Skip to main content

State Board of Education plans to reduce standards

By
Jasmine Hall with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, via the Wyoming News Exchange

CHEYENNE — The State Board of Education is taking the next steps toward reducing the load of state standards for K-12 educators. 
On Wednesday morning, members of the board discussed the plan for the audit of state standards; the audit will take place from now through February. 
Revisions will focus on math, science, computer science, physical education, health, the arts and English Language Arts. Social studies, career technical education and world languages will resume next summer. 
The approach to reevaluating state standards will shift this year, though. 
The board voted in October to address the concerns “raised by educators, citizens and policymakers regarding the instructional and learning load of the current Wyoming Content and Performance Standards.” 
“In anticipation of the establishment of Wyoming graduation standards and the implementation of the Profile of a Graduate, we recognize the need for schools to have greater flexibility and time to pursue innovation and community collaboration in response to the voices of Wyoming stakeholders,” the resolution stated. “We resolve to reduce the standards load by adopting performance standards as the state standards and to embark on the rule promulgation no later than February 2023.” 
While there will be traditional prioritization criteria for standards such as reading, writing and mathematics, there will also be an emphasis on the SBE’s Profile of a Graduate and feedback heard in Gov. Mark Gordon’s ReImagining and Innovating the Delivery of Education (RIDE) Advisory Group.
In the graduate profile, there are four main categories: learn, work, contribute and thrive. 
A Wyoming graduate will be able to demonstrate foundational knowledge and skills in academic conduct; explore career options and develop workforce skills; understand governing structures and how to access community resources; and possess other skills, such as budgeting, taxes, and accessing medical and mental health services. 
There are also other general competencies, such as thinking critically, practicing effective work habits and demonstrating strong interpersonal skills. 
Since the State Board of Education passed the resolution and announced its intention to use the Profile of a Graduate for standards, the Wyoming Department of Education and the Curriculum Directors’ Advisory Committee (CDAC) will review the audit plan before it is implemented. 
Director of Standards of Assessment Laurie Hernandez gave a presentation on the draft standards mapping but also shared the discussion had by CDAC. 
“The work of this resolution should not produce a rewrite of the standards, because that would be a bigger change to our system,” she said. “Nor should it include a mushing together of a set of standards, because recognizing that at the local level, putting two or three standards doesn’t make it easier. You still have to pick those things apart if you’re going to teach it and assess it to mastery.” 
Hernandez said the committee considered the federal requirements for minimums of state standards, what can be taught with available time and the impacts of rolling out the standards. Some of those included keeping and losing longitudinal assessment data, options for a uniform system and a culture shift away from “assessment to experiences,” or the ability to be dynamic. 
It will also take patience to implement the changes. 
A memo from Hernandez and WDE Chief Policy Officer Wanda Maloney said that a single content area could take districts two to three years to implement, depending on the workload of the standards change. 
“If several content areas are changed simultaneously, a phased-in approach may be needed to roll out the efforts, instead of having several content areas changed and being remapped all at once,” the memo stated. 
All parties from the educational institutions seemed to agree it would be a significant workload to carry out the vision for reduced standards and the Profile of a Graduate skills, but there were already teachers thanking them for their effort. 
Chris Bessonette, a teacher from Teton County School District 1 and a member of the Level Up leadership program, said he was grateful for the board taking on the process of looking over standards, prioritization and performance. 
He said creating performance standards is needed, and as a second grade teacher, it is difficult to identify all of the standards that need to be taught. 
“It’s so exciting, as the teacher, to think about having a little bit more time to engage in these fun, innovative projects that help kids really come alive in classrooms. We need this,” he said. “We need this to be done.”
 
 
This story was published on Nov. 17, 2022.

--- Online Subscribers: Please click here to log in to read this story and access all content.

Not an Online Subscriber? Click here to subscribe.



Sign up for News Alerts

Subscribe to news updates