GOSHEN COUNTY – Thursday morning, Torrington Middle School (TMS) honored students who received advanced scores on the Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP).

“Here at Torrington Middle School, our mission statement is pretty simple: ‘To ensure that all students learn at high levels’ – and these students certainly did,” TMS Principal Marv Haiman said at the special assembly. “And ‘To develop habits to become productive citizens’ – and these students are great examples of that.

“(These students are) academic leaders in the State of Wyoming – we’re really proud.”

The Wyoming Department of Education (WDE) released results from the first administration of the WY-TOPP Wednesday.

The new assessment system was implemented in the 2017-18 school year, with students in grades 3-10 taking the WY-TOPP summative assessments for math and English/language arts through an adaptive online platform, according to a WDE press release. Grade 4, 8, and 10 students were assessed in science through a fixed-form online assessment. Students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 were also assessed in writing.

Locally, Lingle-Fort Laramie schools scored above state averages in math in grades 3 and 4; English/language arts: grades 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and 10; and science: grades 4 and 10.

Southeast schools scored above state averages in math in grades 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; English/language arts: grades 5, 6, 7 and 10; and science: grades 4 and 10.

Torrington schools scored above state averages in math in grades 8 and 9; English/language arts: grades 4, 7 and 8; science: grades 8 and 10.

Percentages of students in each grade level who scored in the “Proficient and Advanced” range on WY-TOPP by school and subject as compared to state averages are as follows:

State averages

Math: Grade 3: 51.31; Grade 4: 50.87; Grade 5: 53.03; Grade 6: 51.94; Grade 7: 49.2; Grade 8: 51.65; Grade 9: 41.55; Grade 10: 42.9.

English/Language Arts: Grade 3: 51.44; Grade 4: 49.2; Grade 5: 58.62; Grade 6: 57.5; Grade 7: 54.34; Grade 8: 58.04; Grade 9: 44.43; Grade 10: 50.93.

Science: Grade 4: 51.83; Grade 8: 46.84; Grade 10: 46.23.

Lingle-Fort Laramie

Math: Grade 3: 66.67; Grade 4: 55.56; Grade 5: 40.54; Grade 6: 41.18; Grade 7: 33.33; Grade 8: 41.18; Grade 9: 30.77; Grade 10: 27.27.

English/Language Arts: Grade 3: 55.56; Grade 4: 51.85; Grade 5: 56.76; Grade 6: 64.71; Grade 7: 42.86; Grade 8: 64.71; Grade 9: 46.15; Grade 10: 68.18.

Science: Grade 4: 51.85; Grade 8: 41.18; Grade 10: 63.64.

Southeast

Math: Grade 3: 42.86; Grade 4: 50; Grade 5: 72.22; Grade 6: greater than 90; Grade 7: 66.67; Grade 8: 61.54; Grade 9: 56.7; Grade 10: 63.64.

English/Language Arts: Grade 3: 47.62; Grade 4: 43.75; Grade 5: 83.33; Grade 6: 73.68; Grade 7: 83.33; Grade 8: 53.85; Grade 9: 41.24; Grade 10: 54.55.

Science: Grade 4: 56.25; Grade 8: 46.15; Grade 10: 68.18.

Torrington

Math: Grade 3: 31.82; Grade 4: 29.07; Grade 5: 48; Grade 6: 46.99; Grade 7: 43.24; Grade 8: 63.92; Grade 9: 56.7; Grade 10: 27.14.

English/Language Arts: Grade 3: 38.64; Grade 4: 51.16; Grade 5: 50; Grade 6: 55.42; Grade 7: 60.81; Grade 8: 61.86; Grade 9: 41.24; Grade 10: 32.35.

Science: Grade 4: 46.51; Grade 8: 51.55; Grade 10: 46.48.

“WY-TOPP was a major shift and improvement for our schools,” State Superintendent Jillian Balow said in the press release Wednesday. “We went from a paper and pencil, multiple-choice-only test that provided limited useful information to teachers, to an adaptable, interactive, online assessment that gives teachers data that can be used to inform instruction. I’m so proud of the teachers, principals, tech directors, and assessment coordinators who helped make this transition as seamless as it could be for students. Now, not only are we spending less money on the statewide assessment, it’s also taking up less time in the classroom while providing a better measure of student performance.”

The 2018 WY-TOPP results represent a new baseline for statewide assessment results, and will be used to inform accountability determinations, which will be released on Nov. 1, 2018.

To view full results, visit fusion.edu.wyoming.gov.