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editor@newslj.com August 13, 2015 -- 7
lette j0 al
news r urn
from page 1 ....................................................................................................................................................
stay status quo."
Still, LaCroix indicated that
the PAWS test scores only rep-
resent a "snapshot" of where
an individual student is at a
given moment according to
a specific set of assessment
criteria and that the district
has other tools at its disposal
when it comes to determining
where an individual student
stands and what needs to be
worked on.
"We always try to do what
we call a triangularization.
We have our local assess-
ments, which are written and
designed by our teachers ....
There's always got to be more
than just one piece," LaCroix
said, adding that the board of
trustees has actually mandated
that the district have more than
one measure.
Among the other tests uti-
lized by WCSD #1 schools
are Measures of Academic
Progress (MAP) and Dynamic
Indicators of Basic Early
Literacy Skills (DIBELS).
Tysdal concurred that
PAWS represents only one
measure of student success.
Still, she placed emphasis on
what value the test does bring
to parents and educators alike.
"It is one test, one thing,"
she said, "it's not the overall
end-all be-all but it is one
piece of information that really
should be consistent with what
parents have seen in the class-
room for the most part."
On an individual school
basis, Tysdal went on, district
educators will discuss how
or if program and schedule
changes they've made in the
past reflect in the data and
decide how best to proceed
with possible further changes.
Results for eleventh grade
students, who were formerly
given the PAWS test, are not
yet available, Tysdal noted, as
a different test is now adminis-
tered - the ACT.
"Two years ago the elev-
enth grade assessment changed
from PAWS to ACT as a state-
wide [accountability assess-
ment]," she explained, further
adding that every state has a
requirement to conduct a state-
wide assessment in order to
receive federal funding, with
math and reading tested every
year in grades 3-8 and then
again in eleventh grade.
"When Wyoming decided
to use the ACT as a state pro-
ficiency test, the Wyoming
Department of Education had
to work pretty closely with
the ACT folks to try to get
it so that those scores could
correlate to say something
about proficient versus not
proficient," explained Tysdal,
adding that the ACT, like the
SAT, is normally utilized for
determining the likelihood of
higher education success for
college bound students and not
subject matter proficiency.
Returning to talk of PAWS,
Tysdal mentioned that while
the district looks at the results
for signs of consistency and
progress across the years for
the same groups of kids, and
district schools attempt to meet
yearly progress goals as deter-
mined by the test, the adoption
of a new set of standards in
2012 complicates comparison
of this year's scores with those
of most previous years.
Ultimately the PAWS test
results are utilized at the indi-
vidual level so that plans can
be tailored by educators for
particular students. Parents,
too, can gauge where their
children are at academically.
"Parents get an individual
student report from the PAWS,"
said Tysdal. "... Essentially
what parents want to know is
if their child is where they're
supposed to be and how do
they compare with others? Are
they proficient or advanced?"
Tysdal indicated that
working to improve teaching
approaches and student perfor-
mance is a continual process.
"That's what's unique about
education. It's never quite cut
and dry... The students that you
get are individuals and unique
and you're always having to
adjust to that," she concluded.
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THE WAY
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MEMBER FDIC t~o~.
2015 PAWS test results by subject and grade levd
1.15 percent above state average ranked 23rd out of 48 districts
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de¢.,osited after 90 days cff account opening. Account holder m,~s~ m;].~tan; a DOSidVe balance during the tirst 90
days to be ehgibie ~.or the $50, You w~H be sent a 109° form for the $50. Offer expires August 2! 2015.
6th
7th
12.71 percent below
3.78 percent above
ranked I0th
ranked 42nd
ranked I7th
ranked 32nd
from page 1 .....................................................................................................................................
the District and Circuit Courts
has worked in Crook County,
where he once worked for the
county government.
Hunt and Rossman
answered by noting that there
has been resistance from
District Court officials to
sharing space with the Circuit
Court and questions about
where the Circuit Court office
should be located.
Lambert indicated he was
keen to move forward on
the question of the purchase,
noting that a time extension to
consider buying the building
needed to be asked for that
day. He said he hopes to be
able to give a measure of the
county's seriousness about the
purchase at the next regular
commission meeting.
"If a couple of us could
sit down with [County
Administrator] Dan
[Blakeman] and-some dif-
ferent entities, the sheriff, and
really come up with a purpose
and work with [County Clerk]
Cheryl [Kregel] to come up
with some cost savings on dif-
ferent options ... and really
try to finalize some things,
practicality wise, money wise,
and what we really need ....
I would think a small group
could do that and bring that to
the commissioners," Lambert
suggested.
Hunt agreed, saying an
inventory of the county's space
needs, particularly an exami-
nation of those offices that
inhabit rented space, would be
valuable in itself. Still, Hunt
observed that one reasonable
criticism of the potential pur-
chase is that the community
has limited high-traffic com-
mercial space and might be
better served by private enter-
prise being located within the
building.
from page 1 ........................................................................................................................................................
on the land surrounding the pond.
"Game and Fish wants all of that green stuff
out of there first," Dunford said of the work
being done this week. "Once that is done, they
will start digging to the final depth, which is 15
feet in the deepest part."
The pond will cover approximately 1.3 acres,
with at least 15 percent of that projected to reach
the target depth of 15 feet. Dirt excavated from
the pond will be used to build berms on the
north shore of it, alongside the cart path that
currently takes golfers to the tee boxes on the
fifth hole.
"The cart path will stay there, and the bank
will go up. We think that it will be about 8-feet
tall at some parts of that," Dunford stated.
Once the pond is dug, and the banks are
built, there will still be a need to construct the
inlet and outlet for the water, which is being
piped over from a well at Wyoming Refining.
"All the piping is in from the refinery to the
edge of the pond, but they still have to create
the head works and the tail works, and Wyoming
Game and Fish hasn't given me a timeline on
that," Dunford explained.
When completed, he believes the pond will
be stocked primarily with warm-water fish
species -- like smallmouth bass, crappies and
perch -- and will be open to anybody who can
legally fish in Wyoming.
"It is a public fishing pond, and it will have
four types of fish in it," Dunford revealed.
Powder River Energy Corporation
members are invited to attend the