CHEYENNE (WNE) — The Wyoming Department of Education has released results for the 2023-24 School Performance Ratings.

School performance levels are derived from a variety of indicators and are calculated to help determine which schools are doing well and which schools are in need of support. 

The Wyoming Accountability in Education Act looks at student growth, readiness, achievement, equity and English language proficiency. Based on these indicators, schools receive one of four overall performance ratings: Exceeding Expectations, Meeting Expectations, Partially Meeting Expectations or Not Meeting Expectations.

The 2023-24 performance level accountability results show 53% of traditional schools were Meeting or Exceeding Expectations. This year, each school rating fluctuated a few percentage points across each level compared to last year.

Results show 79% of alternative schools were Meeting or Exceeding Expectations. Schools Exceeding Alternative School Expectations decreased by 5% compared to the previous year, while alternative schools Meeting Alternative School Expectations increased by 8% from the previous year. 

Schools in the Partially Meets Alternative School Expectations category increased by 4%, and schools in the Not Meeting Alternative School Expectations category decreased by 7%.

Overall performance on most indicators was flat or a few percentage points below last year. However, several significant increases in the postsecondary readiness indicator occurred.

• Total high school graduates College, Career, or Military Ready increased to 61%, an increase of 5 percentage points from the previous year.
• Career Ready graduates increased from 20.3% to 25.5%.
• The Hathaway Success Curriculum (Opportunity or higher) was met by 52% of the College Ready students.
• College Ready students that received a score of 19 or higher on the ACT test is 49.6%.

“Although there is work to be done in some areas, there are bright spots as well. Ensuring that all Wyoming graduates are college, career, or military ready has been a core focus for me from day one,” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder said in a news release.