The Wyoming House of Representatives is moving forward with legislation that would eliminate the writing assessment from the statewide testing.
Writing and language is among the standards used to determine school performance, but Cheyenne Democrat Mary Throne says the writing and language assessment is arbitrary. Casper Republican Steve Harshman is a High School Teacher. He says the state standards forced his school to water down its writing requirements.
“We really had a great plan for writing, every teacher had it posted in their room, we all taught it the same way and our kids I think were excellent writers. We don’t do that anymore and it’s all chasing the test."
If the bill is approved, schools would only be judged on student achievement in reading, math, and science.
The bill will be debated two more times.