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Accountability in Education
The Federal system, NCLB
Under NCLB, schools are measured each year by Adequate Yearly
Progress (AYP) calculations.
NCLB and AYP looks at many different indicators including participation,
proficiency, and graduation. Schools are rated by a pass/fail type system,
where schools are rated as “in need of improvement” when they fail to meet
the year’s requirements.
Under NCLB, if a school is rated as "in need of improvement" it must
designate additional funds for professional development, and offer its
students tutoring services and another school to attend. Each school will be
offered a multi-tiered system of supports, interventions, and consequences
depending on the rating the school receives and for how many consecutive
years that rating has been received.
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Accountability in Education
The federal system NCLB
Annual Measurable Objectives
Elementary
Schools
ELA: 30.4
Math: 23.8
Middle
Schools
ELA: 34.5
Math: 25.3
2002
Elementary
Schools
ELA: 42.0
Math: 36.5
Middle
Schools
ELA: 45.42
Math: 37.75
2005
Elementary
Schools
ELA: 53.6
Math: 49.2
Middle
Schools
ELA: 56.33
Math: 50.2
2008
Elementary
Schools
Reading: 65.2
Math: 61.9
Middle
Schools
Reading: 67.25
Math: 62.65
2011*
Elementary
Schools
Reading : 85.4
Math: 83.3
Elementary
Schools
Reading : 85.4
Math: 83.3
Middle
Schools
Reading : 79.7
Math: 75.2
Middle
Schools
Reading : 79.7
Math: 75.2
2012
2013**
2014
100 for All
High Schools
ELA: 48.4
Math: 35.8
High Schools
ELA: 57.0
Math: 46.5
High Schools
ELA: 65.6
Math: 57.2
High Schools
Reading: 74.2
Math: 67.9
High Schools
Reading: 75.4
Math: 69.5
High Schools
Reading: 75.4
Math: 69.5
*in 2011, ELA changed to only include reading, and the expected scores were adjusted.
**in 2013, a waiver was received allowing Wyoming schools to use the AYP from the previous year as their target.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Accountability in Education
The state system, WAEA
WAEA uses the School Performance Reports (SPRs) to measure school
performance on several indicators including: student academic achievement,
student growth from year to year, student college and career readiness, and
equity which is the extent to which lower performing students improve over
time. These indicators are summarized into a single rating for a school’s
performance.
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Accountability in Education
The state system WAEA
Depending on the grade level, certain indicators measured by the state wide tests
are used to evaluated a school’s performance.
Growth
(Grades 3-8)
• How much students have improved on the state test in
reading and math.
Readiness
(Grades 9-12)
• The overall performance on the state test that indicates if
students are college or career ready.
Achievement
• The percent of students who are proficient or above in
the subjects measured by state tests.
Equity
Participation
• The change from year to year in students who move from
testing below proficient to testing at or above proficient.
• The percent of students that participated in the state
test.
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Accountability in Education
The state system, WAEA
WAEA looks at student growth, readiness, achievement, equity, and
participation. Based on these indicators schools are rated using a traditional
grade scale in that there are varying levels of performance that can be
achieved: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting
Expectations, or Not Meeting Expectations.
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Accountability in Education
The state system WAEA
Those indicators are then used to calculate the school’s overall performance level.
Exceeding
Expectations
Meeting
Expectations
Partially
Meeting
Expectaions
Not Meeting
Expectations
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Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
Common Questions
Who makes decisions about Wyoming Education?
We value local control in Wyoming, so
many important decisions are made by
teachers, parents, local school boards, and
district superintendents.
Decisions regarding state policy are made
by state lawmakers, the State Board of
Education, and the Superintendent of
Public Instruction.
.
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Wyoming Education LEADERSHIP
Who makes the
decisions impacting
Wyoming Education?
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simply. understand. education.
Thank You
Wyoming EDUCATION TODAY
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