All posts by Kari Eakins

Wyoming’s ESSA State Plan Submitted to USED

News Releases

State Superintendent State Superintendent Jillian Balow signs Wyoming's ESSA state plan on Thursday, August 17, 2017 at Laramie County Community College

State Superintendent Jillian Balow signs Wyoming’s ESSA state plan on Thursday, August 17, 2017 at Laramie County Community College.

CHEYENNE – Today State Superintendent Jillian Balow has submitted Wyoming’s consolidated state plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) to the U.S. Department of Education (USED).

ESSA reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and replaces No Child Left Behind as the principal federal law affecting K-12 education. To meet the requirements of ESSA, the plan includes achievement and graduation rate goals for schools, measures for how well schools are doing, and priorities for the use of federal funds to support schools, students, and educators.

State Superintendent Jillian Balow says ESSA gives Wyoming education a call to action to examine its strengths and challenges, “With this plan we double down with how we create opportunities for students as they prepare for success in college, careers, workforce training, or military service. Our charge is clear: school needs to be relevant for all students, and we can do better than we did under No Child Left Behind. As we implement this plan, we will continue to rely on the people of Wyoming to weigh in on how we are doing.”

Extensive stakeholder input was gathered through listening sessions, town halls, public meetings, individual stakeholder meetings, and online feedback opportunities to ensure that the plan puts Wyoming’s priorities first. Stakeholder input directly impacted the alignment of the state plan to the Wyoming Accountability in Education Act, the post-secondary readiness indicator for high schools, how the statewide assessment will be utilized, how funds will be utilized to support and prepare teachers, and how funds will be used to offer a well-rounded education.

States are required to submit plans for meeting the requirements of ESSA by September 18, 2017in order to receive federal funds. USED will have 120 days to conduct a peer review, evaluate the plan and offer feedback. More information on Wyoming’s ESSA state plan is available at edu.wyoming.gov/essa.

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Audio from Superintendent Balow

Wyoming’s ESSA State Plan

ESSA in Wyoming Fact Sheet

Accountability FAQ

Media Contact:
Kari Eakins, Communications Director
kari.eakins@wyo.gov
307-777-2053

2017 Statewide High School Assessment Results Available

News Releases

CHEYENNE – Results are now available online from the 2017 statewide high school assessments administered to students in grades 9 through 11. The results show similar performance to prior years with statistically insignificant increases in grades 9 and 10, and statistically insignificant decreases in grade 11.

“We have the privilege of offering the ACT to every student and will continue to do so as we add WY-TOPP to our assessment system,” said State Superintendent Jillian Balow. ”This is not the time to be complacent. At the state level we will continue to focus on every measure for student success and support schools helping students succeed in school and in life.”

In the spring of 2017, students in grades 11 took the ACT, and for the second year, students in grades 9 and 10 took the ACT Aspire online. Schools had the option to offer the ACT online this past spring, marking the first time that option was made available in Wyoming. The tests are intended to predict college readiness. These results will be used to determine school performance ratings.

9th Grade ACT Aspire Results. Two-Year comparison and benchmark. The Aspire has possible composite scores from 400-452.

10th Grade ACT Aspire Results. Two-Year comparison and benchmark. The Aspire has possible composite scores from 400-452.

The Wyoming Department of Education established new performance levels for the ACT in 2014 delineating Advanced, Proficient, Basic, and Below Basic performance in the subject area tests. Current results are not directly comparable to years prior to 2014 because they represent a much higher set of expectations for Wyoming students.

11th Grade ACT Results. 3-year comparison..

2016-17 11th grade performance levels. Data includes students who took the ACT and alternate assessments.

Starting in the 2017-18 school year, students will take the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP). The new test will assess proficiency in reading and math for students in grades 3-10, science for students in grades 4, 8, and 10, and writing for students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. It will be an online, adaptive assessment with various item types such as multiple choice, technology enhanced, and constructed response. The results will be comparable to students’ scores from other states and will be used for accountability purposes.

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Media Contact:
Kari Eakins, Communications Director
kari.eakins@wyo.gov
307-777-2053

New Chief Policy Officer

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

Welcome to our new Chief Policy Officer, Megan Degenfelder, who started on August 1. As a Casper native and policy leader, she is quite familiar with the strengths and challenges in education. She has spent her first days on the job meeting educators from across the state. Here is a link to the related media release: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WYDE/bulletins/1b020e4 

For the second year, WDE will honor our Chief Operations Officer and breast cancer survivor, Dianne Bailey, by running as a team at the Wyoming Pink Ribbon Run. Go Team Bailey!

I’ll travel to several schools and districts over the next few weeks to help kick off the new school year. It remains my privilege to see, first hand, the great work that is happening and to welcome back educators and students. Thank you for the invitations!

State Superintendent Jillian Balow, Chief Operations Officer Dianne Bailey, Communications Director Kari Eakins, and former Chief Policy Officer Lisa Weigel are all dressed in pink following last year's Pink Ribbon Run.

Lisa Weigel, Dianne Bailey, Superintendent Balow, and Kari Eakins represent Team Bailey at last year’s Pink Ribbon Run

SCHOOL FINANCE

At its last meeting, the School Finance Recalibration Committee asked that the the WDE  assist in sharing information about the work of the committee. Here is a letter from the chairs encouraging participation in stakeholder meetings. 

The Every Student Succeeds Act–ESSA

I intend to sign Wyoming’s stakeholder-driven ESSA plan on August 17. We can all be very proud of the framework that this plan sets forth for education in our state. We successfully built on many of our strengths and addressed pressing challenges in the plan. As we move closer to implementation, more and more important decisions will be made at the school and district levels. We all know that true improvement is about much more than compliance or checking boxes–how will your schools move from compliance to responsibility to improve outcomes for all students? I hope you find empowerment through ESSA to:

  • Challenge and change existing norms and structures that hinder improvement
  • Create new conditions that accelerate progress for all students with the expectation that all students can master the skills and knowledge necessary for success in school and life
  • Explore new approaches that could better serve students even if they require a change to the existing system
  • Recognize that the best school improvement strategies are evidence-based and locally-driven
  • Combine evidence, innovation, and best practice to truly change the trajectory for our students who are most at risk of not succeeding

Memo to be released on Monday, August 14:

Jillian

Practitioner Panels for Recalibration

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

There are no memos this week.  Below is a link to a letter from the chairmen of the Recalibration Committee on School Finance:

Letter from Chairmen Coe and Sommers on Practitioner Panels

State Superintendent Jillian Balow holds a framed flag of the State of Wyoming with Laramie County Commissioners Ron Kailey and Troy Thompson at the Governor's residence.
Laramie County Commissioners Ron Kailey and Troy Thompson and Superintendent Balow hold the Wyoming Flag that traveled 50K miles on a space mission. The flag was presented by Lockheed Martin during Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Jillian

Summer Days

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

Just a short and sweet update this week as the summer days fly by. PAWS scores were released yesterday and you can view the news release here. Thank you all for your help reviewing student data so we could get this information out quickly.

The State Superintendent speaking to business leaders at an outdoor luncheon in the downtown Cheyenne with the historic depot in the background.
Talking about agriculture at the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Event “Pardners N’ Prosperity”

Memos to be released on Monday, July 17:

Jillian

2017 PAWS Results Available

News Releases

CHEYENNE – Spring 2017 statewide testing results were released today by the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE). School, district, and state results are available on the WDE’s Fusion site. These include results for the Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students (PAWS) and alternate assessments in reading and mathematics for students in grades 3 through 8, and in science for grades 4 and 8.

Wyoming PAWS Results - All Students, All Grades by Subject, 3 Year Trend. In mathematics, the percent of students who were proficient or advanced was 48.9 in 2014-15, 52.0 in 2015-16, and 52.3 in 2016-17. In reading, the percentage of students who were proficient or advanced was 57.5 in 2014-15, 59.5 in 2015-16, and 58.8 in 2016-17. In Science, the percentage of students who were proficient or advanced was 46.7 in 2014-15, 48.3 in 2015-16, and 50.3 in 2016-17.

“Wyoming schools have demonstrated a solid foundation of learning that we need to build on and continue to improve,” said State Superintendent Jillian Balow. “The growth that we saw in two of the three areas is a credit to a continued focus on high quality teaching and student learning. Now, each school will look carefully at this data to help set instructional goals for the upcoming year. I anticipate these goals will be ambitious with a continued focus on superb instruction and improved student outcomes.”

Notable increases in scores took place in eighth grade science, which had a 3.7 percent increase to 45.3 percent of students proficient or advanced, and fourth grade math, which had a 2.6 percent increase to 57.8 percent of students proficient or advanced.

For the first time, a breakdown of the performance of full-time virtual education students on PAWS is included in the results. They were added as an additional student group for reporting as part of the 2017 Virtual Education Act.

Starting in the 2017-18 school year, students will take the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP). The new test will assess proficiency in reading and math for students in grades 3-10, science for students in grades 4, 8, and 10, and writing for students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9. It will be an online, adaptive assessment with various item types such as multiple choice, technology enhanced, and constructed response. The results will be comparable to students’ scores from other states and will be used for accountability purposes.

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Media Contact:
Kari Eakins, Communications Director
kari.eakins@wyo.gov
307-777-2053

Summer Conferences

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

It’s been a privilege to attend and greet participants at education and education services conferences this summer. Wyoming schools are amazing from the boardroom to the lunchroom to the classroom. Thank you for empowering your people to grow as professionals!

Superintendent Balow stands with transportation conference participants near a small remote-controlled school bus.
Annual Transportation Summit
A woman speaks from a podium to a room full of participants sitting at round tables eating lunch.
Annual Nutrition Services Conference

Memo to be released on Monday, June 26:

Jillian

School Funding Discussion

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

Summertime for me has become synonymous with lots of time on the roads of Wyoming–and I love it. Educators are engaged in professional development. Communities hold celebrations. And, our family embarks on a few trips “just for fun.”

There are also lots of meetings—more than usual. This week many of us attended the legislative committee discussion on school funding. Here are a few of my takeaways:

  • Groups that don’t normally attend education meetings were engaged including Wyoming Taxpayers Association, Liberty Group, Business Alliance, County Commissioners, and Municipalities.
  • WDE and the LSO presented information that laid out the finer details of the funding model and how local school districts are adapting to the current mandatory cuts.
  • After the presentation, the committee discussion steadily moved to the same impasse that we saw during the session—to tax or not to tax. All of us know that it’s not quite this simple but no consensus emerged among members, nor was that the intent.
  • School construction entered the conversation. This is essential moving forward and a topic that was not a significant part of the discussion during the legislative session.

The discussion about education funding is still in the beginning stage. There is both a sense of urgency and importance among legislative members. After the meeting, a different group convened to select a funding model consultant. This is a key decision that will steer the conversation going forward.

Superintendent Balow smiles in a picture with Meredith Miller, former North Carolina Governer Perdue, Holly Coy, and Anna Edwards.
Meredith Miller (USDE), Fmr NC Governor Perdue, Holly Coy (VA DOE), and I participated on an ESSA panel about state and local impact of the law. It was sponsored and moderated by Whiteboard Advisors (Anna Edwards, CAO).

Memos to be released on Monday, June 19:

Jillian

Recalibration Meeting

Superintendent's Update

Dear Superintendents,

Next week’s educational funding recalibration meeting will be live streamed by WyomingPBS. Here is the information:

WyomingPBS will live stream the Wyoming Legislature’s June 12 meeting beginning at 8 a.m. of the Select Committee on School Finance Recalibration and the Joint Revenue Committee. The committees will meet jointly to discuss solutions to the projected budget shortfall for funding related to public education in the state of Wyoming. The Committees will review and identify new revenue sources or diversion of existing revenue streams or sources for the support of generally funded operations of the Wyoming state government and public schools in Wyoming to offset the deficits in state government operations and in public education for school operations, school facilities and major maintenance.

“This live stream and archive are part of WyomingPBS’s expanded coverage of the State Legislature,” said WyomingPBS General Manager Terry Dugas. “A core part of our mission is to help Wyoming residents stay informed on topics of critical importance to the state.”

“I’m pleased that WyomingPBS is providing this opportunity for constituents to watch their elected representatives take on the challenge of finding solutions to our state’s complex school funding shortfall as they work in committee and hear from experts,” said WyomingPBS Public Affairs Producer Craig Blumenshine.

The live stream can be accessed at WyomingPBS’s website www.wyomingpbs.org. The meeting will also be archived at wyomingpbs.org/legislature for later viewing.

A group of boys state delegates stand at attention outside in front of a flagpole as the U.S. and Wyoming flags are lowered.
Wyoming Boys State delegates lowered the flag after dinner on Wednesday

NO MEMOS THIS WEEK

Jillian