Input sought on changes in state education standards

BUFFALO — A proposed reduction in standards for math and science from the Wyoming Department of Education would reduce the number of standards students will be held accountable for in future standardized tests while not necessarily reducing what students are expected to learn.

Educator committees selected by the State Board of Education proposed a 61% reduction in K-12 science standards and 64% in K-12 math standards. While not included in the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress, computer science and physical education were among the other subjects audited, with recommendations for a 76% and 52% reduction, respectively. In late January, the WDE released tentative reductions in standards for the audited subjects.

If approved, the changes would reduce the K-12 math standards from a 443-page document to a 32-page document.

Buffalo High School math teacher Kelley Nelson said, however, that reducing the word count does not necessarily mean that students are expected to learn less.

Christine Houseman, a science teacher at BHS and one of the educators selected to draft changes to the science standards, said that, if approved, the reductions will likely affect the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress by the 2025-26 school year.

One of the math courses Nelson teaches is Algebra I, which is included in the proposed math standards. While the new math standards are fewer, Nelson said, they won't necessarily mean less content to cover in class.

"They've tried to prioritize the big rocks, as we call them, with what they want us to do,” Nelson said. Houseman said what she teaches will not change much, but what students are expected to learn by testing time will better match where they would realistically be in the science curriculum.

Wyoming students are tested on their science knowledge on the WY-TOPP in fourth, eighth and 10th grades. Based on the current standards, high school students must know four years of science while taking the WYTOPP during the spring of their sophomore year.

This issue came about after the state of Wyoming last adopted new science standards in 2016, Houseman said. The standards were modeled after the Next Generation Science Standards written by the National Research Council and the National Science Teachers Association.

“When the NGSS standards came out, it was just too overwhelming,” Houseman said.

Houseman has taught biology at BHS since 2008, a class typically taken by freshmen. The standards relating to biology weren't changed much in the proposed standards, Houseman said, but what has changed is that science class subjects, such as physics, that are often taken after students' sophomore year, have been removed from standards for underclassmen.

Becky Qualm, a science teacher at Cloud Peak Elementary, said the standards reduction would have a similar impact on elementary students.

“All standards will still be taught; however, there is a reduction in tested standards. This helps teachers when planning instructional units,” Qualm said. “The way I explain it to the kids is this: 'The priority standards are the big rocks that we have to move from point A to point B by the end of the year and be accountable for in our standardized testing.'"

The responses to the proposed science standards from educators in the state seem positive so far, Houseman said.

Nelson said that she does not yet know how she or the other math teachers at BHS feel about the proposed standards because the staff is still determining how the new standards compare with what they are already doing.

“And that is challenging sometimes, as a teacher, because sometimes you feel the target is moving,” Nelson said. "... I don't think it's a lot different than what we've been doing, but even the bookwork part of it, the time in identifying where those standards fit in and if we're doing them, and just the time to go through them, is significant.”

How much time that all takes can't be quantified, Nelson said, especially because it is part of a never-ending process. When standards change, there is a “domino effect,” Nelson said.

WY-TOPP tests students in math from third through 10th grade, with each year's skills building on the skills learned previously. When standards change, that doesn't change how students were taught in previous years. That means teachers may need to catch those students up to what new standards expect them to know.

"It's not an overnight thing," Nelson said.

Houseman said the proposed changes should have the opposite effect for science teachers, as they would clarify what content students should know by the time they reach the testing finish line in 10th grade. The proposed standards would lead to a more focused test on the skills students must learn by the end of their sophomore year of high school.

While common core standard changes can present challenges for teachers, Nelson said, it is all in service of the students of Wyoming.

"We're always trying to get better, and I think that's the focus of the WDE, and that's the focus of us,” Nelson said. “We want our kids coming out of Wyoming prepared, and so I think any standards change is just all of us trying to get better.”

The state is accepting public comments on the standards reductions through online survey or written comment by 11:59 p.m. on March 21. Written comments can be emailed to barb.marquer@wyo.gov.

This story was published on March 14, 2024.