All students are expected to participate in the Wyoming Assessment System. Every effort must be made to inform parents, guardians, and students of the testing calendar. On behalf of a student, school administrators may apply for an exemption from participation for the following criteria:

• The student is expelled for the entire testing window.
• The student is an English Learner who has been enrolled in a US school for less than one year.
• The student is placed in an out-of-state facility for the entire testing window.

Administrators should view the SAER site training video to learn how to submit exemption requests. Here is the direct link to the SAER webpage for when you are ready to submit an exemption.

WY-TOPP Summative Test Administration Manual - Online test

WY-TOPP Summative Test Administration Manual - Paper test

WY-TOPP Spring Interim Test Administration Manual

AIR Ways Reporting User Guide 

Test Security PowerPoint Slides (editable)

Please note that the date has changed

The WDE seeks general education, special education, academic coaches, curriculum directors, and administrators to participate in standard setting for the WY-ALT assessments in English Language Arts grades 3-10, mathematics grades 3-10, and Science grades 4, 8, and 10. The standards setting meeting will be held in Cheyenne on July 16-18, 2019. Travel and lodging reimbursements will be offered to panel members traveling from outside of Cheyenne. All applications submitted by 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2019 will be considered. Please note preference will be given to applicants who apply by March 1, 2019.

Follow this link to apply for consideration to participate.

By February 15, use the PearsonAccess^next User Guide to:

1. Make sure your enrollment information and student demographic information is accurate. Follow the “How to Verify Enrollment for Test Materials” instructions.
2. Check each examinee’s ACT delivery format (paper or online) to ensure it is correct in PearsonAccess^next. To view or change the format, follow the “How to Change an Examinee’s Test Format” instructions.

Note: You will need to submit an additional order if you increase enrollment information after the deadline.

At 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday, February 27th

Please join WDE for the English Learners (ELs) Fourth Quarterly webinar. 

Webinar topics include:

• Active EL Counts for Title III funding,
• Exemption Request Process for misidentified students,
• EL Proficiency Progress and Targets,
• Participation Rate for ELs,
• Professional Development information and more.

We will have updates and more. There will also be time for a Q&A at the end of the presentation. To join the webinar, please follow this link.

The additional materials ordering window for ACCESS and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs will end on Tuesday, February 19, 2019.  Until this time, you may order additional testing materials needed via the WIDA AMS  Additional Materials functionality.

• Your initial shipment of test materials included extra copies of certain high-demand materials to ensure that additional orders will rarely be required.
• All districts received additional quantities of test materials with their initial shipment.  These materials must be used before any orders for additional materials may be placed.

• Test Administrators who need additional materials must consult and get approval from the District Test Coordinator to determine whether the district has the material on hand or whether an order for additional materials is necessary.
• Orders for additional materials may be placed by District Test Coordinators.

For assistance with ordering additional materials, view the Additional Materials Ordering tutorial that is posted in the ACCESS for ELLs training course on the WIDA Secure Portal.

• Orders generally take one day to process and are shipped ground (one to four days depending on location). Please order additional materials sufficiently in advance.

The testing window for ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 and Alternate ACCESS for ELLs ends on February 26, 2019. The deadline for UPS pickup of ALL secure test materials for return to DRC is Tuesday March 5^th, 2019. Remember, if you do not have daily UPS pickup, you must call UPS to schedule the day before you need the pickup. 

If you have completed your testing, you do not need to wait until the deadline to shop materials back. As soon as your students have completed the assessment, you may prepare, box, and return the materials.

Please note: It is the responsibility of all Test Administrators and Test Coordinators to ensure that correct and complete information is either labeled or bubbled on each student booklet. Failure to address incorrect, missing, or incomplete student information and labels may result in late reporting or no student score. Please follow the steps carefully.

Please review the After Testing tutorial posted in the ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 training course on the WIDA website.

April 26-27, 2019 in Casper

The Wyoming ESL Conference aims to provide forums for disseminating and sharing of information among K-12 teachers, dual language immersion and ESL teachers, administrators, community program teachers, and graduate students involved in teaching English as a second language and dual language instruction. For more information please contact conference chairs Dr. Jenna Shim (jshim@uwyo.edu) or Kim Jones (kim811@myncsd.org). Follow this link for more information and to register for the conference.

The WDE will present during the ESL conference. Session topics include:

• Description of the methodology used for accountability in Wyoming to measure English learners who are making progress towards achieving English language proficiency.
• Expected English Learner progress will be defined for individual ELs.
• Targets set for individual schools will be defined.
• Definition of English Proficient will be described along with supporting evidence for this definition.

From 8 a.m.-4 p.m. on March 12-13, 2019 in Sheridan

Audience: EL Teachers, Instructional Facilitators/Coaches, Curriculum Coordinators, EL Coordinators, Paraprofessionals, Principals & anyone interested

This two-day workshop provides educators with a fresh look at how to engage multilingual learners in rigorous content area learning with a balance of challenge and support. The purpose of the workshop is to encourage educators to consider a dynamic set of classroom practices that support multilingual students as they move toward increasing independence and expertise in grade-level content. Participants will explore how rigorous, well-sequenced curriculum within the content of meaningful experiences contributes to rich classroom interactions that mediate learning.

WIDA Presenter: Maya Martinez-Hart

WDE Facilitator: Antoinette Hallam, EL & Foreign Language Consultant

Participants will be able to:

• Develop an understanding of scaffolding practices based on prior knowledge, new learning, and shared experience.
• Build awareness of macro- and micro-scaffolding practices that apprentice students into language use for content area learning.
• Consider how students’ resources can support collaborative learning.
• Recognize the importance of establishing a collaborative community of learners that moves forward and upward together.
• Examine ways to engage students in exploring language use for content learning.

This survey is designed to help WDE in selection of professional development offerings for 2019-2020. The purpose is to generate feedback as to the topic areas where you would like additional training. Topics cover areas such as pedagogy and assessments, among others. Please select the training topics that are of interest/benefit to you in your current assignment. Please respond to this survey by March 1st, 2019.