The Wyoming Statewide Assessment System consists of six assessments, including ACCESS for ELLs, WIDA Alternate ACCESS, ACT, WorkKeys, WY-ALT, and WY-TOPP.
The federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) reinforces the authority of states to decide which statewide assessments are the most appropriate for its students. Wyoming’s state assessment, the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP), assesses students on the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards. It is administered online and is a computer-adaptive assessment. This state summative assessment is an end-of-year test that measures how much students have learned during the school year. Approximately 99% of students participate in the WY-TOPP.
Wyoming’s Alternate Assessment (WY-ALT), for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities, is aligned to the Wyoming Extended Standards. Approximately 1% of students participate in the WY-ALT.
Students in grades 3-10 take the WY-TOPP and WY-ALT assessments for Math and English Language Arts (ELA). Grade 5, 7, and 9 students are also assessed in Writing on WY-TOPP. Students in grades 4, 8, and 10 are assessed in Science on WY-TOPP and WY-ALT.
Assessment scores are determined by a student’s performance on all of the tested standards for each grade level. Proficiency levels are determined by a Wyoming Educator Committee in a process called Standard Setting, using Wyoming student data, following the administration of a new test. The Proficiency levels for all 3 content areas were set by an educator committee in the summer of 2018 following the first administration of the WY-TOPP assessments. ELA proficiency levels have remained consistent since 2018. The Science test changed to assess the new Science Standards in 2022, which had a significant increase in the rigor of learning expectations as we shifted to the 3-dimensions of science, and proficiency levels were set in the Summer of 2022. Both Math and Science proficiency levels were validated via an educator committee in July 2026 to ensure alignment with the reduced 2023 Wyoming Content and Performance Standards. Minor adjustments to three Math grade levels were made during the 2026 event.
WY-TOPP results help evaluate a school’s strengths and weaknesses and to produce a School Performance Rating. See an overview of the 2022-23 School Performance Ratings results here.
Individual student results are provided to parents, but have no direct effect on student grades. These results should be considered as one piece of evidence of a student’s learning. Please see your local school district for additional information about how the state-level results and other district-level and classroom-level results are used to improve learning.
The public is invited to experience a training test at wyoassessment.org in the Administration Resources section. The ELA and Math training tests contain assessment items for grades 3–10. The ELA tests for grades 3, 6, and 9 also include sample listening questions. The Science training tests contain assessment items in each grade band (elementary, middle school, and high school).
In 2014, an AG’s Opinion was requested on the topic of Assessment Opt Out, and it was determined that “districts may not allow students or their parents to opt them out of the assessments provided by law.”
2025-26 Assessment Results
Parent & Community Member Overview Assessment – 2026
2026 Assessment By-the-Numbers
Wyoming’s 2025–26 assessment results saw an increase in all content areas. Compared to last year, student proficiency increased by 1.6% in English Language Arts, by 4.1% in Mathematics, and by 1.3% in Science.
The 2026 scores in all content areas have reached or exceeded the pre-pandemic levels of achievement. Elementary Math grades (3-5), in particular, have shown intense improvement over the last 2 years of data.
Understanding Your Results
Assessment results are released each fall. Upon release, school districts will send each student’s Individual Score Report (ISR) to parents/guardians. This report explains the results and identifies next steps for parents/guardians to continue supporting the learning efforts of their child.
For parents that require an individual student report in an alternate language or format, please contact the contact list for this page.
Cut Scores
Cut scores are specific scores that represent the overall knowledge a student showed based upon the answers provided on the test. Each performance level – Basic, Proficient, and Advanced includes a range of test scores that apply. These definitions are based on the Wyoming Content and Performance Standards and Performance Level Descriptors for the WY-TOPP tests and on Wyoming Extended Standards and Achievement Level Descriptors for the WY-ALT tests. Educators and parents can utilize the tables below in conjunction with the scale score shown on a student score report (ISR) to understand how the student performed on the test in relation to the content expected to be taught in their enrolled grade level.
The WY-TOPP cut scores are not vertically scaled, meaning they are not on a common scale from grade to grade. Care should be taken when making comparisons between scores in different grade levels. Performance levels are a more accurate representation when making these between-grade comparisons.
WY-TOPP Proficiency-Level Scores
WY-ALT Proficiency-Level Scores
