November 22, 2017
CHEYENNE – During last Friday’s Wyoming State Board of Education (SBE) meeting, the SBE approved the request from Weston County School District #7 to grant Upton High School an exemption from the Participation Rate in the state accountability model for their 2016-17 School Performance Rating. Upton High School initially earned a School Performance rating of “meets expectations” based on their Academic Performance and Overall Readiness. The rating was lowered to “partially meets expectations” because the the school failed to meet the 95% participation rate on the statewide assessment, which is required as part of Wyoming’s state accountability model.
Weston #7 asked the SBE to consider their small school size, as one student equals 5%. They presented evidence to the SBE to demonstrate that missing the participation rate was atypical as they had 100% participation in 11th grade for the ACT in 2014-15 and 2015-16, and that the district does not use “non-participation” tactics to boost results.
The SBE voted 7-4 to allow the exception to the business rules in the School Performance Rating Implementation Handbook, and change the School Performance Rating back to “meets expectations.”
The SBE also heard an update on Chapter 31 as well as alternative accreditation concepts developed by SBE coordinator, Dr. Tom Sachse. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) gave an update on accreditation and the upcoming work for the accreditation task force. SBE committee chairs gave overviews of current committee work, legislative priorities and the SBE budget.
The next board meeting is set for January 18, 2018 via teleconference.
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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