U.S. Department Of Education approves Wyoming’s ESSA plan

Cheyenne, WY. – The U.S. Department of Education approved Wyoming’s Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) Plan yesterday.

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jillian Balow said, “Our goal to significantly increase the percentage of Wyoming students who are college, career, and military ready by 2020 is clearly articulated in our ESSA plan,” “From kindergarten to graduation, Wyoming students will have access to opportunities and excellent instruction. Our ESSA plan is rooted in collaboration and consensus-building among our community education partners and the U.S. Department of Education. I am confident we have crafted a strategy that puts every Wyoming student on a path to success.”

Wyoming’s ESSA plan is aligned with state accountability measures in order to leverage ongoing school improvement efforts and ensure schools are well supported. By setting goals at the school level, and at the 65th percentile, the plan ambitiously asks every Wyoming school to perform better than the majority of schools’ current performance levels – in both academic achievement and graduation rate. The approved plan incorporates input gathered from Wyoming citizens and schools through public meetings, online surveys, and stakeholder meetings.

Implementation of the ESSA plan will include: utilizing a balance of achievement, growth, and equity to determine school performance; the addition of college, career, and military readiness measures; continued engagement with stakeholders to guide support for schools and utilization of federal funds; and partnering with the University of Wyoming through the Trustees’ Education Initiative to improve teacher preparation.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed into law in 2015 to replace the No Child Left Behind act. ESSA gave more control to states when determining the standards that students would be held to. States must submit their plans including goals and standards to the US Department of Education for approval.