JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Wyoming Test of Proficiency and Progress (WY-TOPP) were released Tuesday and are available online. The third administration of the standardized test shows a drop-off in scores nearly across the board when compared to previous years—a decline likely due to remote learning and other disruptions to the norm in the 2020-21 academic year.
Wyoming successfully administered the state assessments to 96.46% of students in the spring of 2021. Compared to the 2019 results, there was a slight decrease in student proficiency rates for all content areas and grade levels, with the exception of grade 9 math. However, the student performance in 2021 was consistent with the first administration in 2018, which set the baseline for performance expectation.
“I am enthused about our participation rate,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jillian Balow. “State assessment data represent the hard work taking place in every classroom in Wyoming. That was hard to accomplish in states that did not have in-person school.”
WY-TOPP is administered through an adaptive online platform. Students in grades 3-10 took WY-TOPP summative assessments for math and English language arts. Grade 4, 8, and 10 students were also assessed in science through a fixed-form online assessment. Students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 were assessed in writing.
“WY-TOPP gives us useful data on where we were statewide last spring, but the most important assessment information is still what teachers gather in their classroom,” Balow said. “Together, this information will help us make sure we move all students forward from the educational disruption caused by the pandemic.”
All data for WY-TOPP and the Wyoming Alternate Assessment (WY-ALT) are now available. However, changes in enrollment and areas of low participation have limited the comparability and representativeness of the results for some student groups. Students eligible for free and reduced lunch, virtual education students, and some ethnic groups were impacted.
Unlike other years, these assessment results will not be used for accountability purposes. Wyoming received a waiver from federal accountability requirements and the State Board of Education approved exceptions from the state accountability requirements, meaning no accountability determinations will be made for the 2020-21 school year.
