Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/229104
ACTION State Student Standards Where Do We St Trying to separate myth from fact regard Here are some of the answers. Wyoming's student performance standards undergo a statutorilyrequired revision for each content area on a five-year rotational schedule. The review process is undertaken by a geographicallyrepresentative Wyoming committee comprised of teachers, higher education representatives, business members, community members, and parents. State legislators and State Board of Education (SBE) members are invited to attend the meetings. These groups have the best interests of Wyoming students and communities at heart. the CCSS. Additionally, a team from the Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) hosted public hearings in six locations across the state: Gillette, Casper, Thermopolis, Rock Springs, Mountain View, and Cheyenne. Finally, the WDE hosted a public hearing for the state over the Wyoming Equality Network (WEN) video system. After reviewing the public comments, the SBE voted to approve the CCSS for mathematics and language arts. They were subsequently sent to the governor for his review; he signed them into law in July 2012. The Language Arts and Mathematics standards committees carefully reviewed the existing Wyoming standards, those of other states, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), and recommendations from various professional content area organizations. In the end, both the Wyoming Language Arts and the Math committees voted to recommend the adoption of the Common Core State Standards as Wyoming's student performance standards in LA and Mathematics with no changes. The committees each included a rationale for their recommendations and presented the proposed standards document to the Wyoming State Board of Education in 2011. The standards were then posted for a 45-day public comment period in which Wyoming citizens could share their opinion regarding So what are the Common Core standards? The CCSS are student performance standards in the content areas of English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics. The purpose of their development: to ensure that all students, regardless of where they live, leave school prepared for success in postsecondary education and careers. CCSS development was a statesled process and an initiative of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers (i.e., the association of state superintendents). Notwithstanding rumors to the contrary, the federal government has had no role in the development of the Common Core You are encouraged to read State Standards and will not have a the 2012 adopted Wyoming role in their implementation. LA and math standards (as well as the previous ones) at: http:// 16 WINTER 2013 The Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL), a private, non-profit, education research and development corporation in Denver, did a side-by-side comparison of the previous Wyoming standards as compared to the Common Core, and found them to be quite similar. The primary differences occur in the Math standards: 1) some concepts and skills are introduced at earlier ages than Wyoming's previous standards required, and 2) there is less spiraling. WEA believes in the purpose of the CCSS as stated above; that could be summarized into one word: equity. Use of the Common Core State Standards will allow a smooth education transition for students moving between states and/or school districts. With Wyoming's mobile population of military members, energy field workers, and others, whether from district to district within our state or to and from schools in other states, the use of these common standards will help ensure student success. The same can be said for students from Wyoming's tiniest schools vs. the largest. We want to guarantee an equal opportunity for all Wyoming's students. | WEAnews ICI_ 6 Winter 2013 Final.indd 16 12/12/13 3:41 PM