Communications

Wyoming Department of Education Interim Director Jim Rose is encouraging educators and families to help students engage in reading and mathematics practice during the summer months in an effort to retain the academic skills they have learned during the year. The WDE is offering two new summer learning initiatives - Find a Book, Wyoming and The Summer Math Challenge

Wyoming's search for a Director of the Wyoming Department of Education will soon enter the interview phase as the application period for the position closed May 15.

Wyoming Department of Education Interim Director Jim Rose announced the 11 recipients of the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21 CCLC) Cohort Eight grant in Cheyenne today. The program helps students meet state and local standards in core academic subjects, such as reading and math; offers students a broad array of enrichment activities that complement the school day academic programs; and offers literacy and other educational services to the families of participating children.

The Wyoming State Board of Education will convene on May 8-9 at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in Casper. To read a full agenda and list of discussion points, click on the link below.

Service providers for clients with low vision are invited for a three-day workshop in Casper, sponsored by the Wyoming Department of Education. The course is scheduled for July 15-18. The Low Vision Assessment and Intervention program seeks to instruct service providers to identify a variety of non-optical materials for enhancing visual functioning and describe methods for incorporating non-optical devices with optical device instruction

The Wyoming Department of Education will offer a course for Independent Living Skills for Children and Adults with Vision Loss or multi-disabilities July 31-Aug. 1 in Rawlins. The course offers itself as an in-service designed to provide therapists, teachers and professionals information on assessing independent living skills.

The Wyoming Department of Education will sponsor a professional development opportunity for teachers and professionals who work with low vision clients on June 3-6 in Rawlins. The program, titled “Strategies for Assessing, Stimulating and Enhancing Functional Vision,” will provide therapists, teachers and professionals information on functional vision assessments, focusing on intervention stimulation, and enhancing visual functioning of children and adults with low vision.

Improving the lives of clients through advanced Orientation and Mobility techniques is the subject of a training in Casper on May 11-12. The workshop is designed to provide therapists, teachers and professionals information on Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instruction.

Due to the events surrounding the sequestration and loss of funding, The U.S. Department of Education (USDE) is giving all State Educational Agencies (SEA) a chance to apply for a waiver enabling states to waive the carryover limitation of more than once every three years for Title 1, Part A funding within Local Education Agencies (LEA).

The Wyoming State Board of Education will hold a teleconference on Thursday, April 25, 2013 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The items for discussion are the finalization of Director profile, interview dates and protocols for interviews.

Fueled by the largest kindergarten class in its history, public schools in Wyoming saw its enrollment grow in 2012-13 by more than 1,500 students. According to data released today by the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE), there are 90,993 students attending schools this year in the Cowboy State.

Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) Interim Director Jim Rose granted waivers to each of the 22 school districts that applied for waivers from the state-mandated 16:1 student-to-teacher ratio in grades K-3 for the 2012-13 school year.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) hosted a pair of online presentations today to unveil details of its flexibility waiver application from certain aspects of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as No Child Left Behind. The meeting is available for viewing through the WDE’s Blackboard Collaborate tool and lasted approximately 1:15.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Advisory Panel for Students with Disabilities (WAPSD) will hold public meetings at the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) offices at 320 West Main, Riverton, Wyo. April 18-19. The meeting will begin on April 18 and run from 1-5 p.m. in the WDE’s first floor conference room. It will reconvene at 8 a.m. on April 19 and is scheduled to run until noon.

The Wyoming State Board of Education is using three different avenues to collect education stakeholder feedback in its search for the Director of the Wyoming Department of Education. The State Board of Education will host an online stakeholder forum April 18 and a teleconference on April 19 by Ray and Associates regarding the Director of the WDE search. The State Board and Ray and Associates are also partnering to collect feedback through an online survey

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will host a pair of online presentations to unveil details of its flexibility waiver application from certain aspects of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as No Child Left Behind. In order to solicit as much public comment as possible, the department will host online meetings at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, April 12. Each presentation will last approximately an hour and a half.

The Wyoming Department of Education is seeking houses of worship to participate in the Summer Food Service Program for summer 2013. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps Wyoming children up to the age of 18 get the nutrition they need to learn, play and grow during summer months when they don’t have access to other school meal programs.

The Wyoming Department of Education's (WDE) Deaf-Blind Project and Texas Tech University have partnered on a grant program offering Wyoming educators financial assistant in earning their Masters Degree in Sensory Impairments as well as certification in Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The Wyoming State Board of Education (SBOE) awarded a contract to Ray and Associates to aid in the search for the permanent director of the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE). Ray and Associates of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was selected during the State Board of Education’s meeting in Rock Springs on Tuesday.

The Wyoming Department of Education has been granted an extension on its application for a flexibility waiver from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Wyoming State Board of Education will meet Monday and Tuesday, March 11-12 in Rock Springs. The Board will hold a work session on March 11 from 8:00 a.m. - 4:15 p.m. During the work session the Board will review presentations and interview hiring firms for the Director of Wyoming Department of Education search. The work session is open to the public.

A number of Wyoming school districts have volunteered to be part of a national pilot for the assessment of common core standards in Language Arts and Math. Nearly 7,000 students in 15 Wyoming school districts will take “Smarter Balanced Assessments” in the coming weeks. Nationwide, more than one million students in grades 3-11 are slated to take part in the pilot.

The Wyoming Department of Education will submit a request for a Flexibility Waiver from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), commonly known as No Child Left Behind. The waiver request will be filed by Thursday, Feb. 28.

The Ninth Annual College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Report to the Nation is available today for the 2011-2012 school year. The report compiles statistics for each state and school in the nation, including test scores of students taking AP courses. The report includes test data for all 48 Wyoming public school districts, and students across the Cowboy State who participated in the program and took more than 2,000 AP tests.

The Wyoming State Board of Education (SBE) was presented and approved a proposed Request for Proposals (RFP) document seeking an executive search firm to assist the SBE with the search for a Director of the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE). The presentation came Monday during the Board’s teleconference.

Wyoming Department of Education Interim Director, Jim Rose, Ed. D. spoke to district superintendents of Wyoming schools Friday over the Department’s Blackboard Collaborate tool. The online meeting offered Rose a chance to introduce himself as well as update the state’s superintendents on the division of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office from the Wyoming Department of Education.

Students in Wyoming can now access a newly re-launched online resource to help them plan and prepare for college: www.WYO4ed.org. WYO4ed offers interactive tools to help students understand the Hathaway Scholarship and “Success Curriculum,” explore what majors and careers may fit their interests, and identify pre-college programs across Wyoming.

The Wyoming State Board of Education will hold a teleconference, Monday, Feb. 11, from 3-4 p.m. The items for discussion are the Request for Proposals (RFP) to secure an executive search firm in the process for recommendations of State Director of Education candidates, legislative issues and State Board of Education contracts.

The Wyoming State Board of Education announced its intention to hire a search firm to aid in the selection of the state’s first Director of the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE). The decision came today during a special meeting of State Board in Cheyenne. The State Board of Education (SBoE) voted 9-0 to develop a Request for Proposals (RFP), which would contract a search firm to identify possible candidates for the Director of the WDE position.

The Chapter 18 Education Rules and Regulations are now available for public comment. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will be accepting public comment until March 11, 2013. The following information is intended to clarify the changes to the Chapter 18 Education Rules that address requirements for Private K-12 Non-Religious Schools.

The Wyoming Advisory Panel exists under the authority of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Implementing Regulations 34 CFR 300 & 301. The panel serves as a forum by which issues and benefits regarding current and potential services to individuals with disabilities are discussed. The Wyoming Advisory Panel for Students with Disabilities (WAPSD) will be holding public meetings at Little America, 2800 West Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82009

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) is seeking community sponsors for the Summer Food Service Program for this coming summer of 2013. Learning does not end when school lets out, and neither does the need for good nutrition. Children who aren’t hungry learn better, behave better, and feel better. The Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) helps all children up to the age of 18 get the nutrition they need during summer months when they don’t have access to other school meal programs.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill today announced Wyoming’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress—known as the Nation’s Report Card or NAEP—in the area of vocabulary. This is a new reporting area for NAEP, and Wyoming’s results for 2011 and 2009 are being released today for the first time ever. Wyoming’s fourth and eighth grade scores were statistically the same as the nationwide average for public schools in 2011.

The Wyoming State Board of Education has cancelled the scheduled teleconference for December 10, 2012. The next State Board of Education meeting will be held January 8-9, 2012 in Cheyenne.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Cindy Hill, announced today that Laura Drake, a third grade teacher at Goins Elementary of Laramie County School District #1, has been named Wyoming’s 2013 Teacher of the Year.

Following the district review period and completing the quality assurance process, the Wyoming Department of Education releases the final results of 2012 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The release of information came on Oct. 18.

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will present five briefings concerning the Wyoming Accountability in Education Act (WAEA) during October. Click here for more dates and times of presentations by the Wyoming Department of Education.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming State Board of Education will meet Sept. 26-27 at the Snow King Resort in Jackson. Among the topics the board will review during the work session are: an update from the State Board of Education Coordinator; a report from the legislative subcommittee; information on dual immersion; the direction of assessment and End of Course; the board’s strategic plan, a Chapter 31 update and information the Oct. 15 report to the Legislature.

CHEYENNE - The purpose of this press release is to provide clarity to the September 17, 2012 press release concerning Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). All Wyoming school districts have reviewed their AYP related data; one district’s AYP determinations remain under review per its request.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Education announced today the release of the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) information as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. All Wyoming school districts have reviewed their AYP related data; one district’s AYP determinations remain under review per their request.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) is seeking public comment regarding a waiver request. The WDE is requesting a waiver of the 14-day notification provision of the Title I, Part A requirement for a local educational agency (LEA) to provide parents of eligible students with notice of their public school choice options at least 14 days before the start of the school year (34 C.F.R. § 200.37(b)(4)(iv)).

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) announces the release of the 2012 ACT (The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2012) test results. The purpose of this release is to provide Wyoming-specific information to parents, students, educators and communities.

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education released the statewide scores for the Proficiency Assessment of Wyoming Students (PAWS) and Proficiency Assessment of Wyoming Students – Alternative (PAWS-ALT) today in Cheyenne. The PAWS outcomes released today continue a two-year upward achievement trend. According to historical PAWS data, the percentages of students testing proficient or advanced in each of the tested subject areas, math, reading and science, are the best performances recorded by Wyoming’s students. That is statewide across all tested grades. Among the highlights of the information release was 90.3

CHEYENNE -The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) announced today its projected release dates for the 2012 results of the Proficiency Assessment of Wyoming Students (PAWS), the Proficiency Assessment of Wyoming Students-Alternate Assessment (PAWS-ALT) as well as school districts’ Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) determinations.

State Board of Education to told teleconference July 12, 2012 CHEYENNE – The Wyoming State Board of Education will hold a teleconference on Monday, July 16, 2012 from 3:00-3:45 p.m. The items for discussion are possible contracts for EA 65, a memorandum of understanding with the University of Wyoming and Chapter 18 revisions. Read more...

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming State Board of Education will hold a teleconference on Monday, July 9, 2012 from 3:00-4:30 p.m.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Department of Education announced today the selection of Julie Magee as their new Division Director of Standards, Learning & Accountability.

Cheyenne – Today Wyoming’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Cindy Hill, sent a letter to the Honorable Arne Duncan, the United States’ Secretary of Education requesting a waiver of certain requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).

CHEYENNE -- In accordance with the Wyoming Department of Education’s learning focus on literacy and numeracy, the WDE, as part of the new partnership with REL Central, is developing and deploying training called: WY Figures: New Math Standards.

CHEYENNE -- The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released the National results from the 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results can be found on the Wyoming Department of Education web site.

CHEYENNE – Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill is pleased to announce the addition of Tiffany Dobler to the Wyoming Department of Education as Special Programs Director.

CHEYENNE --Pursuant to W.S. § 21-2-304(a)(iii), the Wyoming State Board of Education must prescribe uniform student content and performance standards for the common core of knowledge specified by W.S. § 21-9-101(b)(i). The Wyoming Content and Performance Standards must be reviewed every five (5) years per W.S. § 21-2-304(c). Beginning on June 18, 2012, a standards review will occur for Science, Social Studies, Physical Education and Career-Vocational Education content areas.

CHEYENNE - The Wyoming Board of Education today announced that it is seeking nominations to the 27 member professional judgment panel being formed to provide broad-based representation and information to be used in developing and establishing the Wyoming Accountability in Education Act (WAEA) accountability model. A more thorough description of the work of the panel may be found in the Section 5 of the Act (please review pages 644-649 of the referenced PDF file [DO NOT use page numbers on the document, USE page numbers shown in the PDF program]; http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2012/BillswithFN/Chapter/All%20Chapters.pdf)

Cheyenne – State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill today announced Wyoming’s performance on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card or NAEP. Wyoming’s eighth grade students continue to outperform the national average test score in science. Additionally, students increased Wyoming’s science scores from those reported for 2009.

Gillette – In 2010, the State Board of Education started a process pertaining to three of Wyoming’s content and performance standard areas; English language arts, math and health. Part of that process involved a period where members of the general public could review and comment on the proposed changes to the state standards in those three areas, that period lasted from December 2011 through early February 2012.

CHEYENNE—Understanding more about research, learning about new online tools, and the examination of goals and benchmarks for leading and lagging indicators are all part of the agenda for next week’s School Improvement Grant (SIG) Conference, sponsored by the Wyoming Department of Education.

CHEYENNE - Each year the Wyoming Department of Education submits an application for Part B Federal Special Education Funds. There are two basic components to the application for funds which are posted on the WDE website at http://edu.wyoming.gov/Programs/special_education.aspx. The Department will be accepting public comment from April 2, 2012 through May 2, 2012.

CHEYENNE – Using the established United States Department of Education methodology, the Wyoming Department of Education’s Federal Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, or “on-time” graduation rate, is 79.74% for the class of 2011 (the 2009-2010 rate was 80.42%) . Wyoming graduated 52 more students than last year. It should be noted that thirty-nine (39) of Wyoming’s forty-eight (48) districts have graduation rates above the state average; twenty-four (24) districts have graduation rates at or above eighty-five (85%) percent.

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education’s Special Programs Division will host the sixth annual Education Leadership Symposium in Lander, June 25-28.

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) hosted a requirements meeting on its Assessment Resource Tool (ART) during a demonstration at the Natrona County School District Administration building, Wednesday in Casper.

CHEYENNE – The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will host a demonstration to the media of its Assessment Resource Tool (ART) at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 14 in the Westwood Room of the Natrona County School District’s Central Services building.

Cheyenne- The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) will be writing to the U.S. Department of Education to request a waiver to extend the FY10 funding received by Wyoming under Title I, Part A 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). Wyoming is requesting this funding be extended from its original expiration date of September 30, 2012 to an expiration date of September 30, 2014.

Cheyenne- As indicated in the Press Release dated December 22, 2011, public hearings for the Chapter 31 Rules have been set up around the state beginning Monday, February 6th and continuing through Monday, February 13, 2012.

Cheyenne- Per state statute (W.S. 21-2-304(a)(iii)), the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards are revised every five (5) years and are approved by the State Board of Education. For 2011, the following content areas have been revised: Health, Language Arts, and Mathematics. The 2011 Revised Wyoming Content and Performance Standards for Language Arts and Mathematics include the Common Core State Standards. These revisions were approved by the State Board of Education on September 23, 2011.

Cheyenne- Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill announced the five districts that have been approved for federal School Improvement Grants (SIG). A total of $3,580,001 in funds will be provided to the five districts over three years. The U.S. Department of Education recently allocated Wyoming this money to be distributed as part of the federal Title I program which provides money to districts and schools with high numbers or high percentages of low-income children.

Cheyenne – The Wyoming Department of Education announces the release of the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) summary and results. A complete set of Youth Risk Behavior Survey results can be accessed on the WDE website at http://edu.wyoming.gov/DataInformationAndReporting/YouthRiskBehaviorSurvey.aspx

Cheyenne- Per state statute (W.S. 21-2-304(a)(iii)), the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards are revised every five (5) years and are approved by the State Board of Education. For 2011, the following content areas have been revised: Health, Language Arts, and Mathematics. The 2011 Revised Wyoming Content and Performance Standards for Language Arts and Mathematics include the Common Core State Standards. These revisions were approved by the State Board of Education on September 23, 2011. Both the Chapter 31 Rules and the 2011 Revised Wyoming Content and Performance Standards for Health, Language Arts, and Mathematics will be posted on the WDE website at http://edu.wyoming.gov/Programs/standards/standards_review_request-for-public-comments.aspx, on December 12, 2011. There, you will also find the Statement of Reasons. Please take time to review these documents.

Cheyenne – Cheyenne, WY. Superintendent of Public Instruction, Cindy Hill, announced today that the Wyoming Department of Education had completed its study on the bandwidth requirements for the next generation of the Wyoming Equality Network (WEN v3). The report was the culmination of information gathered from students, parents, educators, administrators and experts in the Kindergarten through Grade 12 (K-12) schools and from community colleges across Wyoming. It is expected that the report will become a component of the process by which the next WEN contract is bid and under which the services will be provided. That contract is expected to take effect July 1, 2014.

ACT released the 2011 High School Graduation Report this week. A total of 5,533 students are included in the 2011 graduating class report. The percent of the average combined score increased to 20.3% from 20.0% in 2010. When reviewing this report, please keep in mind that these results are not a reflection of the junior’s assessed in the spring of 2011. Those students will be seniors in school year 2011-12. The ACT Graduating Class 2011 Report provides information on the performance of graduating seniors who took the ACT as sophomores, juniors, or seniors. The students self reported that they were scheduled to graduate in school year 2010-2011.

Cheyenne - The Wyoming Department of Education will hold a series of Town Hall Meetings to discuss the upcoming Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 2013 State Assessment. The public and media are encouraged to attend the three events, which are slated for Casper, Moorcroft and Rock Springs in the month of August. The purpose of these meetings is to explain the process for developing a statewide assessment and how it will be used.

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) presented preliminary Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) results to the Select Committee on Statewide Education Accountability this past week. The WDE now has six years of PAWS results and the trend in the state is positive. The results that were shared compared 2006 PAWS results to 2011 PAWS results. Student achievement increased across the state in Reading, Writing, and Mathematics, assessed since 2006.

A settlement agreement between the State of Wyoming Department of Education and NCS Pearson, Inc. was completed May 16, 2011. The agreement is the culmination of discussions and negotiations occurring between the two parties during the past several months. A copy of the actual agreement is attached.

Cheyenne –The administration of the 2011 Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) ended April 1, 2011. The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) congratulates all participants who worked so hard and contributed so much to the successful administration of the assessment. WDE also congratulates all students who participated in the assessment process.

Cheyenne- Each year the Wyoming Department of Education makes application for Part B Federal funds. There are two basic components to the application for funds. The first section requires the State to provide assurances that it has policies and procedures to meet all eligibility requirements of Part B of the Act as found in PL 108-446, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and applicable regulations (IDEA). The second component of the application is a spreadsheet showing each required allocation.

Using a new methodology established by the United States Department of Education, the Wyoming Department of Education’s Federal Four-Year Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate, or “on-time” graduation rate, is 80.4% for the class of 2010.

Cheyenne – Competitive grant applications for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers for after-school programming are now being accepted. Approximately $134,958 will be available to support after-school programming under the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21 CCLC) federal grant program.

LANDER —The Wyoming Afterschool Alliance (WYAA), an initiative of the Wyoming Community Foundation, has received a three-year grant to conduct a research project surveying the capacity of the public and private afterschool systems and to assess their effectiveness across Wyoming. Read More...

Cheyenne – The Wyoming State Board of Education elected new officers at its most recent meeting in Cheyenne. Gerald “Joe” Reichardt of Wheatland was elected Chairman and Dr. Larry McGarvin of Ten Sleep was elected Treasurer. Read More...