September 29, 2017

CHEYENNE  – During last week’s board meeting, the Wyoming State Board of Education (SBE) voted to designate Meadowlark Academy in Cheyenne as an approved facility for court ordered placement of students and subsequent educational payments. The SBE also took action to approve a report about the work done by a Professional Judgement Panel (PJP) in July to set targets for the state’s accountability model, which will be sent to the Joint Education Interim Committee this month.

During a work session on September 21, the SBE discussed its responsibilities surrounding the review and approval of alternative school calendars, and requested an analysis of the last four years of school accountability results segmented by alternative calendars vs. regular calendars. SBE chairman Walt Wilcox will work with coordinator Tom Sachse to generate a summary report in the next two months and share the report with the SBE.

The SBE continued its discussions about content standards and statewide assessments. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) shared information about its work involving social studies standards related to Indian Education for all, math, and extended science standards for students with special needs. The WDE also shared that 11th graders will no longer take the additional writing portion of the ACT, the WY-TOPP spring interim reading assessment will be required for grades K-2, and that the WY-TOPP interim assessments in grades 3-10 will be computer adaptive.

The board heard additional reports and updates from WDE staff, including an impact report on the state systems of support, Wyoming school performance ratings for the the past four years, and revisions to rules for Chapter 29 (Leader Evaluation) and Chapter 41 (Virtual Education). They also reviewed several options to replace aging technology devices used by board members.

Sweetwater County School District 2 superintendent, Donna Little-Kaumo, presented to the SBE on education programs and priorities for students attending Green River schools. She also discussed the implication of prior budget cuts and future prospects if the recalibration process currently underway leads to additional cuts in education funding.

The SBE also met as the State Board of Vocational Education to hear a report from the the Office of Career Technical Education on the 2016-17 Adult Education Perkins Monitoring Visit.

The next board meeting is set for October 18, 2017 via teleconference.

– END –

For more information, contact Kylie Taylor at (307) 777-6213 or kylie.taylor@wyo.gov.

Media Contact:
Dr. Thomas Sachse
(307) 752-1900
tom.sachse@wyo.gov