At every grade level and subject tested, Powell students exceeded the statewide average on the annual Proficiency Assessments for Wyoming Students, commonly known as PAWS.

In 14 of 19 categories, students in Park County School District No. 1 outpaced the statewide average by more than 12 percentage points in the number of students who tested at proficient or advanced. In three categories, Powell students exceeded the state average by more than 20 percentage points.

The test was changed to align with the new state education standards, based on Common Core State Standards. Those standards are more rigorous.

After multiple changes in the PAWS tests in recent years, the data cannot be accurately compared to PAWS scores in previous years, said Kevin Mitchell, superintendent of Park County School District No. 1. It wouldn’t be comparing apples to apples.

“The only comparison we can have is ourselves to the state average and ourselves to other districts,” Mitchell said Sept. 30. “We cannot compare this data to any previous years’ data and even think it’s reliable, which is unfortunate.”

The local school district relies on assessments other than PAWS for accurate data to track trends in students’ progress over the years.

“They’ve changed this test (PAWS) enough so that the data is unreliable to us,” Mitchell said. “There’s other data we look at trend-wise to see if we’re doing what we need to, but it’s never PAWS.”

As in years past, Powell students tested higher than the statewide average.

Most notable is fifth-grade math, where 83.57 percent of Powell students tested at proficient or advanced compared to 54.25 percent of students in Wyoming — a 29.32 percentage point difference.

The margin was lowest in eighth-grade math, where 52.59 percent of Powell students tested at proficient or advanced, compared to 49.69 percent of students statewide — a 2.9 percentage point increase.

The standardized test is given in reading and math to students in third through eighth grades each year to determine proficiency. Students in fourth and eighth grades also take a PAWS science test, and fifth- and seventh-grade students are tested on writing. Eleventh-grade students are assessed in math, reading and science, using the ACT exam.

Teachers in a variety of content areas — social studies, science, art, etc. — teach to reading and math standards. While students are only tested at certain grade levels, teachers in every grade level are preparing students for the assessments, Mitchell said.

PAWS results recently released by the Wyoming Department of Education reflect students’ scores from the 2013-14 school year.

The revised PAWS test also included new cut scores — basically, the bar was set higher for students, Mitchell said.

“Since we set the bar higher, fewer students will reach that bar in the short term,” said Deb Lindsey, assessment director for the Wyoming Department of Education. “But we know that proficiency rates will increase over time as schools and districts more fully implement the state’s adopted standards in reading and math.”

Some school districts are further along in adopting the Common Core standards than other districts, Lindsey said in an Associated Press article.

Powell is a high-performing school district, Mitchell said. The test scores show that local teachers are aligning their curriculum to the new standards and the new assessments, he said.

“We put a lot of work into these new standards and a lot of professional development,” Mitchell said. “Through my observations, I knew that our teachers were attempting to teach to these new standards.

“And I can only speak to Powell, but we spent a lot of time and were very intentional about this implementation process, and I think the students’ scores certainly reflect that,” he said. “Now, do we have some work to do? We do. We try to get better every child, every year.”

One test is not an accurate assessment or reflection of a student’s progress, Mitchell said.

“That’s really not a fair measure of anybody if you only get tested once a year and then someone is going to tell you whether you’re good or not — we just don’t do that,” Mitchell said.

Powell students in kindergarten through 10th grade take the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) twice a year, and that assessment provides a more accurate picture of students’ progress, Mitchell said. Some students may take the MAP test a third time based on the teacher’s recommendation.

While MAP tests also have been changed to align with new education standards, the changes aren’t as drastic, he said. Another advantage to the MAP tests is that they’re given more than once a year, so teachers can compare data from fall and spring exams to track how the students are progressing throughout the school year and the following year, Mitchell said.

“We have a lot more chances at looking at trend data for one student or a group of students,” he said.

Mitchell said he doesn’t have a lot of confidence in the ACT data that the state uses to measure 11th grade students.

The ACT exam was intended for college readiness, not to measure proficiency in core subject areas, Mitchell said.

District leaders still look at ACT data, but they also rely on other tests for high school students, he said.

Given all the changes in the Wyoming Department of Education and PAWS tests in recent years, it’s hard to know what will happen with statewide assessments in future years.

The most recent PAWS scores may provide a baseline for future years, but only if the test doesn’t undergo significant changes in the future.

“This PAWS test is baseline data, but I can guarantee you there’s a good chance it’s going to change in a couple of years,” Mitchell said. “We’re not going to be able to use this test very effectively in our system. We’re going to have to rely on other data and our teachers to make decisions based on student performance.”

In the end, Mitchell said local teachers aren’t as concerned about what’s happening politically in Wyoming’s statewide education system and assessments. Instead, they’re more focused on what occurs in local classrooms.

“Teachers in Powell know what needs to be taught and how to teach it, and we’re going to do that, despite what goes on outside of the boundaries of the school district,” Mitchell said.