Wyoming Superintendent: PAWS Results Show A Solid Foundation

Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow says the latest Proficiency Assessment of Wyoming Students (PAWS) test results show state schools have "demonstrated a solid foundation of learning."

She says that foundation can be used to build upon going forward. The results were released Thursday morning.

Balow notes eighth-grade science scores showed an increase of 3.7 percent for students scoring in the proficient or advanced category (45.3 percent). Fourth-grade math likewise saw a 2.6 percent increase in those scoring proficient or advanced (57.8 percent).

The test also measures reading proficiency. It was given to third through eighth- grade students.

Department of Education spokeswoman Kari Eakins notes most of the scores at least held steady. But she adds "There is always room for improvement."

You can see all school, district and statewide results here.

Starting in the 2017-2018 school year the PAWS test will be replaced by the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP).

The new test will assess proficiency in reading and math for students in grades 3-10, science in grades 4, 8 and 10 and writing for grades 3,5,7 and 9.

The test will be conducted online and the results will be compared to students from other states and used for accountability measurements. The graph below shows the latest PAWS results.