education

What do you think about the proposal to improve early childhood education in the state?

Wyoming Public Media — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:49:48 +0000

What do you think about the proposal to improve early childhood education in the state?

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Committee to consider bill that cracks down on school bus route violations

Rebecca Martinez — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 22:27:59 +0000

A group of students from Fremont County School District 6 asked the Joint Education Committee to help crack down on school bus fly-bys in the state.

A fly-by is when a motorist illegally passes a school bus that has stopped to load or unload students, while raising a stop sign and turning on flashing warning lights.

Eleven-year-old Makayla Strahle of Crowhart was one of nine children killed in fly-bys nationally during the 2011 school year.

State Education data collection needs improvement

Rebecca Martinez — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:15:55 +0000

A new report shows that the Wyoming Department of Education data collection and processing arm is needs serious improvements.

State Education data collection needs improvement

Rebecca Martinez — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 21:15:53 +0000

A new report shows that the Wyoming Department of Education data collection and processing arm is needs serious improvements.

Lots of interest in Wyoming Education Director post

Bob Beck — Wed, 22 May 2013 22:54:53 +0000

A search firm says there is a lot of interest in Wyoming’s opening for a new Director of Education. The position was created by the State Legislature to take over day to day operations of the State Department of Education.

UW to host hands-on workshop to inspire women to pursue science

Rebecca Martinez — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:45:45 +0000

More than 500 girls from across Wyoming will gather at the University of Wyoming Tuesday for the annual Women in Science Conference.

The Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium hosts the event, during which the middle- and high-school students learn about various applications of science, technology, math and engineering. In past years, students have identified animal skulls, developed computer games, and learned about anatomy in UW’s Human Cadaver Lab. Many of the scientists leading the programs are women.

UW graduates praise their education

Bob Beck — Fri, 10 May 2013 22:21:22 +0000

This weekend a new set of graduates are leaving the University of Wyoming. For some, they are facing an unknown job situation, but others are ready to jump into their careers. The graduates also talked about Wyoming’s efforts to keep them in-state. Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck sat down with three graduates from U-W’s College of business and found that two are leaving and one thinks he’ll hang around a bit longer.

May 7th is Teacher Appreciation Day

Chelsea Biondolillo — Mon, 06 May 2013 23:45:03 +0000

May 7th is Teacher Appreciation Day.

Kathy Vetter, President of the Wyoming Education Association, taught elementary through high school students in Wheatland during her 30 years in the classroom. She says that teachers’ responsibilities have changed as students’ own roles have changed. “When I started teaching,” says Vetter, “going to school was the student’s job. Now, that’s only one of many jobs students have, that they have to divide their time amongst—and so there’s more pressure on the teachers and the students.”

Teton County is healthiest in Wyoming

Rebecca Martinez — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 14:58:07 +0000

Teton county residents are the healthiest in Wyoming. That’s according to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute’s County Health Rankings. The least-healthy county was Fremont.

Wyoming getting $1.1M from feds for worst schools

The Associated Press — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:04:18 +0000

Wyoming is getting more money from the federal government to improve its lowest-achieving schools.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced today that Wyoming will get $1.1 million in 2013. It's the third year the state has gotten a grant from the department's School Improvement Grant Program.

Sequester might cut funding for special needs students

Luke Hammons — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:12:32 +0000

March 1st a series of automatic cuts to federal spending—called the sequester—went into effect. Education is one of the areas Wyoming will feel the cuts most acutely. A White House report says the state will lose millions of dollars in school funding.

Jim Rose, interim director of the Wyoming Department of Education, says a 5% cut to the federal education budget would mean special needs students would get less funding.

Senate passes another education accountability bill

Bob Beck — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 01:25:57 +0000

The Wyoming Senate has given final approval to a bill that would focus accountability in education on individual schools in the state. The statewide education accountability phase one bill would establish benchmarks for schools. If schools don’t meet those benchmarks, they will have to develop a school improvement plan. Senator Chris Rothfuss says that lawmakers hope to measure student performance in coming months.

Senate Committee amends gun bills

Bob Beck — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 00:27:34 +0000

The Senate Judiciary Committee passed a pair of gun rights bills with some key changes.

The Committee reworked a bill that had been intended to threaten federal law enforcement officials with arrest if they tried to enforce federal gun bans in Wyoming. The committee amended the bill to say that federal officials could carry out their duties, but that local law enforcement could not assist. Still, the Wyoming Attorney General was given authority to protect citizen gun rights.

Senate debates school accountability

Bob Beck — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 01:16:33 +0000

The Wyoming Senate has given initial approval to a bill that would rate schools on student performance.

The school accountability measure was amended by the Senate to say all schools that do not exceed pre-determined academic targets would have to develop improvement plans.

The House version of the bill said meeting targets was sufficient.

Senator Chris Rothfuss of Laramie says the Senate is shooting for a higher bar.

Bill creating an appointed Education Director position clears one more hurdle

Bob Beck — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 03:11:55 +0000

The House Appropriations Committee voted unanimously to endorse a bill that would remove duties from the State Superintendent and transfer them to an appointed Director. Lawmakers say that Superintendent Hill has not met deadlines and has delayed execution of duties such as creating education accountability programs.

Lawmakers seek to strip power from schools superintendent

Bob Beck and Willow Belden — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 17:28:30 +0000

The Wyoming legislature wraps up its second week today. Wyoming Public Radio's Bob Beck is covering the session and joins us now to talk about lawmakers' attempts to restructure how the state's schools are governed.

Senate continues to debate overhauling the State Superintendent's office

Bob Beck — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 19:32:29 +0000

The State Senate continues working on a bill that would change the way education is governed in Wyoming.

The bill would lead to the appointment of a State Education Director, who would oversee such things as education accountability and school funding.

Bill to remove Superintendent powers gets initial approval from the State Senate

Bob Beck — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 02:25:03 +0000

A bill that would remove powers from the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and transfer them to an appointed Director has received initial approval from the State Senate.

The Senate approved the bill 19-10 after a lengthy debate including comments from some Senators who were concerned that the bill could actually hurt education instead of improve it.

Proposed bill would make new, appointed position to run Department of Education

Irina Zhorov — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 23:42:26 +0000

The Co-Chairmen of the legislature's Joint Education Committee are sponsoring legislation to create an appointed, Cabinet-level position to administer the Department of Education. The bill would allow the Governor to appoint a director for the Education Department. It would not eliminate the superintendent position, but modify the position’s responsibilities and lessen its power. The legislature comes after tense discussions in the Capitol about Superintendent Cindy Hill’s effectiveness in her position.

But Co-sponsor Representative, Matt Teeters, says this is an old problem.

Mead prepares to submit budget to lawmakers

Bob Beck — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 22:57:16 +0000

This week Governor Matt Mead is submitting his proposed budget to Wyoming legislators. The budget will include some spending priorities, but will also feature a wide range of budget cuts, some as high as eight percent. K-12 education has been viewed by lawmakers as untouchable due to the fact that the state lost an expensive lawsuit over school funding. But Mead believes some adjustments can be made in the amount of spending that goes into new schools.

Pinedale recognized for its commitment to youth

Bob Beck — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 16:23:38 +0000

Pinedale, Wyoming has been selected by an organization as one of the nation’s 100 best communities for young people.

America’s Promise Alliance recognizes local community programs and initiatives that are aimed at supporting youth. Pinedale was recognized for having safe places for youth, for its youth fitness and recreation programs, overall improvements in education and for its adult volunteer program.

Teacher Jasper Warembourg has been in the community for 20 years and he says the adult input is amazing.

Wyoming ACT score remains the same

Bob Beck — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 22:19:14 +0000

For the second straight year, Wyoming students scored 20-point-3 out of a possible 36 in the college entrance exam known as the ACT. The national average was 21-point-one.

Wyoming Education officials say the score is not disappointing because all high school juniors in the state are required to take the test, while only college bound students take the test in 42 other states.

Paul Williams is part of Wyoming’s assessment team. He says Wyoming had mixed results.

Feds instruct Wyoming to continue PAWS test

The Associated Press — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:02:57 +0000

The U.S. Department of Education has informed the Wyoming Department of Education that it should continue administering the state Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students -- or PAWS -- test for high school juniors next year.

The Wyoming Legislature earlier this year directed the state Education Department to discontinue the PAWS test for juniors and to use results from the ACT instead.

PAWS Results Rise 2nd Year in a Row for Wyoming Students

Irina Zhorov — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 22:13:34 +0000

The Wyoming Department of Education has released the 2012 Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students – or PAWS - results. For the second year in a row, the results indicate a statewide rise in scores in math, reading, and science.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Cindy Hill, did not point to specific policies or efforts made by the Wyoming Department of Education, but rather said the results were due to a team effort.

Wyoming Youth Risk results are up and down

Bob Beck — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:32:10 +0000

The Centers for Disease Control has released the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior survey.

The C-D-C finds that the students from Wyoming align with the rest of the nation when it comes to Drug and Alcohol use, and are better than the national average in areas such as physical fitness, risky sexual behavior and diet, but are worse in areas surrounding violence, unintentional injury and tobacco use.

Community Colleges prepare for budget cuts

Associated Press — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:37:55 +0000

An 8-percent budget cut would cost Wyoming's seven community colleges about $9.1 million.

Falling energy revenues has prompted Gov. Matt Mead to order
state agencies to prepare for 8-percent budget cuts for the fiscal
year that starts in July 2013.

James Rose, of the Wyoming Community College Commission, says
each community college board of trustees has the freedom to handle
any funding cuts as it see fit so he can't speak to whether any
faculty and staff positions would be threatened with layoffs.

Cheyenne school district finds bullying occurs above the national average

Bob Beck — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:21:39 +0000

Laramie County School District One in Cheyenne says a survey conducted earlier this year found that 26 percent of girls and 23 percent of boys say they were bullied two-to-three times a month. The figures exceed the national average.

More than 5-thousand students in grades three-through-eight participated in the survey that is part of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program that the district is using. The results are being used as a baseline as the school district begins new strategies to address bullying.

Districts will be granted a waiver to meet classroom size

Associated Press — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:26:56 +0000

The state Education Department has granted
20 school districts waivers from meeting a state law requiring a
16-to-1 student-teacher ratio in kindergarten through third grades.
The waivers are good for the 2012-13 school year.
State schools superintendent Cindy Hill says the 16-to-1 ratio
is challenging for some districts but she's confident all will
eventually reach the mandate that was set by the 2011 Legislature
as part its education reform initiative.

Nine Wyoming school districts fall short of federal graduation guidelines

Bob Beck — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:31:42 +0000

Wyoming’s on-time graduation rate for 2011, a calculation of how many students graduate in four years was 79-point-7 percent. That’s slightly below the goal of 80 percent.

The Wyoming Department of Education says that while the 2011 average is slightly less than the year before, the Department is also quick to point out that Wyoming graduated 59 more students than in 2010. The Department added that 39 of Wyoming’s 48 districts had on-time graduation rates higher than the state average.

House debates education reform measure

Bob Beck — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 14:25:52 +0000

The Wyoming House of Representatives has begun debating a major education reform measure. The House gave initial approval to the Education Accountability B