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Wyoming State Education Board moves forward with assessment reduction plan

Wyoming State Education Board moves forward with assessment reduction plan

This week, the Wyoming State Board of Education convened digitally and decided to eliminate the grade three writing assessment from the WY-TOPP state assessment that would be administered in the spring of the following year. A press release from the Wyoming Department of Education states that the State Board has also made steps to decrease the quantity of items on the arithmetic WY-TOPP for grades three through eight, as well as to offer more concentrated instruction and comprehensive evaluation of crucial arithmetic concepts.

Superintendent Megan Deagenfelder’s “Assessment Reduction and Efficiency Plan” is the source of the decision to remove grade three essay writing from the current state assessment. With this modification, teachers and students will have the chance to make sure that kids have both typing and writing abilities before they are tested. Board members stated that the state writing standards are presently being revised, even though the elimination of the grade three writing exam would happen in the spring of 2025.

In order to bring the maths state assessment blueprints into compliance with the most recent maths standards, the board also approved their adjustments. This effort replaced the present subject-specific categories with comprehensive maths skills, reducing the number of maths assessment items for grades 3-8 by at least 30%. Schools can now begin implementing the recently proposed maths standards in full by the 2025–2026 academic year. In the spring of 2026, modifications to the WY-TOPP assessment’s mathematics section will take place.