CHEYENNE – Wyoming’s Future of Learning collaborative is accepting applications from school districts for the second round of a pilot project to reimagine K-12 education through competency based learning. This opportunity will expand the reach of the initial RIDE pilot program currently underway in nine Wyoming school districts by adding seven additional districts for the 2024-25 school year.
Wyoming’s Future of Learning collaborative includes Governor Mark Gordon, Superintendent Megan Degenfelder and the Wyoming Department of Education, the State Board of Education (SBE), the University of Wyoming College of Education, the Community Colleges and the Wyoming Association of School Administrators.
“There continues to be so much potential through this partnership,” Governor Gordon said. “Through these pilots we are learning about what our educators need to ensure that Wyoming’s education system is not just better than today, but is able to emerge through this work as one of the best at serving students and families in the United States.”
“This pilot is an important step in shifting our education system from its current one-size fits all model. With competency based learning, students can learn at their own pace and pursue more individualized education pathways,” said State Superintendent Megan Degenfelder.
The goal of the voluntary pilots is to rethink and innovate key elements of instruction and assessment to make them more responsive to students and to support the SBE’s Wyoming Profile of a Graduate work. Districts and their communities will be supported through the pilots as they engage in this participatory process creating learning environments that will put students at the center. Statewide professional development opportunities in competency-based learning will continue to be offered to all schools throughout the state.
“We were very excited about this opportunity because we were looking for ways to move students and staff into the future,” said Gillian Chapman, Superintendent of Teton County School District #1, a district currently participating in the RIDE pilots. “What they need in the future is really different from what we do day in and day out in school, and we were looking for alternatives to the way we have always done things.”
“We were so excited and satisfied with this work that we are already asking for it to be expanded into all content areas at all grade levels,” said Superintendent Paige Fenton Hughes of Converse County School District #1.
Applications will be due February 16 and selected districts will be announced in early March.
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Media Contact:
Linda Finnerty, Communications Director
307-777-2053
linda.finnerty@wyo.gov
